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Re: I've run 2 5K's this year. Is a sprint triathalon to ambitious?

mndrs538 — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:03:47 GMT

Absolutely not! I trained for a little over 2 months with no swim experience, extremely little bike experience and a decent running background... but not in the shape that you are probably in now. I finished in a pretty good time too... my advice though is practice as much as you can in open water (and with a wetsuit if you are going to use one). Swimming in a pool is nothing like swimming in open water....

I am built for endurance sport, but a sprint tri is much easier than it looks... it does take some training and hard work, but definitely doable and definitely not too ambitious!

I say go for it and you will more than likely get hooked... I did!

Re: Why was the swim so hard?

mndrs538 — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:59:29 GMT

I had EIA in High School, but for some reason didn't even think about that effecting me now? But that makes total sense... I should probably go to the doctor and get re-diagnosed. Thanks!!

Re: Why was the swim so hard?

mndrs538 — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:35:39 GMT

Good Luck this weekend!!! It's so much fun.... and since you've been training I'm sure you'll do great in the swim! Where are you from and what training group are you with? I've been looking into joining something like that so I can get more experience with open water swims.

Again... good luck this weekend... and we're crazy I know... but how amazing does it feel after we've done it?!?!

Re: Why was the swim so hard - Adrenaline takes your breath away

mndrs538 — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:40:11 GMT

I was so glad that people responded!!! I was so nervous that I was the only person that had panicked like that so it's extremely comforting to know that its common. My next question would be where do I go to do open water swim training? Do I have to get a coach? I'm not quite ready to go out and swim alone... any advice on this one?

Re: Why was the swim so hard - Adrenaline takes your breath away

mndrs538 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:31:23 GMT

That totally makes sense... I can't believe I didn't train in open water or without my wetsuit first!! I read about a million blogs and beginner tri tips I should've figured that one out!

But like you it wasn't until right after the first 50 yards that I felt the panic... thankfully it was only a 200m swim... but I was almost doggy paddling by the end... how embarrassing!

Thank you so much for the advice... and your very inspiring!! I'm only 23... I pray that I can keep doing this kind of stuff when I'm your age! You go girl!!!!

Re: Why was the swim so hard?

mndrs538 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:03:57 GMT

I would say that I made a big mistake not training in open water first... I will definitely do that for the next race!! Do you think that wearing a wetsuit has anything to do with having trouble breathing? Is it something that I would just get used to?

And I was getting panicked with all the water getting splashed in my mouth, trying to avoid people, definitely a different experience that the safe pool... Thank you so much for your response! I really appreciate it!

Why was the swim so hard?

mndrs538 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:19:41 GMT

Ok, so I'm not the greatest swimmer, but I raced ina tri today (first time) and the swim was only 200meters... I thought I was well prepared, but I got in and started swimming and around the first buoy all of a sudden I felt like I was about to have an asthma attack...

It was my first race, I hadn't trained in the lake yet (only pool) and was wearing a wetsuit (which i didn't train in either). It was so bad that i had to stop and hold on to a lifegaurd... i was litterally sucking air... another thing was that it was super hard for me to exhale in the water so I ended up trying to swim like a water polo player most of the time... but iwas awful and kind of scary... any advice? or knowledge of why this happend? how do I avoid it for the next time? thanks!