Being a member of the South End Rowing club is definitely an advantage when the subject is swimming across the English Channel. The club is located in one of the best places for any channel training, specifically the English Channel, due to its cold water temperatures and strong tides, making it natural training grounds for open cold water swims and fostering endurance swimmers. We are also neighbors to another fantastic swimming and rowing club, The Dolphin Club, also well known for having sent many swimmers to the English Channel.
So far the SERC has logged something like 20 successful solo crossings and three 6 people relay teams. In 2002 I was part of one of these teams, crossing the Channel in 13:03 hours. So I know from experience that training in the San Francisco Bay is definitely an advantage for anybody seeking to master their open water swim skills and gather information for future channel attempts.
My biggest concern about my English Channel training making sure I don’t injure myself, especially my shoulders, since shoulder injuries tend to be common among long distance open water swimmers.
Some things I try to do to avoid injuries include breaking up my long training sessions in the bay and ocean with intermittent pool swimming to maintain my stroke, lots of stretching, weight training, resting, and cross training. This combination, in my opinion, helps me avoid some of the wear and tear on my shoulders.
For cross training, my schedule typically includes:
• Biking
• Running
• Stretching
• Weight lifting
• Yoga
• Sea-kayaking
• Rowing
• Paddle boarding
The beauty of the examples I mentioned above is the fact that I love doing them and I never get bored adding them to my regular pool and bay swim workouts. Many of you know the kick start for my English Channel training was completing my first IRONMAN in Florianopolis, Brazil. Training for that IRONMAN formed the foundation for my water training, and more importantly, the mental training, because I had never done a sports event lasting over 10 hours before that. (My write up about the Ironman is below.)
My favorite bike workout is going from the SERC to Bolinas and back. It is about 60 miles with a lot of climbs and descents.
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My favorite run workout is running the Dipsea trail. A double, of course! (About 14 miles round trip of steep mountain trails starting at about 0’ in Mill Valley, peaking at 1360’ just above Cardiac Hill and dipping back to 0’ again at Stinson Beach.)
In the picture above I am on my way back from Stinson Beach.
Take a look at this oldest trail race in Amercia: http://www.dipsea.org/
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Stretching and yoga are my routine during my flying trips. For my yoga I follow a great book from Peter Kelder. You can check it out at:
http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Secret-Fountain-Youth-Book/dp/0385491670
Weights
There is a lot of information on the web regarding swimming exercises and weight training. Weight training when done right will definitely improve your strength in the water. I find this website very helpful: http://www.netfit.co.uk/swimming-web.htm
Below is a nice circuit I like to do in the SERC or hotel gym:
Squats
Leg Press
Leg Extension
Leg Curl
Lat Pull-down
Seated Rowing
Bent-over Rowing
Lateral Raise
Shoulder Press
Bench Press
Dumbbell Curl
Push-up
Abdominal Work
Assorted Stretches
Sea Kayaking is another passion of mine. Either doing a round trip Alcatraz at 5:00 pm when the winds are gusting and there are white caps all over the bay or riding the big rollers under the Golden Gate Bridge are my favorite kayak workouts.
Rowing is another great way to cross train because it uses so many different muscles in the body. It’s pretty much the closest thing to running in terms of using the whole body. If not out on the water, in the gym on the rowing machine. The SERC has a fantastic rowing program and a variety of boats, from old woodens like the one I’m rowing in the photo below, or racing shells.
Paddle boarding lately has been my most frequent non-swimming workout. It is a fantastic upper body and shoulder workout since your body is pretty much on the water line. Every time I go back to my regular pool and open water workouts I really feel the strength in my stroke after a good paddle board workout.
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