Nibbs XXII (Page 51)

thanks Jen!  it was a great race - lots of good memories!

I'm so happy my daughter and her friend were there to cheer me on

That is a pretty cool cheering section.   

so, I was looking at the pic of the swim start

I think I need to start being more aggressive in my start position

I hung back, but still ended up being 2nd in my AG

me too!

it was!

they had signs

it was too cute!

Would that cause problems with the swim itself, though?  Sometimes starting at the front has the side effect of getting caught up in too many people. 

good point - it probably depends on the size of the wave - in a smaller group I should probably start out closer to the front - with 3 minutes between the waves I maybe could have hit open water sooner

not sure though

Here's my super special guide to the wave start, Beth.  Start on the outside at the front, sprint the first 200yds, then find your pace and angle at the first buoy.  If the first buoy is before 200 yds, then just sprint to it.  It's amazing how much faster you can swim when you are going all out by yourself and not fighting a bunched up middle.  You will pass them, then if they end up being faster than you over the entire length, well, it's up to them to get around you.  Of course, the bigger the wave, the harder this is to do, but always sprint the first 200 or so.  Your adrenaline is kicking, so why not let it loose.  Plus, if you do make contact with other swimmers, you'll be going hard and it won't kill your momentum and let you get swum (swam?) over from behind.

Because you KNEW I might turn up! :p

Morning Nibbs!

enders_shadow - 2008-08-06 6:25 AM Morning, Nibbs! Today's plan...I need to drop off the monkeys, get in a quick swim, grab a few things at the grocery store, and then get to the airport to fly to California...conference from tonight until Friday evening (and then redeye back - which is awesome because the weather for this weekend looks fantastic for long rides/runs). I'll be around - there'll be Internet access and what else will I do when I'm not presenting.

have a great trip Kristen!

thanks Bill - that's good advice!  I've just been hesitant to do that before now, but I think I've built enough confidence in my swim that I could do it

wow - you were up late!

Beth - do practice in the pool swimming a few hundred meters all out and then settling into your stroke. It can make you short of breath and hard to settle into your normal rhythm without a bit of practice.

enders_shadow - 2008-08-06 7:25 AM Morning, Nibbs! Today's plan...I need to drop off the monkeys, get in a quick swim, grab a few things at the grocery store, and then get to the airport to fly to California...conference from tonight until Friday evening (and then redeye back - which is awesome because the weather for this weekend looks fantastic for long rides/runs). I'll be around - there'll be Internet access and what else will I do when I'm not presenting.

Have a good trip, Kristen! 

LOL... I did actually turn out the lights.  Missed ya yet again

Good advice, and the Oly training plan I did earlier this year actually had a few swims with sets like this.  They would call for a HARD effort for the first 200, then race pace for a few hundreds.  Some even called for 100 hard, 200 paced, 100 hard, 200 paced... or something similar.  Really good sets to get you used to changing paces and pushing it from time to time on a longer swim.

You just can't rely on swimming one steady pace the entire time unless you start at the back and don't plan on passing anyone (highly recommended and very effective for the beginner open water swimmer).  This past weekend, my swim was a good example.  The first 200 was spent getting around the bunch that formed in front of me right at the start (it was time trial).  Then I'd find my pace in clear water or while just passing one person.  Every now and then I'd come up behind a bunch that had formed and sprint wide of them, and I even had to split the middle once.

Stuff like that can make a large OWS pretty daunting, or pretty fun.  It depends on how ready you are for it.