Originally Posted by
rushbikes
I did my first tri last summer and found the initial shock of jumping into cold water plus raceday anxiety to really kill my swim. I was suffering! I'm a terrible swimmer anyway and was getting used to wearing a wetsuit so almost felt like I was hyperventilating! Fortunately my biking & running ability put me back in the field.
What can I do to warm up before the race? I suspect the water & outdoor temp will be in the 60's for my next race, if that affects anything. I noticed some racers riding on their trainer, good for bloodflow I imagine, but won't that draw blood away from your arm muscles to your legs?
I jog a couple slow laps (2x400) & do a couple sprints to practice staying upright with tall posture. I stretch legs, calves & gluts with real short holds and then start swimming some strokes. That is the current routine. I had never stretched before and the difference starting warmed up was a lot for me. I placed in the overall for the first time ever about 2 weeks ago. I am racing a sprint in CA ocean in a couple of weeks. Should be fun. I'll be using this routine again! Find something that works for you. Stretching out is rarely accepted it seems; for high impact martial arts I used to do it was common sense to prevent injury and improve concentration. Just don't push too hard or tear anything. Good luck!