Training

A lot of people ask me to compare the training for this to a marathon. Having done a few marathons and mountain races etc, as well as mountain climbs, cycles, Tough Guy events, i have come to the following conclusion -

The duration of this training is about 3 times as long a lead in process as a marathon.

The intensity of the training is about 4-5 times as hard. I am swimming in a week as much as a i run for marathon training. Bear in mind i run about 4-5 times as quickly as i swim.,.,.

Swimming is less forgiving on the mind. When you run or cycle, you have changing scenery etc whereas that is not so much the case looking down into a pool/lake/sea. Thus your mind gets bored and your concentration can go as well as giving yourself more reasons to get out...

I have found here is a lot more to consider outside of the training time from acclimatising yourself to the cold, improving technique, working out how to feed in the water, chaffing/grease, logisitics, diet. The mental side of things is severely underestimated here - most successful swimmers value it at 50-75% of the challenge, and bearing in mind the physical side here, that is something. A marathon of 3-4 hrs with 1000s of people to share the experience with, perhaps an Ipod and a crowd, is a nicer option than 15-17hrs (i hope) in the water by yourself with earplugs in..

The longest run i have done during any marathon training has been 2hr 40 but usually 2hr 20 is sufficient. I have done 4 x 8hr+ swims and 1 swim of almost 9 hrs here.


OVERALL - (and i dont know whether i have done enough at this point!) - i would say the training has been 4-5 times harder for me than a marathon. I dont say that lightly but feel my months have been devoted to this (as George will testify! - sorry my extremely tolerant wife!) rather than with marathon training the training works around my life.