Monday Musings: Where is summer going?

Happy Monday!  And hello last day of July.  What the what???  Yup, it's the first day of August tomorrow.  Summer is flying by.  I'm pretty sure I say that every year.   The funny thing is that we haven't over scheduled ourselves this summer.  In previous summers we've raced almost every weekend.  Last year that didn't happen at all so I figured we'd have the itch to do that again but not so.  I think the fact that we've got a big late season race has kept a lot of our usual short course races off our radar.   I am thinking that next year we'll get back to some regular short course racing.

Despite our lack of shorter racing, G and I have been enjoying summer.  We've had just the right amount of chill out time, family time and fun non training time.  I think that balance has really helped us feel like we're not always training.  We had a conversation a few weeks ago about how we both feel like we haven't been training per se, even though we have been.  Training has never gotten to the point where it's become a chore or that we dread it.  I think we've been doing this long enough that we really recognize the need for breaks and adjustments and are ok with taking them.  Although, sometimes I think age dictates the breaks, ha ha.

This past weekend was my first open water swim since Tremblant and my first long ride since July 2nd.  Yup.  Almost 3 weeks of nothing longer than 35km.  I figured it wasn't going to be awesome but I was pleasantly surprised.  My swim coach has changed my stroke slightly so I was curious to see how that would translate in the open water.  Instead of bilateral breathing, my coach now has me breathing to one side every stroke for 3 counts, then three strokes with my face in the water, then back to breathing every stroke.  I experimented with switching sides while I was swimming, just to help me sight a bit better.  I swam almost 1900m and was pleasantly surprised to see my overall pace at 1:49/100m vs. my normal 1:55/100m.  And that was swimming at a comfortable pace, not pushing it.  I don't know how much faster I'd actually go given that I don't have a variety of speeds in the water, ha ha.  But it was nice to see some improvement!

I promised myself this time around I'd spend more time on my TT bike and I'd do more bricks.  During the week I'm riding with my cycling club, Morning Glory, so I'm on my road bike, but I still try to do a run after I ride.  It's much harder to run off a road bike than a TT bike.  I've also added a short strength routine into my training, especially since I have to work on loading my hamstrings to deal with that lingering tendonitis (which is getting much better btw).

So, let's get down to this past week of training shall we?

Monday:  Off from workouts but did a V02 max test.  That experience and comparison to my Garmin predicted V02 max will be up on the blog this week

Tuesday:  Double ride day!  28km with Morning Glory in the a.m. and  22km in the p.m. with the Toronto Triathlon Club

Wednesday:  2150m swim followed by my 30 minute strength routine.

Thursday:  It rained so the Morning Glory ride didn't happen.  Instead I spent 45 minutes (20km) on the trainer watching Game of Thrones and then followed it up with an 8km run at 1:30 pm.  Holy crap was it ever hot.

Friday:  I ended up skipping swimming as I had a massage the night before and was still fairly sore from it.  I had a lot of work done around my shoulders and they were tired.

Saturday:  1883m open water swim, 74km ride that resulted in a few Strava QOM (!!!) and a 6.2km run off the bike.

Sunday:  16km run, 22 minutes of strength work, 2500m swim in the outdoor pool!

Yup, it was a pretty big week and I'm feeling it this morning.  There will be much stretching and foam rolling throughout the day!

Totals:

Swim:  6533m 
Bike:  144km - only 6 km short of my weekly mileage goal.   Arg.
Run:  30.3km

At least I hit my swim and run targets!

Total time:  10h 41 minutes

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!  Good news if you're in the GTA - Toronto Island is OPEN, which means that the Toronto Island Tri & Ontario Women's triathlon weekend should be a go!  Get on out and RACE LOCAL on August 20 / 21!

I'm off to tackle my To Do list but I'll leave you with this thought....

Find your passion and work for it!  

~ Coach PK

Monday Musings: T-Minus 3 weeks

Oh hello June!  Here we are half way through 2017.  Time is just whizzing by.  We have THREE weeks left until Tremblant!  THREE.  Holy crapamole.   We've been occasionally checking the water temperature in Lac Tremblant and a couple of weeks ago it was a balmy 6 degrees celsius.  Thankfully it's now gone up to 15.2 which means that hopefully in another 3 weeks it's closer to 18 degrees which would be perfect.

Not to sound like a broken record (I'm going to) but the weather really isn't helping in terms of warming things up!  The Caledon Quarry that we normally swim at delayed it's opening slightly because the water temps were still quite cold.  It finally opened earlier this week and we opted to head out there Saturday morning for our first open water swim in Ontario.   Luckily the weather was in our favour (thank you Mother Nature!)  It was sunny, with very little wind and it was 14 degrees.  So not totally balmy but not cold either.

There was a small group of us, pretty much all women, save for G, ha ha.  We got ourselves suited up appropriately.  And by appropriately I meant with booties and a neoprene cap for good measure.  I had stuck my hand in the water when I arrived and it was FRESH.  So I could only imagine what it would feel like when I fully submerged myself.   Pro tip:  to help keep the cold at bay, I was told to wear ear plugs.  Apparently your ears have receptors in them that are sensitive to temperature so if you wear earplugs, it helps keep your temperature regulated in cold water.  I tried this on Saturday and it worked.  So much so that I ended up having to take my neoprene cap off part way through the swim.  It also helped with my balance when I was getting out of the water.  Normally I feel a bit woozy after an open water swim but I felt totally fine.  I'm a CONVERT.

G and his Angels and his fancy new Zoot Wetsuit

We waded in and took our time getting used to the temperature.  It did take your breath away for the first little bit.  I walked in to just past my waist and then dunked my head.  That really made me gasp but I was ready to start swimming so I swam out to one of the buoys and then swam across to the start buoy.  I was going to stick close to shore so I could swim in quickly if I got too cold.   As you can see by my Strava map, I did NOT manage to swim in any semblance of a straight line.  I swam back and forth for a bit and then stopped to adjust my wetsuit.  I hadn't pulled it up high enough so the range of motion in my arms felt very limited.  Once that was fixed I was good to go.  I swam two
400m loops before my hands felt like they couldn't really do much anymore.  My arms were tired and it felt like I was swimming in slow motion.  I had covered just over 1200m total so that was enough for me.  The best part?  ZERO panic.  None what so ever!  I think I'm finally getting comfortable with this open water swimming thing.  :)

That was the big adventure this week!  I'm hoping to get a few more OWS in before we head to Tremblant on the 22nd.

I'm heading into my last big week of training this week as well so here's hoping that it goes as smoothly as this past week went!

Last Week's Workouts

Monday:  43.5km ride.  Normally I take Mondays off as a rest day but G had the day off (Memorial Day) and it was so beautiful and sunny out that we decided to go for a ride.   We drove out to Guelph Line and did a little rip around Campbelville.  It had been a while since we'd ridden out that way.  My legs were still feeling a bit tired from the weekend but I wasn't about to turn down an outdoor ride with G in the sunshine.

Tuesday:  8km run - hill repeats in a.m. and 22km ride - TTC hill clinic in p.m..  Since I rode on Monday and I knew I'd probably riding that night, I opted NOT to ride with Morning Glory and I slept in.  I don't think my legs could have handled the beatdown they would have gotten doing 5 laps of Edenbridge.  Instead I opted to do running hill repeats at lunch.  Holy sweaty.  My hamstring was still proving to be bothersome so I made the call to Pivot to go see my ART guy.

Wednesday:  2200m swim.  I actually felt pretty good today despite the fact that it was short sets of sprints.  I'm definitely not a sprinter but I like trying to go fast.

Thursday:  8km run with my friend David.  My hamstring was still kind of bugging me even after some dry needling the night before so we kept the effort fairly easy.  David was still pretty wiped out from the weekend and the previous days workout.  My legs actually felt really good other than my hammy.

Friday:  37.5km ride - High Park Hot laps in a.m. and 2100m swim at lunch.  I had originally planned on doing the Real Deal Thursday night Time Trial but just couldn't get my ass out of the house so, I got up early with G on Friday and we met up with the Morning Glory development ride.  Holy crap was it ever a big group.  I managed to hang on to the first group for about 5 laps and then I caved.  I was pretty pleased with myself.  I did 12 laps in total.    I missed my masters swim because I went and rode instead so I made up for it with a swim at the York Rec Centre at lunch.  I felt really good today and swam about half my workout with pull and paddles, which is not normal for me but I need to work on my upper body strength so those have become a necessity.

Saturday:  1200m open water swim, followed by a 75km ride, followed by a 4.2km run.  This was the BIG day.  I actually felt really good for all of these elements, with the exception of the end of the ride.  I have been complaining to G that my hamstrings seem to be doing all the work even when I'm on my tri bike.  I honestly can't seem to get my quads to engage.  I have seen someone about that and there will be a post about it in the future.  But towards the end of the ride, I really felt that my hamstrings were fatiguing.  On the run, my legs felt a bit better, it felt like I was using all of my muscles but it took a while for that to happen.  Very strange indeed.

Sunday:  3000m swim, followed by an 18km run with 8km at Z3 building to Z4.  This was hard but I felt strong and my pesky hamstring was no longer bugging me.  The only thing that was bothering me was my left glut.  And even then, towards the end of the run, I didn't really notice it until afterwards.  Then it was uncomfortable to sit on that side.  That's my good old piriformis doing all the work.  But I was pretty happy with these workouts and I was definitely ready for a rest day because that was 13 straight days of training.   I'm actually surprised I felt as good as I did these last few days.  I was definitely fatigued on Sunday morning, but once I did my run, I was a-ok.  I slept like a baby last night and got a full 8 hours so I feel very well rested today.  My legs are a bit sore but that's to be expected after a hard run yesterday.

This is the first time in a VERY long time that I've actually done all my prescribed workouts for the week!  Here's hoping I can carry that momentum over to my last big week of training!

Totals:  

Swim:  8562m  <---- Biggest weekly total in a VERY long time
Bike:  178km
Run:  38.5km 

Total time:  12h 30 minutes

How was your week of training?  Anyone else wonder if summer is ever going to show up??   

Have an awesome Monday!

~ Coach PK

That's A Wrap!

I suppose I could have titled this post the Season That Never Was, but that would be looking at this race season in a negative light.  I'm trying to stay away from that mindset and look at the good things that came from this season.

Yes, I got injured and didn't compete in my A-race.  Yes, that sucked big time.  There were tears.   But, after that race day came and went, I focused on what I could do and that was swim and ride my bike.  I spent a lot of time in the saddle this summer.  I worked on my swim stroke.  And I worked on fixing all the little things that contributed to my injury in the first place.  I'm not 100% sure that everything is fixed but I'm definitely feeling and moving better.  

I went back to Dr. Galea last week to go over the results of my MRI.  I finally got an injury diagnosis and it told me what I suspected all along:   "Mild tendinosis at the origins of the hamstrings bilaterally.  Low grade partial tear of the posterior fibres of the semimembranosus tendon origin from the left ischium"

Essentially, I tore my hamstring tendon at the insertion point.   It was small tear but it was painful.  There is some scar tissue kicking around in there still so that will have to be worked out because I still feel like there is some restriction of movement through the gait cycle.  I also still feel some pressure in and around my glut / upper hamstring.  So it looks like I'm going to be working on strengthening my hamstrings for the next little while.  The good news is that Dr. Galea thinks that this is all fixable via gait retraining.  He said that my left glut either doesn't fire or fires late (previous gait analysis has shown that it fires late).  Right now it's not even firing and that's probably due to the injury.  He's recommended that I go see a physio by the name of Laura McIntyre at The Urban Athlete so that's where I'm off to tonight.

I am hoping that I come out of this stronger and more aware of my body and how it functions.  

On to the really positive things!  

Despite not running, I still managed to get a couple of races in.  And because of all the riding I had been doing, I actually set a new 20 minute power record on the bike at the Ontario Women's Triathlon.  That really surprised me.  I went from 221 watts to 233 watts.  I still can't believe that.  Once I got injured, I stopped training with power and I just rode.  Paolina always told me not to be a slave to the numbers.  I figured I wasn't training for anything anymore so I didn't need to pay attention to the data.  It paid off.

This past weekend, I did the swim leg of The Barrelman Half Ironman with my two friends David B and David L.  Or the Double D's.  Our team name was Phaedra and her Spectacular Double D's.  Yup.  We went there.  The guys thought it was really funny.  I was a bit upset at first (I had suggested PK vs. my actual name) but, I couldn't deny it was pretty hilarious.    

If you've been reading this blog for the last few years, you know that open water swimming is not my favourite and that it gives me a fair bit of anxiety.  I have slowly been getting better at dealing with said anxiety.  I know I could have said "No" when David asked me if I wanted to be the swimmer but I thought 1) it's a chance to race 2) I get to spend the day with a couple of my favourite people and 3) it's only the swim, not the entire race.  I figured I'd be fine.

Leading up to the race, I was ok but the day before I could feel the nerves setting in.  I didn't sleep well the night before.  Race morning there was a fair bit of griping.  I was nervous.  I hadn't swam more than 1800m in open water in my wetsuit this year and that was with stops.  This would be 2km straight.  Although I could have stopped if I wanted but it's a race.  I don't like to stop.

I knew a ton of people that were going to be racing so race morning was very social which really helped to alleviate my anxiety.   There was so much chatting and hugging and laughing that I could feel my nerves easing.  David B got all set up in T1 and I started getting myself sorted.   I wedged myself into my wetsuit gave the Double D's hugs and made my way into the water to do a good warm up.  My wave went at 9:05 and I was in the water by 8:45.

Me and my spectacular Double D's.

I swam to the other side of the canal and then back to the middle.  Off to the other side, back to the middle.  I floated for a bit, swam over to the edge, got out to fix my wetsuit and went back in.  Everything felt fine.  My wetsuit was comfortable.  My goggles were snug.  I was ready.  I tread water, listened to the National anthem and smiled.  I felt relaxed.  There were some nerves but not the anxiety that I normally felt.  The pros went off to a loud cheer from the crowd.  Then wave two went off.  My wave was up next.  I fell to the back and off to the side a bit.  No need for me to be up at the front in the fray.  The horn went off, I hit start on my Garmin and let the crowd go.  A few seconds later I started slowly swimming and caught my first pair of feet.  I navigated my way towards the shoreline of the canal away from the pack.  I figured I'd be better off out here for the first little while.  I may not get the benefit of the draft but at least I could get into a good rhythm.

There weren't too many buoys along the course so instead of playing the count your strokes between buoys game to keep my brain occupied, I just counted strokes, period.  I focused on making sure I exhaled as soon as I put my face in the water so there was no panicky breathing.  I swam at a very comfortable pace for the first little while.  Not pushing it but not too slow either.  I had had a massage on the Thursday night before the race and David had really worked at freeing up my T-spine and getting a bit more mobility through my ribs and shoulders.  I felt really good.  I actually felt like I could breathe better as well.   I chugged along comfortably.  I came up to the 250m mark sign on the embankment and had one small moment of "holy shit I'm only at 250m???" .  I quickly dismissed that thought and started counting strokes again.

I hit the 500m mark and thought ok, I'm 1/4 of the way through and knew that I would be coming up to the first green buoy soon so I started sighting properly.  I didn't bother for the first bit as I just used the riverbank as a guide.  I started to swim in towards the buoy and surprisingly didn't get caught up in much of a crowd.  WOOHOO!

As I swam towards the other turnaround buoy, I remember thinking to myself that I was feeling really warm.  And I was hungry.  The water was 24 degrees, which is pretty toasty for a full wetsuit.  I lamented the fact that I probably should have drank my entire bottle of Roctane before I got in the water.  Oh well.  I got around the second big green buoy without incident and thought "Woohoo, I'm halfway done!"

Shortly after I passed that buoy, I kicked a bit hard to pass someone and my right calf cramped.  Shit. I stopped kicking with that leg and just used my arms and my left leg for a bit until the cramp subsided.   I picked up the pace again.  I had gotten into a really good rhythm and was now working a bit harder.  I could see the 500m sign on the embankment and thought "Awesome only 500m to go!"  I felt like I was swimming really well.  I had caught a bunch of people from the wave in front of me.  Just after I passed the 500m mark my right calf cramped again so I went back to the one-legged kick. It eventually went away and I went back to kicking normally.  I could see the final green buoy coming up so I started to swim harder.  As I came up to the finally buoy my left calf cramped so hard it stopped me in my tracks.  I felt like someone kicked me really hard in the calf.  I stopped swimming and yelled OUCH.  I couldn't point my foot.  It hurt way too much.  Even when it was flexed up, it hurt.  I reached down to massage it and that hurt.  I was almost in tears it hurt so much.  I kept saying ouch, oh fuck, ouch ouch ouch.   I was so close to being done and I was swimming so well.  I was pissed.  I tried moving forward but my calf spasmed some more.  That resulted in a very loud FUCK. A swimmer stopped and asked if I was ok and I said no.  She asked if I wanted her to flag someone down and I said yes.  She waved and I think she got the attention of someone on a paddle board.  I tread water for a bit more and then put my face in the water and just used my arms.  My entire left leg was hurting at this point.  Eventually I tried kicking with my right foot.  That helped.  The cramp started to subside enough that I could kick but my calf still really hurt.  I swam as hard as I could to the swim exit.  As soon as my hands started grabbing gravel, I stood up.  I hobbled out of the water and started pulling off my wetsuit.  I was boiling hot.  I ran by David L and my friend Jen and David was yelling that I didn't have to get my wetsuit off.  I was so hot, I just wanted to get out of if.  I ran into T1 and found David B.  I yanked the chip off my ankle, passed it to him and he was off.   I hobbled out of transition to find the other David.  My calf was sore for the rest of the day and it's STILL sore today.  At least I'm almost walking normally now.

I hit stop on my watch as soon as I got out of the water.  Even with my stop for cramping I managed to swim 36:23 for 2km.  Not a PR by any stretch but pretty darn good given that I haven't focused on any real speed work in the pool.   The best part?  Not one single moment of panic.  I felt in control the entire time.  I'd call that a race day win and it's something I'm going to make sure I remember going into next year's race season.  I feel like maybe, just maybe, I've conquered the swim anxiety  demons that have plagued me for the last few years.

With my portion of the race done, I was able to chill out and spend the rest of the afternoon cheering people on and socializing.  I couldn't think of a better way to end my season.  In the car on the drive home, I was thinking about all the fantastic people I've met because of this crazy sport.   As I said on Instagram the other day, I feel pretty darn lucky.

Now it's "maintenance mode" time.   Time to really focus on fixing all the little things before I start to get back into the swing of things in January.   Next year there is another huge group of us heading to Tremblant do to the 70.3 and then myself, G, Irina and Zin have signed up to do Lake Placid 70.3  Yup, two half Ironmans in the span of 2.5 months.  If that isn't motivation for me to get better, I don't know what is.

Safer Open Water Swimming with Restube

A while back I got the opportunity to test out something that would be helpful to people like myself that are apprehensive about open water swimming alone.   It's a personal flotation device that you can take with you when you swim in open water, or during any other water activity that you may not be wearing a life jacket for.

I'm sure you're probably wondering how that works.

Enter Restube.

It's portable, inflatable tube that comes in a little pouch that you can wear around your waist.

When I unpacked the box, I was a little skeptical that this would actually work.  But the instructions were very clear on how to insert the CO2 cartridge and how to position the belt on your body for the best results.  I didn't want to waste a CO2 cartridge just testing it out on land so I waited for the opportunity to swim with it.

Restube is very simple to use and size wise it is very small and compact.  It fit perfectly around my waist and sat nicely in the small of my back.  The pouch is roughly 6 inches wide by 3.5 inches high so it's fairly unobtrusive.  

We were in Mont Tremblant for the September long weekend so that was going to be my testing ground.   I fastened the belt around my waist and waded into the water.  I started swimming and didn't notice any sort of additional drag at all.  The belt was noticeable around my waist mainly because I don't normally wear anything like that in the water.  But it didn't bother me at all and after a while I didn't even notice it was there.

I swam out a bit further and pulled the release cord.  It was easily accessible.  The tube deployed and filled up quickly with no loud noises or crazy force.  Before I knew it, I had a fully inflated, bright yellow tube to rest on.  

While I was floating around on this, I noticed that end of the rip cord actually had a little whistle on it. So if you were in distress, you could alternate between yelling and blowing the whistle. GENIUS.  

Inflated, the tube is more than wide enough for a person to rest their torso on.  It's bright yellow so it's clearly visible from a distance.  You could also wave the tube in the air to signal for help.  You can also continue to swim with the buoy inflated if you want to make sure you are visible to boat traffic.  For triathletes, this alleviates the need to convince someone to paddle along side them in a boat while they swim.  And, if you get tired, it's easy enough to roll over and grab the tube and rest on it.  

This video from Innovation Sports shows you how Restube works. 

   

It's a pretty ingenious little invention.  My only criticism would be that it doesn't have a place to carry things like a key.  Other than that, it's very easy to use and maintain.   It deflated easily and then it folds back up and slips right back into the pouch.   It's small enough that you can take it anywhere.  The C02 cartridges can be a bit problematic when traveling.  In my experience, you're not able to bring them with you but it's worth contacting your airline to see what their requirements are.

You can order your own Restube directly from Innovation Sports.

Would this make you feel safer in open water?  Would you inflate it first and use it for visibility or would you keep it in the pouch around your waist as a safety precaution?

Disclaimer:  I was sent this product to review.  I was not compensated for it any way.  All opinions are my own.  

Fear Less = Fearless

I've been tossing the double entendre of this word around in my head for a while.  Probably since my friend Jonathan claimed it as his "words to live by" at the beginning of the year.  The profundity of it struck a chord in me. It seems so simple, so easy.   But it's not.  At least not for me. 

The person you see in these pages is generally the person I am in real life.  Yes, I worry and obsess about things that are beyond my control (just ask G) but I've gotten a LOT better in terms of rolling with the punches as of late.  I'm not afraid of a hard work and I'm always happy to do it (despite my occasional grumbling).  Nothing much phases me in that department.  With the exception of one thing.

Open Water Swimming.

I thought that I dealt with this demon back in 2012.   I suppose I did because for a while I was totally fine with OWS.  Last year, old fears began to resurface and I suffered a few panic attacks while swimming.  Not full blown ones but close enough.

It's frustrating because I thought I had trained my mind to deal with it.  Now when I think about swimming 2km in open water, my heart starts to race, my palms get sweaty and I feel anxious and filled with dread.  There are several factors that feed my fear.  Get ready because a few of them are pretty freaking ridiculous.  I'm pretty sure I think too much.

1.  How do I occupy my mind for that long in an unnatural setting?  By unnatural, I mean that as humans, we are out of our natural habitat when we're in the water.  When I'm on my own two feet, I have no problem tuning out.  Put me in the open water and I can't quiet my mind.  I keep thinking about how much I want to be done...and it's not like I can just start walking.  No.  I HAVE to swim if I want to get anywhere.  Or I stop and have a lifeguard bail me out and I call it a day.  That thought has crossed my mind MANY times (I did say that I think too much).

2.  I have a deep seeded fear that all of a sudden I won't be able to swim anymore or I'm going to get too tired that I won't be able to finish the swim.  So incredibly illogical and the biggest crock of shit ever but that's where my mind goes.

3.  And then there's The Panic.   The Panic ensues from a myriad of things:  cold water, labored breathing, water up my nose, realizing how far I have to go, someone swimming into me, you name it.  When it starts, it's like every fiber of my being is screaming STOP STOP STOP.   It's almost paralyzing.  I am assuming it comes from already being anxious, so add some discomfort to the mix and it's like a molotov cocktail. 

4.  There's always that fear of touching something or seeing something in the water.  That scene from Jaws with Richard Dreyfuss when he is diving by the boat and pulls out a sharks tooth only to dislodge the head of the boat owner.....yeah, that's the stuff of nightmares and it's something that's always in the back of my mind.  Never mind that 99.9% of my swims are in LAKES. 

Clearly I have an incredibly overactive imagination.

How do I deal with all of this?  I know that practice helps immensely.  The more opportunity I have to swim in open water, the more comfortable I feel in it.  I'm usually pretty good by the end of the triathlon season, ha ha.   And by pretty good I mean that I might still panic a bit but I'm usually able to keep moving vs having to stop and roll over on my back to catch my breath and try to calm down.  

I think what really needs to happen is that I need to learn to love the open water.  To not be so afraid of it any more.  There needs to be a healthy respect for it but fear should not be part of the equation any longer. 

This, right here, is what I need to do.

Making the decision is easier said than done.  I feel like I can decide that but I don't feel like I have the right tools to enforce that decision when the fear starts.  THAT'S where I'm struggling.  I'm worried because I don't have a lot of time between now and my 70.3 to actually get into the water and practice.  I'm also scheduled to race this Sunday.  It's the first tri of the season and really, the last thing I want is for my first open water swim of the season to be in a race situation.   The C3 Quarry is supposed to open this weekend so I'm hoping that I can get up there for a practice swim tomorrow.

Mike has been a huge help in talking me through things this past week.  I feel pretty darn lucky to have two great people in my corner this year.  Ming gives me the work and Mike gives me support.  He even offered to be my swim buddy at my race this weekend!  I figure I'll be able to make it through 750m ok.  It may be slower than I want it to be but that's fine.  Either way, he's going to be there because he signed up to race it as well.  And of course G will be there cheering me on.  

Now, if I can only figure out how to turn those thoughts OFF between now and Sunday, all will be peachy.  

Does anyone else struggle with similar issues in the swim?  If so, how do you deal with them?

Triathlon 101: The Swim

Source

I had hoped to get this post out on Saturday but alas insanity took over and devoured my weekend.  As I mentioned in my last post I'll be talking about all the legs of a triathlon over the next week, including transitions and race rules.  I'll also be posting my race report from my first triathlon of the season so stay tuned! 

For many people, the swim is the most daunting part of doing a triathlon, unless of course you come from a swimming background.  The thought of getting into a cold, deep, dark lake can make even the most calm, levelheaded person a bit anxious.  Add a few people into the mix and panic can ensue.  I was (and still am to a certain extent) a perfect example of that.  In a pool, I'm totally fine.  It's clear, I can see the bottom and I'm never worried I'm going to see a dead body lying on the bottom (crazy I know).  I'm chalking that completely irrational fear up to a scene from the original Jaws when Richard Dreyfuss is diving around a sunken boat, discovers a large tooth and pulls it out only to come face to face with the dead body of the boat owner.  Screaming ensues of course.  That scene still gets me to this day.  

You're welcome.

Seriously though, it's not surprising that the swim makes most people anxious.  Water is not our natural element.   Add a bunch of people with flailing arms and legs all swimming in the same direction and it can be more than a little scary.  Even after all my years of doing triathlon, I still get a little freaked out from time to time.  The key is to calm myself down right away before my head gets the better of me and takes me down the panic road.  

These are the things that help me get through the swim leg in one piece.

A warm up.  Personally I think this is extremely important.  Especially if it's your first time wearing a wetsuit.   Even if the swim is only 500m, as soon as I get my wetsuit on, I will get in the water, walk around a bit to get used to the temperature (especially if it's cold like it was on Sunday) and then work my way up to putting my face in.  Once I do that and get over the shock, I'll do some breast stroke and then I'll work my way into freestyle.  I'll probably spend about 10-15 minutes in the water swimming, floating, practicing my sighting and just generally getting used to being in the water.  This is also the time to test your goggles and make sure they are properly secured and don't leak.  If they do, at least you have some time to adjust them.   You should also survey the swim course when you arrive so you know where all the buoys are and where you'll need to turn.  The event website will usually have a map of the swim with an explanation of the course.

Seed yourself accordingly.  Much like a running race, you should seed yourself according to your perceived speed.  If you're a faster swimmer and comfortable swimming in a pack then situate yourself towards the front.  If you're not, then situate yourself in the middle to the back.  However, if you're like me and you're a decent swimmer but you don't like being in a pack, then situate yourself at the back.  I usually let my wave go and then I jump in at the back.  Sometimes it works out well and I manage to catch someones feet and draft other times I get caught up in a slower pack and can't get out.   It's really all about your comfort level.  This year I'm going to try situating myself closer to the front but off to the side so I'm still away from the crowds.

What to do if you panic.    The first thing you need to do if you start to panic is to calm your breathing down.  I find that moving away from the pack, rolling over on to my back and sculling lightly helps me immensely.  I usually have to float for a bit and tell myself that I know how to swim, I'm in a wetsuit so I will float, etc etc.  Once my heart rate gets back to normal, I'm usually good to go.  I know I can swim but sometimes I get so freaked out that I'm convinced that I can't so getting through the swim is sometimes more of a mental challenge for me than a physical one.  If you feel like you are in danger or you really don't think you will be able to complete the swim, take your swim cap off and wave it in the air or make your way over to one of the lifeguards that are usually situated in boats or on paddle boards around the perimeter of the swim course. 

There is something else I do when I feel like I'm going to start to panic.  I start counting my strokes;  one, two, three, breathe, one, two, three, breathe and sight.  That helps me get into a rhythm which can sometimes be tricky in an open water swim.  The other thing I do is concentrate on my form.  Am I reaching enough?  Am I rolling enough?   It's a great distraction technique that usually works wonders for me. 

Some other tips that might come in handy:

If you're wearing a heart rate monitor, tuck it under the sleeve of your wetsuit but leave the edge where the start button is, exposed.  Most monitors have the start button on the right so if you wear your watch on your left arm, that button will be the one that sits just outside the sleeve.  That way when you're pulling the wetsuit off, you can pull it right over the heart rate monitor without accidentally hitting any of the buttons.

Body glide isn't just for running.  I use it on the back of my neck so my wetsuit doesn't chafe.  I also put it under my timing chip strap and around the ankles of my wetsuit for easier removal.

Bring an extra swim cap or get yourself a neoprene bonnet.  Early season races generally have chillier water temps so you might want the extra layer.  A second swim cap worn under the one the race provides you, will give you a little more insulation.

Bring an extra set of goggles just in case something breaks on your first pair. I saw that happen to a woman at Sunday's race just before her wave started. 

Put your goggles on under your swim cap.  That way if you accidentally get hit in the face there is less chance that your goggles will be dislodged.  I find this works best for me if I'm wearing two swim caps.  I can't pull goggles on over my hair as they tend to pull on all the clips I put in my hair to told it down.

Find a pair of feet that are slightly faster than you and draft.  You'll expend a lot less energy.  I've done this a few times and it's amazing how much it helps. 

Don't wait until you're actually in transition to start removing your wetsuit.  I usually unzip mine as soon as I get out of the water and pull it down to my waist as I'm running towards transition.  That way half the work is done before you even get into transition.

Your first few open water swims will probably be a little scary.  But if you make an effort to practice and get used to swimming in open water, that fear will start to subside.  I always find the first race of the season a tough one.  I'm sure by the end of the summer, I'll won't think twice about getting the lake and just going for a swim (with my wetsuit on of course!).

Tomorrow:  The Bike!

Conquering My Fear with a Little Saturday Fun

I've always had an overactive imagination.  It's no wonder I ended up studying Fine Arts in university.  This overactive imagination can sometimes get the better of me especially since I'm not sure how to control it when it plays on my anxieties.  To those of you that have been reading this blog since it's inception, you know just how petrified I am of open water swimming.  It's ironic given that I love the sport of triathlon.  People have asked me why I don't just do duathlons (run, bike, run) and my answer is that they're too freaking hard.  Seriously.  It's all legs all the time.  At least with triathlon, you've got a chance to give your legs a break before you beat the crap out of them.   All that aside, I always struggle with the swim leg of a triathlon.  I don't know what it is about open water that sets me off.  Creepy things on the bottom of the lake? The Loch Ness Monster?  Murky water?  Or the worry that I'm going to all of sudden not be able to swim anymore and I'll be in the middle of a lake...?  I'm sure it's a combination of all of those things.  So it never fails that I always have some kind of panic attack when I'm in the water.  I'm one of those people that you see doing backstroke to calm down.  The ridiculous part is that I know how to swim and I'm actually not that bad.  So when my better half said we were going to ride at Lake Wilcox today and we were going to swim first, well, I had a bit of an internal freakout.  I said I'd do it but I was nervous about it all last night and when I got up this morning I had butterflies. 

And so the self talk began. 

"Why are you so afraid, you know how to swim?"  I know, I don't know why I"m afraid.  I know it's irrational but I never claimed to be a rational person.

"What could go wrong?  You'll have a wetsuit on so you can float and there will be other people around."  I know, but I can't help but worry. 

"Stop worrying and just do it.  Focus on everything else but the fact that you're in open water."  Ok, I'll try.

And on and on it went.   At one point I almost managed to talk myself OUT of getting into the water.  But then I got annoyed with myself.  I've registered for 2 sprint distance triathlons so I have to get in the water and get used to it.  So I set myself the goal of getting in, putting my face in and swimming a few strokes to see how I felt. 

We pulled in the parking lot at Sunset Beach and it was packed with triathletes which I figured was a good thing as that meant that there should be a lot of people swimming.  The other good thing I saw was that there was a line of buoys that went right across the lake.  Awe-some!  I am horrible at sighting so to have something to follow is very helpful.  We met our friends Linnea and Glenn, got our wetsuits on and made our way down to the water.  I felt like barfing or maybe even crying. We got down to the little landing and we were greeted by a bunch of ducks just chilling out as well as a few other triathletes getting ready to swim.

Duck Posse, Chillin by the Lake

I hesitantly made my way into the murky water.  The bottom wasn't too bad, it was fairly sandy for the first few feet, then it started to get muddy and weedy.  This is when I started to get a little freaked out.  I decided to just jump in and breast stroke for a bit.  That is no easy feat in a wetsuit.  Linnea asked if I wanted her to stay with me.  I was tempted but the stubborn part of me wanted to do this on my own.  And, she came out to do a swim, I didn't want to hold her back so I told her no, it was ok, I'd be fine.  Then she said well at least it's not the Ironman Switzerland swim, right?  God love her ability to put things in perspective.  That made me feel a bit better.  I joked that I didn't even think I'd make it over to the buoys and she said just take your time.  I figured I was in the water, I might as well put my face in and try to swim.  So, off I went.  The first few strokes felt a little weird.  I always forget how different swimming in a wetsuit is.  I got into a bit of a rhythm and tried not to think about what I was doing.  Then the panic struck me out of nowhere so I stopped and looked around.  Everyone was still nearby so I put my head back in and swam over to towards the buoys.  The next thing I knew I had made it to the big red buoy that started the line of buoys that went across the lake.  Linnea said that it was about 1km across the lake.  I could see a red buoy out in the middle and figured I'd try to make it to that one.  I knew that everyone wanted to swim across the lake but I couldn't bring myself to do that just yet.  Baby steps.  Gary asked me if it was ok if he went.  I wanted him to stay with me but I didn't want him to miss a workout so I said no, go ahead.  I really had to do this on my own.   So he went off and I followed on his feet for a bit and then looked up and freaked out.  I was getting farther away from shore. 

This is ridiculous.  You can do this.

I decided that staying close to shore would probably be the best thing for me at this point.  If I could see the shoreline, I'd feel better.  So, I swam back to red buoy, floated on my back for a bit to get my breathing back to normal, then rolled over and started to swim back to where we came into the water.  I thought that maybe if I thought about my form and worked on my sighting that might be distraction enough.  So I picked a point along the shore where there happened to be a guy fishing, and used that as my focal point.   

One two three, breathe, one two three, breathe & sight.


Sometimes counting makes it better. 

Before I knew it, I was almost at the shore.  I rolled over on my back and floated for a bit.  That was actually really relaxing.  I tried to backstroke but it made me kind of dizzy so I stopped.  I tread water for a bit and figured I'd try swimming back to the red buoy.  So, off I went.

One two three, breathe, one two three, breathe & sight.  God I'm tired.


I stopped once to take a breather.  Swimming in a wetsuit is hard work until you get used to it.  My shoulders were tired and I think I was swimming faster than I would normally.  I wasn't far from the red buoy so I put my face back in and continued on.  I got to the red buoy and actually thought, wow, that wasn't so bad.  So I decided to swim up the line of buoys.  I made it to the second one before I started to panic a bit.  Ok ok, don't push it, you've already done way better than you expected.

It was true, I had.  I didn't even think I'd make it over the few hundred meters to the red buoy, let alone swim back and forth between it several times.  With that little victory, I turned around and swam back to shore, practicing my sighting and thinking about my stroke.  I swam through a bunch of weeds coming towards the shore and got grossed out so I flipped over on to my back and backstroked until I could touch the bottom. 

First open water swim, a success.  I might have only swam about 500-600m but it wasn't about distance for me.  I just had to be able to know that I could get in and do it.  The next time we go out, I'll try to swim a bit farther.  It's all about baby steps.  Today I was a happy camper.

Nice cone head. 

With the swim done, it was time to ride.  I knew the ride was going to be tough because I was riding with the speedy folks today.  I didn't really know where I was going but everyone made an effort to come back and ride with me and thankfully, they never really got that far ahead of me.  Except when I stopped to take some pictures.  This was the first ride where I spent most of it in my big chain ring.  The route is a lot flatter than what we normally ride so it just felt right.  I worked at getting into my aero bars and staying in them.  My longest ride this year was just under 50km.  I had a feeling that today would be a bit longer than that.  I was actually feeling really good so I was actually able to stay pretty close to the group.  The plan was to ride out for an hour and then turn back.  That plan gradually started to change the further along we got.  We rode out an extra 10 minutes to get to a little diner so everyone could fuel up.  I was ready to turn around.  Thankfully everyone else was as well.  I was still feeling pretty good so I hung on and climbed some of the smaller hills in my big chain ring.  At about 1:30 in I was starting to hurt.  1:40 in and I was struggling.  I had been eating gels but I don't think that was enough given the slightly harder than normal effort.  Glenn stopped to give me some Cliff shot blocs.  That helped for a bit.  At the two hour mark my legs just ached.  Since I slowed down it gave me the opportunity to take a few pics.

Huge horse farm.

The Yellow Jersey & Fluffy Clouds

We stopped at a set of lights and Gary said that we were almost done, but that we had one last hill to climb.  I wanted to get off my bike right then and there but I thought NO, suck it up and get it done.  We turned the corner and I saw the hill.  Ah. Crap.  My left foot had developed a hot spot and it was hurting like hell.  I couldn't really put much pressure on it at all so I basically had to cycle up this hill one legged.  I grit my teeth, put my head down and reefed on my handle bars.  I may whine and want to quit but my bull-headed nature won't let me do that so I'll always finish.  It may not be pretty but I'll get it done.  Today was exactly that. 

Total ride time: 2:21:54.  Distance covered 66.17km.  Longest ride this year and my fastest average pace too.  Woot!

Today's little adventure has done wonders for my confidence.  I'm actually kind of looking forward to getting into the water again to see how much farther I can go.

Call me crazy but that was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.   Maybe it was the 2 coffees I had before we started.....

Enough said.

Is there something you're afraid of doing?  Have you been able to conquer that fear? 


What's your idea of a fun way to spend a Saturday morning?

Let The Irrational Freak Out Commence

Yup.  It's started.  The good old irrational freak out. 

What am I freaking out about you ask?

My first triathlon in almost 3 years is what.  Mainly the swim portion.

But don't you swim 2-3 times a week already you ask?

Yes.  But that's in the safety of a pool.   This is the wide open space of a lake.  There are no lane lines to follow.  The water is not clear.  The bottom (if I can see it) is not smooth.  It's dark, murky and generally creepy.  I don't do myself any sort of favours by imagining all the potential scariness at the bottom of a lake.  Dead animals.  Huge old dead trees.  Maybe even dead bodies.  There is a  scene from Jaws always comes to mind.  You know, the one where Richard Dreyfuss is scuba diving at night by an abandoned boat and he finds a big hole in the hull of the boat.  In the big hole, he finds a huge shark's tooth.  He goes to pull the tooth out and the decaying, chewed up head of the boat owner pops out and Dreyfuss proceeds to scream like a girl all the way back to the surface.  THAT scene.

Yes, you could say I have a bit of an overactive imagination. 

How do I deal with this? 

Other than mentally telling myself to stop being a scaredy cat, I find that distraction is the best way.  Fear of open water swimming is not uncommon so there is plenty of useful info online, especially geared towards newbie triathletes.   This article is quite helpful.  Both techniques mentioned in it are essentially a form of distraction.  It's all about taking your mind off the "unpleasantness" of the activity by either focusing on internal factors (i.e how do I feel, is my technique good etc) or external factors (i.e what is going on around them).  I usually prefer to focus internally because for me, external focus still reminds me that I'm in a lake, surrounded by a bunch of other people.  Basically, I'll pick something I'm doing and focus on it for the entire swim.  During an Ironman swim (3.8km) Ive been known to count my strokes.  That is a mind numbing activity and usually keeps me occupied for a fair amount of the swim.   One two three, breathe, one, two, three, breathe.  It's kind of meditative actually.  In an Olympic distance swim (1.5km) I remember humming Rush's YYZ for the entire 30 minutes it took me to swim that distance.   Very motivating and I actually managed to get a really good rhythm going.

Hey whatever it takes to soothe the screaming child inside my head. 

The swim this weekend is only 500m.  Realistically it shouldn't take me more than 10 minutes to do that so I'm sure I'll survive. And maybe, just maybe, it will help me take those first few steps towards keeping The Irrational Freak Outs at bay.