Remember how I said that the swim would be the 'easiest' part of the Tri for me.
Um, I'm now recanting that. Is that legal? CRAP!!!!
Yesterday I drove to my sister's in SE Iowa to practice swimming in 'open' water.
Boy, was I ever enlightened!! What looks like a 'breeze' from land, is NOT once you hit the water!
It's not the swim and I'm not even sure it's the murky water. I think it's the strangling sensation that your wetsuit provides right at the base of your neck. It's like having a hoodie on too tight, leaning forward and trying to breath underwater. NOT GOOD!!!
Especially right after gulping in a quart of water!
Now, I'm use to swallowing water. The pool is down 1/2" when I'm done doing my laps. I'm pretty sure they need to fill it back up after I leave. Swallowing water in the pool isn't a big deal for me. I can spit it out and keep my routine 3 stroke breathing pattern. In fact, even if I miss a breath due to inhaling water, I can make it through the next 3 strokes to finally get air. That's the POOL!!! Open water is a whole another story!!!!
First off, you don't have the little blue lines to follow. You have to look up on occasion to locate the marker you're to swim to. In this case a large yellow buoy ball. I did manage to get 'totally' off course once and I heard my sister yelling my name. Luckily, she wasn't looking for a rescue, just telling me that the ball was over HERE!!! BH!
It started out well, but as I approached the ball for the first time I took in a mouth full of water and then the wet suit is pulling on your neck and I had to stop to pop up. To say it was a bit scary is an UNDERSTATEMENT! Dawn loosened it at the base of my neck the best she could, but it's obviously something you have to get use to. The sensation is similar to putting your thumb into that divot below your Adams apple. Just apply a little pressure and there you have it! YUCK!!!
I tired it without me suit and it was better, but the water was pretty cold at 70 degrees. Then one of the gals let me try her Tri-wet suit and it was better. Still the same sensation,
but not as bad. I think the neck in hers is a bit lower. Makes me wonder why wet suits
don't come in a "V" neck!
The nice thing about the wet suits is they make you very bouyant. So I suppose if you do drown you'll float to the surface a little faster. With that black cap on....it could take a while! I hope those folks on the boat take their jobs SERIOUSLY! My life insurance is paid up. I guess that's the most important thing!!
I learned a LOT!!
1 - Don't start out so fast!! This is NOT a sprint. Slow and steady.
2 - Watch where you're going! I need to do this at the pool. Instead of breathing every 3rd stroke, I need to do 3 strokes, breathe, 2 strokes and look forward to find my marker. (Which will be the clock) It throws everything off! Luckily I have 5 more pool sessions to work on it.
3 - Don't swim along the rope. That's where the masses will be. Stay out of the groups as that's where you'll get pushed under. Better to stay to the outside and swim further than to stop and get pulled under.
4 - Survival!! One of the guys swimming was feelig a bit sorry for me, 'I think'. He said on his first Tri that he did every stroke known to man just to stay afloat and moving. The 'crawl or freestyle' is the fastest, but you can always switch to the breast stroke, flip over and do the back stroke, frog or at last resort...the DOG PADDLE!!! G
This will give you a little bit of an idea of what it looks like.
There will be a LOT more people!
900 entered and you are entering the water every 3 seconds. They say this is better as you aren't all piling up in a group with 50 at a time. I'm not really sure......just want to survive!
Just to make things a 'little' more interesting, this park is still open to the public, so for the bike ride and run you are dodging not only John Q, but also possibly runners when you're biking. I'm pretty sure all the bikers will be done by the time I get around to running.
Dawn informed me that this is also the same weekend as 'free fishing' Iowa. So you do not need a license to fish, thus there's a LOT more traffic. GREAT!! She said that one year she was on the run and this truck pulling a boat was trying to get through all the biker traffic. He was barely moving and she ended up just running past him. Me....I would have 'hitched' a ride!
I'm realizing that my goal is way too aggressive.....at this point,
I'll be happy to finish!!
Um, I'm now recanting that. Is that legal? CRAP!!!!
Yesterday I drove to my sister's in SE Iowa to practice swimming in 'open' water.
Boy, was I ever enlightened!! What looks like a 'breeze' from land, is NOT once you hit the water!
It's not the swim and I'm not even sure it's the murky water. I think it's the strangling sensation that your wetsuit provides right at the base of your neck. It's like having a hoodie on too tight, leaning forward and trying to breath underwater. NOT GOOD!!!
Especially right after gulping in a quart of water!
Now, I'm use to swallowing water. The pool is down 1/2" when I'm done doing my laps. I'm pretty sure they need to fill it back up after I leave. Swallowing water in the pool isn't a big deal for me. I can spit it out and keep my routine 3 stroke breathing pattern. In fact, even if I miss a breath due to inhaling water, I can make it through the next 3 strokes to finally get air. That's the POOL!!! Open water is a whole another story!!!!
First off, you don't have the little blue lines to follow. You have to look up on occasion to locate the marker you're to swim to. In this case a large yellow buoy ball. I did manage to get 'totally' off course once and I heard my sister yelling my name. Luckily, she wasn't looking for a rescue, just telling me that the ball was over HERE!!! BH!
It started out well, but as I approached the ball for the first time I took in a mouth full of water and then the wet suit is pulling on your neck and I had to stop to pop up. To say it was a bit scary is an UNDERSTATEMENT! Dawn loosened it at the base of my neck the best she could, but it's obviously something you have to get use to. The sensation is similar to putting your thumb into that divot below your Adams apple. Just apply a little pressure and there you have it! YUCK!!!
I tired it without me suit and it was better, but the water was pretty cold at 70 degrees. Then one of the gals let me try her Tri-wet suit and it was better. Still the same sensation,
but not as bad. I think the neck in hers is a bit lower. Makes me wonder why wet suits
don't come in a "V" neck!
The nice thing about the wet suits is they make you very bouyant. So I suppose if you do drown you'll float to the surface a little faster. With that black cap on....it could take a while! I hope those folks on the boat take their jobs SERIOUSLY! My life insurance is paid up. I guess that's the most important thing!!
I learned a LOT!!
1 - Don't start out so fast!! This is NOT a sprint. Slow and steady.
2 - Watch where you're going! I need to do this at the pool. Instead of breathing every 3rd stroke, I need to do 3 strokes, breathe, 2 strokes and look forward to find my marker. (Which will be the clock) It throws everything off! Luckily I have 5 more pool sessions to work on it.
3 - Don't swim along the rope. That's where the masses will be. Stay out of the groups as that's where you'll get pushed under. Better to stay to the outside and swim further than to stop and get pulled under.
4 - Survival!! One of the guys swimming was feelig a bit sorry for me, 'I think'. He said on his first Tri that he did every stroke known to man just to stay afloat and moving. The 'crawl or freestyle' is the fastest, but you can always switch to the breast stroke, flip over and do the back stroke, frog or at last resort...the DOG PADDLE!!! G
This will give you a little bit of an idea of what it looks like.
There will be a LOT more people!
900 entered and you are entering the water every 3 seconds. They say this is better as you aren't all piling up in a group with 50 at a time. I'm not really sure......just want to survive!
Just to make things a 'little' more interesting, this park is still open to the public, so for the bike ride and run you are dodging not only John Q, but also possibly runners when you're biking. I'm pretty sure all the bikers will be done by the time I get around to running.
Dawn informed me that this is also the same weekend as 'free fishing' Iowa. So you do not need a license to fish, thus there's a LOT more traffic. GREAT!! She said that one year she was on the run and this truck pulling a boat was trying to get through all the biker traffic. He was barely moving and she ended up just running past him. Me....I would have 'hitched' a ride!
I'm realizing that my goal is way too aggressive.....at this point,
I'll be happy to finish!!
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4 comments:
If anyone can do this, YOU CAN! I'll be sitting on a nice dry piece of land, eating breakfast with Meme and Bill, thinking positive thoughts for you.
I am so proud of you!!! You will do awesome!!! (of course, I'll be one of the "observers" on land... gotta socialize that puppy!)
Don't sell yourself short. You have been trainning hard and are going to ROCK it at Pigman! I know that you will finishe strong and within the time frame you set for yourself. I am so proud of you. You all ways are doing something new and always getter done! YOU GO GIRL!!!! Red Neck power united! Yee Haw Cheeseburger and a coke.
Gotta hand it to you. I would not even "think" about doing this. I know you'll do good.
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