I'm So Screwed!!!

For swimming, make sure you're exhaling (slowly) while your face is in the water. Too many people hold their breath while their face is in the water, and then you're trying to exhale and inhale during the short time it's out. Ends up with shallow breaths, and you feel like you're suffocating in 25 yards. Ease up, slowly exhale while your face is in the water so that you have the FULL time your face is above to deeply inhale.

Give it a try and see if that helps.

Hey, I have some quick thoughts for you:

Swimming:  I understand starting from scratch and lacking options for classes, etc.   Can you get a copy of the book Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster, and Easier.  My library had it, but it's worth the money too.   Here's the deal with Total Immersion - it's a way of swimming and it can be controversial.  The reason I recommend it to you is that, starting from scratch, it helped me get a vision for what I should be doing. It's just a good way to start.  You don't have to go any further with it, but reading the book is helpful.

I get why you use a pull buoy in the way you mean. I did that to prep for my first triathlon where I knew I would have a wet suit, which feels about the same.  I think you should try it again after some swimming research.  In addition to the TI book, maybe view some swimming videos on YouTube.  It WILL click.

Duathlons are a whole different beast.  You run hard from the beginning and they are competitive.  Don't let it color your world.

 Everyone has a different path. As long as it's something you're interested in, I say keep at it.   Or don't, you don't HAVE to do a triathlon because you said you would.  Hey, you discovered you like and are good at biking!  Maybe just focus on that and running for a while.  I understand the desire to challenge yourself, but it shouldn't be torture either.

Hang in there and good luck!

First, welcome 

Second, a little tough love.  If you want to be successful in triathlon - and by that I mean enjoy doing them, not winning anything - you need to learn how to fight against and overcome obstacles.  Everyone has their own crosses to bear coming in to this.  No, you are not screwed.  You need to try to change that mindset since that implies you are the victim of something

Yes, you have to be consistent and commit to some hard work because, frankly, swim /bike/ run are sometimes more painful starting out than fun, but eventually one or all will start to click and it will get easier. 

Speaking from someone who started slow and heavy, I'd say one place you can take immediate control is your weight (my high weight is 275, I now weigh 190).  Simple physiology.  Burn more calories than you take in.  If you are not losing weight, then you are eating too much and/or burning too little.  I recommend a calorie tracking app like myfitnesspal which will take out your subjective view of what is clean and inject some objective data.

Keep at it and good luck.  Log your workouts.  And let us know how it's going

We have two sets of race organisers here in Melbourne.

Gatrorade - here's where those people wanting to prove something go.  Wanna qualify for the worlds duathlon or tri here's the place to be.  No-one really talks that much, I finished the Oly last i think and it was empty when I came in...save for my friends who kindly waited.   yes my bike was last but at least I could find it.

XOSize - fun triathlons - still same set up and fast times but people are relaxed, the atmosphere is great - always a mini tri option so lots of beginners.

I don't suck at swimming but I used to be a lot slower.  I'm lucky I found a coach and a squad that changed me.

Check out Effortless Swimming for some workouts - this guy is a pro triathlete in melbourne and specialises in OWS.  I'm actually having a personal lesson with him next week, dead excited.

Please don't give up.

I am no athlete, this is well out of my comfort zone.  Some days I just wanna stop and do something I'm really good at.

Keep going mate!

I can relate to much of what you shared.

As much as we all say we compete against ourselves, most all of us have some part of ourselves that is competitive and being towards the back can be demoralizing for some of us.

My first triathlon I was in the back of the pack and ended up second from last. I felt out of place, was scared and didn't have much fun.  I saw super fast athletes as intimidating Looking back it was more me trying to fit in and not feeling comfortable than the other athletes. Most of the folks I spoke with were super kind including my rack mates.  I'm not gifted or fast, but have gone on to do some 40-50 tris including 4 Ironmans.

I think the disappointing first tri for me motivated me to do better for the next one. Knowing that I could use help, I decided to hire a coach. Year two and year three were really magical. I amazed myself at my improvement.

Did you know anyone at the race besides your wife? Did you talk to other athletes?

Reality is that endurance sports takes consistency over time. How long have you been doing this? Keep at it and you will improve.

Ask yourself why you are doing this? Have you accomplished your goals? What about the race did you not enjoy? Did you have accurate expectations of your first du? What could you change to enhance your experience?

As to the swim, slow down, be sure you exhale and force yourself to keep swimming just to get in the breathing and timing of the stroke you can sustain. If your first tri is in open water, practice in open water many times before your first tri.

I'm glad you asked about your first race experience, so you can learn from it and keep going!

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt "Citizenship in a Republic" speech, Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910.

Edited by chris00nj 2013-05-29 9:01 PM

1. One thing that really helped me get 'balance' in the water was swimming a few lengths with my head in different positions.  Higher in the water, lower in the water.  It really solidified where my balance point was, which meant I didn't have to work so hard to stop sinking. 

2. Re breathing: try breathing more or less strokes.  So try every 3, every 5, etc.  I find sometimes less strokes doesn't give me enough time to breath out enough to take a breath.  Experiment to see what works. 

3. Also, just because you feel out of breath, doesn't mean you can't continue.  When I started swimming, I was doing 50s with X seconds of rest.  I always took more than X because I was out of breath.  One rep I just decided to go on the prescribed rest, even if I felt out of breath still.  And I was fine; it was a mental thing. 

4. I mostly breast stroked my first tri.  Had been training for months, but the adrenaline of the race just couldn't do it.  You know what?  I still finished the race and called myself a triathlete.  Be aware of others, but there is nothing in the rules that you must freestyle. 

5. Keep working, and have fun!