kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2013 (Year 3!) - CLOSED (Page 87)

You shouldn't feel like you can't get enough air while you're swimming.  Working on this alone will help you tremendously.   Are you exhaling when your face is in the water?  You inhale when your face is turned to the side/out of water, and then you blow the air back out when your face is back in the water.  IMO, it's just like breathing on land.  If you're holding your breath and not exhaling, then you're going to feel like you can't breathe.  If you're exhaling properly, then it's just swim endurance, and that will improve if you spend quality time in the pool (and you put in some significant yardage).    

hope everyone well... had a pretty good 11 mile run yesterday.  really excited for Spring .

Jenn, for some strange reason and to the dismay of some we know, we love Vegas! we go there with kids   (i think this is what people find strange!) a lot.  

Minor brag. Did 3000 swim tonight. Haven't hit that mark until tonight. I am not sure if I take a long time to warm up, but I felt so much better/stronger after a mile.

Unfortunately, my 1hr ride after was interrupted because our new dog destroyed the couch while I was in the basement and had several mishaps on the rug....after I had taken him out 45 minutes earlier.

Total Immersion also makes an App for the iPhone. You can download (buy) videos demonstrating drills from the book.

My mom called me up and told me she was buying me a ticket, and I just couldn't say no  I haven't been away from my children before.....EVER.  I'm excited to have some alone time.  My plan is to shop, sleep, chill, drink, shop, and sleep.  I don't gamble and probably won't spend a dime in the casino.  My youngest sister and my mother are my best friends, so I really just want to hang out with them.  Beyond excited here, actually.  

2300 in the pool this morning.  All good except the bands.  I will figure out how to keep my legs at the surface if it kills me!!!!  I have an hour and ten on the trainer later. 

Cindy goes to the doc and my Mom comes in today.  The girls are so excited about Grandma being here it may be better than Christmas.

Total Immersion is very good for getting correct body position while swimming and Jen is correct, what you're describing sounds like issues with body position, which is very common for adult on-set swimmers.

This is an important read from Dan Empfiled:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Opinion/Dare_You_to_Move_3437.html

There are serious issues with swim related fatalties in triathlon.  I cannot underestimate the importance of being prepared for the swim. 

You can bluff your way through a bike and run (hell, you can walk your bike and walk the run if you are really unprepared) but you can't really bluff your way through a swim. 

I know I've said this before but training plans should be swim focused until the athlete is more than comfortable with the swim distance and then you can look at ROI with regard to swimmig.  I think way too many plans (particularly beginner sprint or olympic plans) don't include enough swim volume to get an adult onset swimmer comfortable and confident enough with the water to safely do an OWS. 

I look back at how I learned to swim (again) - I was 38, living in Dubai.  I lived in Jumeriah Beach Residence, which was a man-made piece of land, on one side was the Dubai Marina, and the other side was the Arabian Sea.  About 2 miles away was DEWA (The Dubai Electric Water Authority) where they made both electricity and "potable" water by boiling sea water to make steam to turn the generators, then condensing the steam to make "potable" water.  The SUPER SALTY brine was dumped back into the sea, where the salt levels in the sea rose very high, making the water burn your skin and nose - you could see a plume of white salt from Google Earth where it was discharged.  Anyway, I would watch many expatriates (mostly from Europe and South Africa) swim from jetty to jetty - in wetsuits!!!  The water temps were in the high 80's in DECEMBER!!!  and they were wearing wetsuits!!  They floated so much, you could see their entire body, from shoulder to foot above the water, only a small part was submerged.  Between the dense salt water, and the wetsuit, the swimmers almost looked like a drop of water on a freshly waxed car! 

I started swimming despite the unearthly conditions.  Some days the water would be calm, others would have 15-20' waves that the surfers would play in.  I would swim parallel to shore, and started with a weird side stroke, then a breast stroke, then freestyle until I could make it from jetty to jetty - it took two years, almost every day from October to May (May to October, the water was too hot) until I could swim, even in the HUGE waves.  It's crazy, but I really enjoy doing sprints in Long Island Sound with 2' to 4' waves! 

The water is a scary place - I respect it - but I try not to panic in it.  Know your limits, work to increase your abilities - it will not happen overnight, but it will happen.   I'm still a very slow swimmer and I still have bad form - even after over 1,000,000 yards.

The year I did the NYC Olympic two swimmers died in the race of cardiac arrest. Both were in good health and had done the distance before. What they probably had not done was train with 1-2 foot waves coming in every 5 seconds or so. I had done exactly that training knowing it could be a reality. I finished 97/3600+ in the swim which is by far my best performance. I simply timed my strokes so that I was pulling my front hand back just after the wave crested over me. It worked like a charm but I had already done a lot of trial and error. Living a mile from the beach doesn't hurt.

The way they did the waves 40 or so people were lined across a dock that sticks out into the Hudson. You walk across the timing mat and dive in. I must have passed 200 people just in the first minute or two. I've never seen so many people floating on their backs, doing breast or just letting the current take them in any other event.

One guy before I was ever in the water starting doing a right hand turn and a kayaker was screaming at him as she back paddled for all she was worth and he never stopped to spot once in at least 10 strokes. He finally plowed head first into the side of it and you heard the thud from 100 yards away above the noise of the crowd easily. Then you heard several thousand people all groan in sympathy in unison. Then they all laughed in unison as well.

Truthfully, I am sure my body position is not correct, but I will do the best I can to make corrections.  I respect the water.  I am not afraid of OWS, preferring it over the pool.  Yes, the swim is almost double over the longest one I did last year, and no, I am not getting in enough swim training.  So... I will try to step it up.  Anything can happen in a race and I am aware of the risks involved.  This for me is not only a challenge but for fun, too.  I try to get in as much training as I can but I know it will never be enough because I just don't have that kind of time.  I will read the article, look at videos, and try my best to improve.  Thanks so much!

Well, I can't say I am afraid of dying in the water from cardiac arrest.  If I do, then it was meant to be...  I would rather not drown, though.

Oh My Goodness!    OK, I just looked at this video

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVLBTAaZsBE 

Iam the bad swimmer in that video!!!  Except I don't turn my head that far out of the water to breathe.  This was very helpful, though.  I will be looking for more videos and really paying attention because I think I can correct some of my issues.

I did the NYC tri twice! I live just a few blocks from where transition is set up.  cool tri for me to literally roll out of bed to the race.  The swim is a little chaotic and like you said for an experienced swimmer very fast.  Those deaths were of course so so tragic though

This is so interesting! what a strange place to swim

Morning everyone!

We're expecting (more) snow here late today.  Running this morning because who knows what the weather will bring.

Also hoping the weather doesn't effect the USMS swim coaching clinic this weekend in NYC.  I'm planning on driving down on Friday night and don't want to have snow issues.

What does the USMS swim coaching clinic entail?  I'm very interested to hear what you learn.  Do you actually swim or is it all classroom stuff?