scottdude

hey all,
i was wondering about what i should do about a sprint i have coming up, it will be my first. but the problem is it just popped up i planned on doing one in a little more than a month which would have been fine for me, but this one is on saturday! i really would like to do it and i know that i have the run and bike portion down and done easily. i am very concerned however with the swim, i am on the swim team but ive been out of the game for a while, i got my first swim in today and could easily do my 100 but farther would have been pushing it, its a 250 so any help on some kind of training would be greatly appreciated. and another question i had if this is a only 4 mile baby ride on bike do i need aero bars? also should i practice the shoes clipped in or just go with the flow for my first one?

Slothman

Just finished my first tri. When I started swimming, I could do 50, maybe 100 yards before having to stop and rest. I would swim a lap and rest for 30 seconds, then do it again. I would do that for the whole workout. The next workout I would increase it by a lap. It didn't take long before I was able to do 9 laps, 450 yards, ~1/4 mile, at once. I was also on the swim team as a teenager. It'll come back. I swam the 500 yard leg in 9:43, which was faster than my pool times. Also make sure to do some open water swimming if the swim is an open water swim. It will really help. I didn't do that and wish that I would have.

I also read a bit about front quarter swimming. That was odd to start doing, but it helped out alot.

My sprint had a 17 mile bike, I didn't have aero bars, and neither did many others. Many people did, though.

I've heard doing the shoes clipped in bit helps alot on the time, but that it requires a good amount of practice. I didn't do it.

Then again, I didn't do it to win - just to finish!

EDIT: Oh boy - I just re-read and saw that yours was on this Saturday. So, slow down on your swim. Also, many people did the breast stroke or the sidestroke for the swim in mine. Don't worry if you have to do that. Also, to clarify: I did clip my shoes in on the bike leg, but I did not have them clipped in the pedals before I put my feet in them.

merlinextraligh

If you're on the swim team, you have to have better swim technique than half of the field.

Just pace yourself.

Really not much you can do to train between now and Saturday.

I'd go to the pool and swim a very slow 250, just so you have the confidence you can do the distance, and can get a feel for what a manageable pace will be for you with your current training.

Only other advice is if you're not experencied with open water swimming, go swim at the venue if possible (or comparable wter) and practice sighting.

evanyc

if you're just starting training for a tri, focus on swimming for distance before worrying about speed at all. also focus on trying to swim using primarily your arms so that you can save your legs for the bike/run.

John W

One critical thing to be aware of is that you are:
1) Swimming without lane lines,
2) Swimming with 100+ close friends

It's a little different than pool swimming. The swim can get a little rough as folks all around you are digging for traction. Expect some bumping along the way. Don't be too shocked if you get kicked in the head or get grabbed on the legs or arms or do the same to others. Just grind it out.

scottdude

and one more question for the swim it will be in a norm lap pool, will they take down the lane ropes or what? or will it be like a meet and they will slip a couple of us in a lane here and there and tell us to swim like crazy? also if the above is true is it fine if you pass somone and you have to dive beneath the next guy in order to aviod collision?

John W

My mistake. I thought you would be swimming in a lake/ocean and NOT a pool. Looks like you are in a pool situation. I've only seen a pool swim once and it was done by heats. In this case it was one person per lane and the times were adjusted at the end. Sort of like a wave start just with more waves. There's probably other ways to run the swim that I'm not aware of. I'd suggest calling the race coordinator or sending an email if any of that contact info was made available. Good to know in advance so you can plan a strategy (as I can see you are already trying to do). Good luck!!!!

merlinextraligh

The pool swim tri I did was done in waves of 6 ( one in each of 6 lanes) obviously this only works in a very small event.

I was in the first wave, and really felt pressured to finish the swim faster than the pace I wanted to maintain. (so the next wave could start). If I had it to do over, I would have said screw it and swam my own pace.