gotta swim a mile in 3 weeks. HELP!

If you can swim 500yds non stop you can swim a mile.

My advice is to get in the pool and do it. Preferably a couple times before the race.

Is this an OWS? Will it be your first?

its kinda cold in the fall use a WETSUIT!!!

Look man. There are a few things that you need to get under your belt before that distance happens:
-swimming 10 laps is awesome...but you need get up to swimming 33 laps.
-Swimming in a pool is nothing like open-water.
-swimming in a wetsuit is nothing like swimming in your jammers.

I think you are shoveling out a truck-load of disrespect to the athletes that do these distances and do them well. There is no room in this sport for that kind of disrespect. You can not lie to yourself in distance swimming. The truth will catch up to you as soon as you put your face in the water.

I just don't see how you would be capable of getting the tools in your tool belt in such a short time.

Is this an indoor or an outdoor tri? How long does it take you to swim 500 yards? How many strokes does it take you to get across the pool?

While I totally agree with the first and last part of your post, I definitely don't agree with this.

Doing tris isn't about paying respect to your competitors, it's about setting a goal and getting there.

There is a safety-line, which you should not cross, but other then that, give it everything you got.

Is this an open water swim? Have you ever done an open water swim? Have you ever swam in a wetsuit? How are you at sighting?

If you answer "yes" to the first question, and "no" or "i don't know" to any of the others, don't do the race. This is a safety issue, and nothing about you personally, disrespect, etc. Making the leap from a short pool swim to a mile OWS is a *big* leap, particularly if you are only 3 weeks away, and by your own words, freaking out a bit.

How long is the rest of the race? Is this an Olympic distance race?

This^^^^

There is a big difference between 500 yards and 1 mile. 500 yards is a warmup!

This is not a run where you can stop when your tired. If you can't do 500 yards without stopping now and you try a 1 mile OWS in 3 weeks, I give about a 5% chance of getting out of the water on your own. About a 50% of not coming out alive.

This is the irresponsible attempt, drop out now and train properly before trying this again.

If it's in a pool: go for it. Stop and stand/hold on to the wall as much as you need to, without getting in the way of everyone else

If it's open water: forget about it. (I'm usually more optimistic, sorry) Go for an open water swim and see how it feels.

I don't think that respect is something that has to be an overt spoken thing.

Many people (Check Triathlon training video blogs) make goals not because they want to try something new...but because they see somebody else do it and they immediately think they can do it better. Even though they have no baseline for their own performance and "the other person" has trained diligently, they still think they can do the same or better than the other person with little to no training. Although it is POSSIBLE, it really isn't plausible. That is the disrespect that I talk about.

There is also respect for the distance. I have seen a lot of non-runners sign up for HM for their first run! They feel that it is a "Stepping stone up to a full marathon". They think it is like a 5k. They get destroyed and they never run again. They don't respect the distance.

I really don't feel that the original poster will be able to develop the tools he needs to complete this race...BUUUUUUT I am more than happy to check this thread every week to see what the update is on the training.

that is the disrespect that I was talking about. Not the mean over-the-top spoken kind.





Edited by lifejustice 2013-11-12 11:14 AM

If you've never gone anywhere near the distance you are considering and by your own admission are "freaking out" about it, then I would agree with those who are saying it's best to call if off and go get more swim training in before trying this. That water is deep and depending on the course, you may be a long way from the shore. There are currents, chop, and temps to consider as well.

If you are intent on trying then first of all go to the pool, get in and swim 1600 meters non-stop. That is 32 laps (64 lengths) in a standard 25m pool. Don't stop and rest. Don't even grab the wall when you make your turns, just turn in the water and swim back. If you can do that comfortable without any issues then you have at least cleared the first hurdle of handling the distance even though as stated open water is a whole new ballgame. If you can't do that in a pool then drop out of the race and work on it. In 3 to 6 months you should be ready, not 3 weeks.

Any update on this?

I say convert race to a relay and find a swimmer. Agree that if it's a pool swim go for it. People have drowned or have been seriously injured having tried something like that. Maybe not exposing other athletes to such an event is a means of showing respect. Others might enjoy the day better having not heard of someone drowning/almost drowning etc.....

It's a tough call as many of us like to challenge ourselves but erring on the side of safety and/or "respect" is safer.