swim portion of my first tri

I'm not quite following what you mean by doing the whole 500 yards with your face in the water... like, at some point, your face needs to come out of the water to inhale, right?

Anyway, for your race, you should slow down, exhale underwater.  Relax, swim slowly, and focus on big productive exhales underwater.

Yeah, sorry - I meant during the exhale.

You always exhale in the water.

Please tell me you've done an OWS.  It's not the same as swimming laps.

figured that.

So no face-thrashing about, then.   

Big inhales out of the water, big exhales underwater, swim slow, relax, swim slow.

I have done OWS, but it doesn't matter - this one's in a pool. 

If you "swim faster than my cardio system is capable of sustaining" then you are swimming too fast.  You are not in a swim meet you are in a triathlon.  There are stil two legs left.  If you are totally whiped out during the shortest leg of a tri then the rest of your day won't go as nicely.

I think you answered your own question.

Not to hijack the thread, but are there different things you need to know, as far as breathing, when doing and OWS versus the pool?

When you say slow down do you mean your stroke or your overall speed?  You may find that you go faster with a slower stroke.  I stink at swimming, but I have figured out for me that slowing down my stroke and pulling through the stroke does not slow down my overall lap times.

Definitely find your comfort zone and go at that pace. You'll find you're "slow" isn't much slower than your thrashing pace plus you'll be able to run through T1 to your bike and take off.

I finally executed a swim like this (in OW) and my race was so much more enjoyable to not have to fight for my life in the swim. Now if I can just increase my slow, controlled swim I'd be very happy.

Why do people say "not to hijack the thread" and then hijack the thread?  I mean, it is hijacking the thread.  Not really criticizing, just commenting.  I always find that interesting.



Edited by newleaf 2009-08-28 12:40 PM

If you are in a place with choppy water then you need to take into account that fact.  You may have to adjust your breathing according to the swell in the waves or you'll get a mouthful.  If it's a calm lake swim then the breathing pattern is pretty much the same.  The only difference is that your rythm may be affected as you are trying to sight.  For a FOP, swimming and sighting at the same time might not be an issue but for the rest of the world it is

Regardless of your swim leg being in a pool or in open water I would say swim at the slower pace, make breathing part of goal you want to do better at and accomplish for this tri.  It will make your swim a better overall experience that much more enjoyable to know you were able to complete the swim without the panick feeling of not being able to catch your breath and have to stop.  If you find your self going out to fast at least in the pool you can stop and catch your breath and have the comfort of the side of the pool to grasp on to.  Not so easy in OWS to stop when you are in open water and watching others swim past you and also trying to catch your breath.  ONe thing a professional at a swim clinic told us just remember to keep moving forward one more stroke, one more stroke even if it is side stroke or breast stroke.  OWS is very much a different expereince and animal than a pool swim. 

You might also try to breath to the same side everytime during your right or left arm stroke (depending on your the side you prefer to breath on).  I do this and it helps me to remember to exhale underwater and take a breath right away;  just my pace preference.

Just to be clear - when I do swim faster and stop exhaling underwater, I don't stop. I keep going, but my head thrashes from side to side.

That's what I'll try to do. Thanks everybody!

Relax!  Learn to enjoy the swim and settle into a comfortable rhythm!  I had such a hard time with the swim when I started earlier this year, I couldn't do more than 50 yds without having to stop.  That went on for 2 weeks when I stoped overthinking it and decided to relax. In one session I went from 50 yds to 800 non stop.  Now I can comfortably put in 1000 yds+ on a regular basis.  I have a 2000yds swim planned for tomorrow, can't wait! 

I don't want to insult you, but.... your butt looks huge in those pants dear...

I find that if I slow down my "rpm" meaning my arm turn over, and focus on pulling hard, and getting a good glide, I actually swim faster on my 100 yd splits.   When I do my "sprint work" I really turn my arms over fast, but I don;t really go that much faster. 

Better to go slow focus on smooth powerful strokes, instead of thrashing...  I also find that helps me keep my breathing smooth and steady... keeps me ready to hop out!

You seem to describe 2 methods of improper swimmimg. One is slow but keeps you relaxed. The other is "fast" but leaves you in oxygen debt.

My guess is that your fast is really not much faster forward movement but rather faster arms and body movement that are inefficient.

Use your relaxed swimming style. You will not lose much (if any) time over your fast style AND the best part - you get to T1 and on the Bike with some useable power.

Edited by bruehoyt 2009-08-28 2:35 PM

Exactly. I found my "fast" 100's to only be 8 seconds faster and left me much more gassed. I payed for those "gained' 30 to 40 seconds and then some in transition and the rest of the race.