Triathlon - Swimming is hard... ;)

As I've posted before, my first triathlon is coming up September 3rd. I've been training pretty hard the last couple weeks, and have a couple more good weeks of training to get ready. I'm confident in my cycling and running, but yesterday I finally went swimming for the first time in a long time and it kicked my butt...

Was just some open-water lake swimming, not even very far. I basically went back and forth between some beach boueys, maybe 25 yards each way. Kinda like pool length. I just got super winded on each length. By the time I stopped, I had only done maybe 12 to 16 lengths at most.


So I'm thinking this must be normal for people who don't swim much. But since I can't be the only person who's had this problem, does anyone have any suggestions on how to overcome it? The race distance is only 1/3 mile, and I'm sure I could survive that just fine, but it'd be really slow. I'd like to be able to not only survive it, but actually swim it with a halfway decent time. Should I focus more on swimming these next two weeks rather than biking/running? That's kinda what I'm leaning towards, maybe swim every other day and bike/run the other days.


thanks for any advice.
-Josh

THe typical rule of thumb is that the swim cannot win you a tri but it can cause you lose a tri. Even if you are not shooting at winning that same philosophy can apply to your goal times. Lets say that right now it would take you 13 minutes to swim the 500m of your upcoming tri. If you really focus on swimming for the next three weeks you can get your time down to 11:30. Will you shaving off that 1:30 be worth not biking and running as much? Tough call. Over a 20 mile bike ride, not being at your best on the bike could definitely cost you 1:30. Same for a 5 mile run (or however long your bike and run are). At this point with 3 weeks to go I would get to the point swimming-wise that you feel comfortable that you can complete the swim without problems but continue to train on the bike and run. With a mere 3 weeks to go I am not sure how much difference you can make in the swim. Just my thoughts.

It will be worth it for you to focus on swimming more in the offseason.

Your bike and run fitness is in the bank. So, you can maintain that and swim 3 x wk to get comfortable. Don't worry about speed. Relax and get threw the distance with the least amount of effort.

I'm in the same boat -- first tri in a week. My wife talked me into doing a sprint. I'm a roadie, and quite fit, and have done a lot of running too. Lots of races under my belt, but never a tri. I've just recently started the swim, and was blown away by how un-ready I was -- I mean just a couple 25m laps and I'm breathing like I've just finished the biggest climb I can think of on the bike. This has to get easier??? :|

Your bike and run fitness is in the bank. So, you can maintain that and swim 3 x wk to get comfortable. Don't worry about speed. Relax and get threw the distance with the least amount of effort.
The least amount of effort, for me, comes through alternating my stroke (a lap of freestyle, a lap of breast stroke, a lap of back stroke, etc). Are there any rules about what strokes you can/can't perform? (For intance, the tri I'm signed up for is not open water -- I'm thinking a lot of people in a small amount of space in the water going different speeds could be a problem.)

RC2, I checked the USAT rules and they say you can do any swimming stroke you want. It also says you can tread water, float if needed, and if you can touch bottom I think you can legally stand to rest, but may not walk on the bottom to move forward.

Alternate strokes then. I would try and stick with freestyle and breast. any stroke is allowed. Walking on the bottom is also allowed.

4.1 Permissible Strokes.

A swimmer may use any stroke to propel himself through the water, and may tread water or float.



4.2 Bottom Contact and Resting.

A participant may stand on the bottom or rest by holding an inanimate object such as a buoy, boat, rope or floating object. Excluding the bottom, a participant shall not use any inanimate object to gain forward progress. A violation of this Section shall result in a variable time penalty, unless the Head Referee in his sole discretion determines that (i) the violation was substantial and resulted in an unfair time advantage, or (ii) the violation constituted endangerment under Section 3.4(l).

haha, this reminds me of a guy I know who tried to "cram" for the swim. I don't think it was very effective, so you should probably just stick with your training plan and tackle the swim issue in the offseason.

Well, I'm no expert at tri training, but here are my thoughts as a swimmer.

The reason the swim is kicking your butt is because you're inefficient (no offense.) The only way to get better is to swim more, now and especially in the offseason (that's when you'd work on stroke technique, speed, etc.) So I say spend some more time in the water in these next two weeks with the primary goal of improving your endurance and your confidence. You'll still be getting a good cardio workout (the lungs and the heart will think you've just ridden or run really hard.) Meantime, keep running and biking when you can to keep the legs strong and fresh and not lose ground in those two disciplines. I'll be honest - you're not going to see any improvements in swim speed, but you should feel much better endurance-wise, even after only two weeks. Think smooth and steady and aim for longer intervals. You'll be fine...

I agree with the stroke and breathing efficiency. I started 3 months ago training to my first triathlon which is in less than a week from now. I started not being able to swim at all, I could somewhat tred water and swim a few strokes and that's it, I've ALWAYS hated the water!!! I come from a cycling background, no experience in running or swimming but figured I'd give it a shot. My running has come along and so has my swimming but I went this past weekend to do the race distance in the swim and only got through half of it so I've decided to put off this tri and just train all winter and do a tri early next season. Even though I was only able to do half the distance I think I have progressed a lot and don't feel nearly as tired after the swim as I did before when I first started to learn how to swim. I still have problems getting water up my nose so I use a nose plug until I can breathe through it but as they say "practice makes perfect" so 3 months may not have been enough time but enough training in the off season and I should be in good shape next year.

I could've done the tri anyways and just try to "get through it" but unlike many people I don't race to "just finish it", I race to compete, and there is no competition if I'm gonna have that hard of a time getting through the swim. I'll do it again when I have some confidence that I have the possiblity of kicking some butt.

my 2 cents,
Dave

[QUOTE=jdtschida]As I've posted before, my first triathlon is coming up September 3rd. I've been training pretty hard the last couple weeks, and have a couple more good weeks of training to get ready. I'm confident in my cycling and running, but yesterday I finally went swimming for the first time in a long time and it kicked my butt...

Was just some open-water lake swimming, not even very far. I basically went back and forth between some beach boueys, maybe 25 yards each way. Kinda like pool length. I just got super winded on each length. By the time I stopped, I had only done maybe 12 to 16 lengths at most.


The question is can you survive for 1 third of a mile? I am by NO means a swimmer, for me it is a transition to the bike and run! You still have time to be able to do this tri. I would definately go to a pool.Try to be relaxed . Join a swim group for a few weeks this also helps. I only swim in the ocean , at the moment I have a broken collar bone I normally swim 1 mile in 30 minutes Now I can only do back stroke only for 1 hour!Boy do I wish I could swim only one third of a mile! My point is if you can survive the swim there is soo many more people that cannot even doggy paddle. Stick with it, Do the tri for fun then get your swimming improved in the off season. Good Luck .

For all of you looking to train on the swim over the winter - I highly recommend total immersion. www.totalimmersion.net
Buy the book Triathlon Swimming Made Easy then buy the DVD Freestyle Made Easy.
Do the drills. Learn it. Love it. Live it.

THe typical rule of thumb is that the swim cannot win you a tri but it can cause you lose a tri.

Not sure what this means, but if you race ITU draft legal races, you'll probably lose if you don't get out of the water with the front of the pack.

Not sure what this means, but if you race ITU draft legal races, you'll probably lose if you don't get out of the water with the front of the pack.
What it means (I've heard it from a number of people) is that if you are a great swimmer, that alone won't win you a tri. But, if you totally suck at swimming it will cause you to lose. The point being that with most tri's the swim is the shortest leg. So, getting a big lead out of the water won't give you the win over great bikers and runners who are ok swimmers unless you are a pretty decent biker or runner.

Looking at an olympic distrance tri - the bike is the longest leg, then the run, then the swim. So, if you are smokin on the bike - it helps the most.

It is way to late to get swimming fitness. For big meets the swimmers cut training way back for at least a week before and likely do speed work for the week before that.

BUT

You can still make major improvements with form. If you can find a real swim coach he can still likely work wonders in just a couple of weeks. If you are on your own my main suggestion is work on your breathing. If that is smooth it costs very little to breath every stroke and that will let you leave the water at elast not exhausted. But if breathing is sloppy you lose quite a bit each breath. Also work on being smooth. Many poor swimmers seem to almost start and stop and bob up and down. Wasted motion really hurts.

I'm going swimming again this evening if the weather cooperates. Went on Tuesday and did twice as well as I did on Sunday before the lightning and thunder rolled in. I think just getting out there is helping me a ton. I've been focusing on breathing well and not sucking water up my nose, and also working on my form in the water. I'm sure I can improve a ton more before the race as long as I keep up my every-other-day swimming routine.

I'm going swimming again this evening if the weather cooperates. Went on Tuesday and did twice as well as I did on Sunday before the lightning and thunder rolled in. I think just getting out there is helping me a ton. I've been focusing on breathing well and not sucking water up my nose, and also working on my form in the water. I'm sure I can improve a ton more before the race as long as I keep up my every-other-day swimming routine.

What you doing to keep the water from going up your nose? I still can't seem to stop it from going up my nose and I have an incredibly hard time breathing through my nose so I just breathe through my mouth.

Make sure you're exhaling through your nose and mouth. You should feel like you're having a few good nose blows when you first start your swim! Just remember, if bubbles are coming out, water can't go in. (Yes, I know, easier said than done. Just practice.)

What you doing to keep the water from going up your nose? I still can't seem to stop it from going up my nose and I have an incredibly hard time breathing through my nose so I just breathe through my mouth.

like H2OChick said. I have to sometimes force air to go out my nose as I start to come up for a breath. If I do get any up my nose, I keep going, but next couple breaths force the air out only my nose to clear it.

lol, I thought it was impossible to breathe out your nose and mouth at the same time, I guess I'll have to just practice forcing the air out of my nose then, I assume it starts to get easier though? I assume it's a lot easier to breathe out of your mouth because it's a bigger opening but I didn't think it would be this hard to breathe out of my nose.

OK -- another newbie here -- I have my first sprint tri in a week -- an 850 yd swim (Lake) and I have been practicing all summer -- I have a very powerful breast stroke, and can outswim my friends who are doing freestyle, and have more endurance doing breastroke. I CAN go faster with freestyle, but get winded sooner. I was thinking for my tri to just stick with my breast stroke and cruise along, rather than get winded doing freestyle. Any advice? Plus my breathing/sighting the course, etc. are all easier with the breastroke...

Hi Deederdoll! Good to see you over here! I sent you a PM... check your box.

I don't think I exhale from both my nose and mouth at the same time...but I exhale through the nose the entire time my face is in the water, then come up for a side breathe and inhale through the mouth every fourth stroke. Works for me. If you could make sense of that!

Oh...and stick with the stroke you feel most comfortable with. Holy cow...I saw one fella at my last tri start out with a butterfly, beautiful stroke!!

Third swim last night for me. Gah, didn't go so well. Went to another beach since I'm still figuring out which ones I like around here. This one I could swim past the swim markers (no lifeguard on duty), and it actually gets to about 7ft. Pretty deep considering most beaches are setup so you can't drown unless you try...

Of course I get sooo tired, again. Worse than my 2nd swim, though I was able to get a little more distance this time because no storms rolled in. I'm going to go back this afternoon and swim again but try to go really slow buy smoother, with better breathing.

A couple of women college swimmers showed up and put me to shame though as they swam laps around me. :(

Also, I tested out my Stearns Shorty wetsuit. It actually works really well! No need for a $200 wetsuit here. I'll stick with my $35 one. :) Helped float, but not enough to keep me above water, it just helped a little. Also didn't hinder my stroke too much, though I think it did a little. That might just be because it's a new feeling though.

a year ago i was 5th from the last at an oly,,,42 min for less than a mile on the swim////..just did im cda in 11.05...if i can doit any on e can..

agree w/ jennings780... once you get to offseason...check out totalimmersion.net - I went to their tri camp in Vermont last summer--- one word: lifechanging. Swimming is now fun--Im relaxed and it feels GREAT.

Also, I had trouble as a kid on swim team w/ the water in the nose deal...my coach had me 'hummmmm' while under water...so i breathed out water through my nose...and it kept me from breathing it back in. It fixed the problem. Though I dont need to do that anymore...sometimes out of habit...and dont worry, no one else can hear you.
Have fun w/ the tri!

Thanks for the humming tip Sadie. Will give it a try and see what I think.

I'm actually quite pleased with my swimming improvement over the last couple weeks. It's amazing how I can actually keep swimming now for more than the distance of the race! I just have to alternate strokes when I get tired, but at least I keep moving forward. :)