I have faith that I can beat my open water swim panic. And I hope to be able to do it without Xanax (though don’t think I haven’t considered it). After all, if Page can do it in an Ironman swim, certainly I can get through a .63 mile swim.
A lot of it is going to be mind over matter. But more importantly, I’ve got to practice. So that’s what I did this weekend. Coach Dawn held a swim practice out at Gunpowder Falls State Park. The water was nice and calm, so it was a perfect morning for a swim.
The biggest tips that I knew I needed to pay attention to were to get in the water and immediately get my whole body wet. Specifically, I needed to make sure that I got my face wet. I also needed to work on sighting. Coach suggested sighting every 10 strokes. If you’re doing well, you can probably sight every 15 strokes. If you’re already way off, go for every 5.
We all got in the water and I set out to swim the course setup. There were two buoys and we swam between them twice to approximate the Iron Girl Columbia distance (about .65 miles). I followed instructions and dunked myself right before the swim started. I could already feel my heartrate increasing, but I willed myself to stay calm. I got started and finally found my groove. I found that 8 strokes and then sighting worked for me. I also found that I pulled to the left, which was unexpected. I figured I would pull right.
What I found helped me was singing a song in my head to sort of pass the time. Today, it was “When Will My Life Begin” from Tangled. I don’t know why, that’s just what popped into my brain. But it did help as I did the back and forth.
I finished feeling spectacular. I wasn’t fast and I worked on not thinking about speed. That’s where I get myself into trouble. I need to just stay calm and slow and keep moving. Two more open water practices until race day!
Oh, I feel like such a wimp compared with you.
I just got home a few minutes ago from a swim at the Y where I was grumbling that I am too tired at around 200 meters to want to go any further. (This has been a problem for me for the past month.) I do not know if this is because I am not a very good swimmer (I seem to get no worthwhile momentum from my legs; it seems as if my arms have to do all the work) or if it is because I am just too old to swim 402 meters or if I am just being a wimp.
Jim, I’m not sure of your swimming history, but one big thing for me was figuring out body positioning. It made swimming SO much easier. I wasn’t rotating in the water and my body was at an angle. Coach told me to make sure that I was forcing my upper body down to try to keep me more parallel to the bottom of the pool. It made for an amazing difference. So much more speed and distance for the same effort.
I am so envious that you are able to get out there for Open Water Swim practice! That is absolutely the best way to get over that panic! It sounds like you learned a lot to get you ready for your tri! I pull left, too (in the pool with my eyes closed). Are you left-handed? I’m not so it surprised me that I’d pull that way.
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I’m right handed! Which is why it surprised me too. But I have read that some rightys are stronger on their left side because they use the left to lift and carry (groceries, children, etc) so their right hand is free for doing things like unlocking doors.
Well, that makes sense. Hadn’t thought of that!
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