This year I’ve signed up for the 21+km Vidösternsimmet – a long distance swim in Sweden. It’s 21km, plus a little extra. I’m yet to find out exactly what that little extra is. Nevertheless, it’s clear that I need to do some serious longdistance training to prepare. There is a temptation, when training for long swims, to slip into a comfortable steady state pace and just accumulate the miles. However, there are a few good reasons to mix up your endurance training with some high intensity sessions. Firstly, there are times in open water where it can be useful to be able to increase speed for a short period of time. Secondly, if you ever enter pool races (as I do) with distances as short as 50m, it’s good to have done at least some sprint specific training. Thirdly, these sessions are enjoyable, sort of. They shake you out of the complacent plodding that’s all too easy to fall into and you’ll feel good afterwards – after you get your breath back and stop feeling sick anyway.
THERE ARE TIMES IN OPEN WATER WHERE IT CAN BE USEFUL TO BE ABLE TO INCREASE SPEED