Stressed about next race's swim!

Stressing out about it now can make it worse if anything bad does happen.. and in fact you might make bad things happen just by thinking about it too much.

Just remember, go slow.. let the pack go out first, relax, you can tread water if you're tired, relax, you're swimming 4x a week which is already a lot more than most people who are starting out.  Be confident in your ability, and know that you are allowed to rest on a kayak if things get too crazy (maybe buoys too). 

Sounds like you have a good plan and the key will be for you to relax and swim under control.  One thing that may help in your race is to count to 15 after your wave starts (if a wave start) then begin your swim.  You will avoid some of the "washing machine" effect at the beginning of a swim start and hopefully avoid some of the kicking and other body contact that way.  Good luck!

Thank you guys so much for your replies....that's why I love this sport.....FULL of supportive people.  I guess I just needed to hear it and know that I'm doing what I can to prepare!  I appreciate you guys!

4 seasons of triathlons including a Half-Ironman and Olympic races and I still feel anxious before EVERY open water swim. I know I'm nor then only one.

If something goes wrong I know I can always coast or dismount the bike and walk the run. But in the water, If I stop swimming, I'm sinking...

Since there's nothing in your logs, what do you workouts look like?  Do you just go to the pool and swim until you're tired or do you have a structured workout?  If you don't have a structured workout, I'd look at that first.

When you say you've done way more than 400m in the pool, is that non-stop or total meters in the pool?  It's very different when you swim 400m non-stop vs. stopping every 50 for a breather.  I'm not trying to be critical, just trying to understand where you are and where you need to be.

Do you have an opportunity to swim open water before your sprint?  I'd HIGHLY recommend finding somewhere that you can get out and do open water swimming at least 2 or 3 times beforehand.  If you're already having anxiety now, it'll be multiplied when you get into open water your first time.  It's nerve-racking, but very common so don't fret.  The only way to really prepare yourself for open water is to swim in open water.

EDIT:  Sorry, forgot to add GOOD LUCK!!  Enjoy it!



Edited by strostertag 2010-03-25 10:03 AM

I've done 800 nonstop.  The only problem is that in the race I'm starting out with an elevated heart rate because of nerves!  I think that coupled with unintentionally going too fast wears me out!  I will heed your advice and thanks for posting!

I haven't done many tri's yet (only one last year), but as a long-time pool swimmer I can tell you that swimming open water in the race was definitely a BIG change for me, even though I could swim longer distances in the pool and did a few open water swims prior to the race.  I decided to make a few changes in my training as a result.  I'm not sure how if/how it will help come race-time since I don't have a second race for comparison yet, but here it is anyways:

The biggest thing I learned is to practice looking where you are going while you are training!  I never fully appreciated lane lines until having to pick my head up to look for buoys with feet all over the place and my heart in adrenaline-pumping race mode.  I didn't give the difference much thought while training, and it made the swim much harder the day of the race (a lot of gasping).  I'm not sure what others do, but for my next Tri I've been practicing for open water by picking my head up to look down the lane- if I'm swimming in a pool- the majority of laps, about as frequently as I think I'll need to during the actual race.  I'm hoping that come race-day I'll be more comfortable getting through the course because at least that part of the experience will be more familiar.

Aside from that I agree with the other advice that's been offered!

Good luck!

x2 on a quick warm up swim before the start. That definitely helps calm my nerves. 

x2 on doing an open water swim. Are you close to the course? Why not go for a swim there a week or two before the race?

Also, regarding elevated heart rate before the swim--I've learned that a warm up jog before the race starts--and for just 10 minutes, nothing crazy--helps get rid of some of the excess adrenaline in my system. (Somehow, the idea of having an elevated heart rate coupled with being out of breath is somehow easier for me to handle mentally than having just an elevated heart rate. lol. I can explain away the heart rate with, "Well, I went for a jog, of COURSE my hearts beating faster. I'm not nervous at all!").  

Good luck!

 

A couple of things I have learned to help reduce the stress.

1) Start to the outside of your wave and count to ten before starting after wave start.
2) Concentrate on breathing out with your face in the water. That way you can take in a full breathe when you face is out of the water.

Practicing OWS ahead of times really helps. Siting is a real issue for beginners when doing OWS. Here is something I tried that helped with this while swimming in a pool. Swim with your eyes closed. Start at the center of the lane and count how many strokes you do before you bump into the lane divider. That gives you a good idea of how often you need to site. Also practice minimizing how much you need to raise your head out of the water to spot what you are sighting so it does not change body positon too much. Raising your head up takes more energy and slows you down.

Good Luck!!

Using a wetsuit made a world of difference to me. If I stop swimming I float. I literally cannot sink and that is just durn liberating and makes me MUCH more relaxed and comfortable in the water, which is vitally important for a girl who grew up in AK and always wore a life jacket around any water and was taught that basically if you fell into glacial fed water you died whether you knew how to swim or not. Despite MANY swimming lessons in child and adult hood I just really learned to swim this year.

Get and practice in a wetsuit!

kory

A lot of good advice here .... I'll just add that the thing that helps me the most is to absolutely make sure I have some open water to swim in at the start.  I always move to the outside and give myself some room.   I got kicked/punched (unintentionally of course) at the start of my first open water swim, swallowed some water, had my goggles half knocked off and it really threw me off.   For me, it's worth sacrificing a few seconds at the beginning to make sure I can have a relaxed start of the swim. 

And just remember that ocean swims are, by far, the most fun ones to do.  They are a blast.

Just ignore that big shadow passing underneath you.  Really, that's nothing.

Thank you for all of your advice.  I have improved dramatically since my original post...I'm swimming almost every day because I refuse to let the water beat me!  I do plan on practicing OWS at the venue that the race is.  I've actually been swimming 1600 m, and the tri is only 800....I know that OWS is different, but I'm hoping the extra distance during practice makes me a happier triathlete during the race!  I'll let yall (yes, I'm from Louisiana) know how the practice OWS goes!  You guys Rock!