need a little pep talk!
06-14-09, 08:28 PM
#1
superArti
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need a little pep talk!
Share with me your jedi mind tricks... I need to get over my fear of CHOPPY water!!
Next saturday I have my first tri. Overall, I'm feeling confident in the training I've accomplished and my level of fitness. I was feeling REALLY good going into my last group open water swim yesterday.
Only... once I got there the water was REALLY choppy. One of my coaches (several time Ironman finisher) said she hasn't even had an ocean swim that bad. We just got pounded with waves, and I found it impossible to time my breathing such that I didn't get a mouth full of water every time - waves were coming in pretty quick. Every few strokes I stopped to try to calm down- and actualy I think just bobbing in the water made it worse.
Its not a matter of swimming ability, I feel really comfortable in every other open water swim.
With the waves, I could really feel my anxiety just off the charts and no mind over matter tricks could calm me down. At one point, I was hanging onto a buoy and nearly puked... looked down the buoy line and saw a few others hanging on for dear life as well.
Ugh, ugh. Scared this could happen on race day. The only thing I can tell myself is that my goal this time is just to finish, even if that means doggy paddling the swim and coming in last.
Next saturday I have my first tri. Overall, I'm feeling confident in the training I've accomplished and my level of fitness. I was feeling REALLY good going into my last group open water swim yesterday.
Only... once I got there the water was REALLY choppy. One of my coaches (several time Ironman finisher) said she hasn't even had an ocean swim that bad. We just got pounded with waves, and I found it impossible to time my breathing such that I didn't get a mouth full of water every time - waves were coming in pretty quick. Every few strokes I stopped to try to calm down- and actualy I think just bobbing in the water made it worse.
Its not a matter of swimming ability, I feel really comfortable in every other open water swim.
With the waves, I could really feel my anxiety just off the charts and no mind over matter tricks could calm me down. At one point, I was hanging onto a buoy and nearly puked... looked down the buoy line and saw a few others hanging on for dear life as well.
Ugh, ugh. Scared this could happen on race day. The only thing I can tell myself is that my goal this time is just to finish, even if that means doggy paddling the swim and coming in last.
__________________
i woke up one morning and i stepped out of bed | had to get a bike, had to paint it red
Of all the treasures I have, it’s the memories that are the most precious.
i woke up one morning and i stepped out of bed | had to get a bike, had to paint it red
Of all the treasures I have, it’s the memories that are the most precious.
06-14-09, 10:18 PM
#2
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1. You have a good high base level of fitness. "I feel really comfortable in every other open water swim" this is a good mantra to replay in your head. When the going gets tough, tell yourself "just keep going".
2. The workout in choppy water was a fantastic training experience! Try to put it in perspective... "One of my coaches (several time Ironman finisher) said she hasn't even had an ocean swim that bad". Realize there's a 99% chance you'll never swim in such rough water again. But if you should encounter water, even half as rough, you'll have the confidence that you've survived worse and you'll get through it. If it was that rough at a triathlon, they'd cancel the swim (look up St Anthony's 2009).
3. I don't think there is any technique for stroke or breathing while swimming in choppy water so rough it makes it impossible to breathe by simply turning your head. Perhaps a Navy Seal or Coast Guard rescue swimmer can correct me if I'm wrong. Just blow out your exhale, jerk your head straight up, gasp a big gulp, expect to get a mouth full of water too, dunk your head back down, spit out the water, and quickly get horizontal and keep stroking so as to not loose momentum. Maybe do a two footed butterfly stoke kick ("dolfin kick"?) as you jerk your head up. If you stop your forward motion and come to a full vertical for every breath, you'll be 10 minutes per 100 yds, and exhausted by the time you reach the beach. If the waves are bigger, you can time your breathing to the crests, but in "washing machine" chop, you just have to do the best you can.
4. I've been 1 to 2 miles offshore in the ocean, several times, while windsurfing, and had equipment failure, or rougher than expected conditions, or sudden change in the weather, and an out-going tide. I usually begin with personal vows of never again, etc., eventually I start negotiating with God... all the while, I keep telling myself, "slow and steady, just keep going, you'll get there, this is a temporary discomfort, 20 more minutes, etc". I think and rethink, tactically, should I keep going straight to the beach, or do I need to be trying to angle more across the tide (or waves, or wind)?, etc. "slow and steady, just keep going, you'll get there...".
5. I don't know how one fends off panic. In most worrisome situations, if you can stay busy, and concentrate on the task at hand, the difficult time will pass. In the case of a difficult swim, replay in your mind every swimming lesson you've ever had. Concentrate on technique, reach, entry, catch, pull, glide, steady kick. I know, in the chop you can't get a rthymn, but just keep telling yourself over and over "reach, entry, catch, pull, glide, steady kick". If that doesn't work, start with the first year of your memory and page through every place you've lived, every school teacher you had, every person you've met, every vacation you've been on, every race you've run, every car you've driven, every bike you've ridden, etc. There's a lot of old pages in the catalog of your memory if you dig through them, before you know it you'll be at the beach.
Good luck.
2. The workout in choppy water was a fantastic training experience! Try to put it in perspective... "One of my coaches (several time Ironman finisher) said she hasn't even had an ocean swim that bad". Realize there's a 99% chance you'll never swim in such rough water again. But if you should encounter water, even half as rough, you'll have the confidence that you've survived worse and you'll get through it. If it was that rough at a triathlon, they'd cancel the swim (look up St Anthony's 2009).
3. I don't think there is any technique for stroke or breathing while swimming in choppy water so rough it makes it impossible to breathe by simply turning your head. Perhaps a Navy Seal or Coast Guard rescue swimmer can correct me if I'm wrong. Just blow out your exhale, jerk your head straight up, gasp a big gulp, expect to get a mouth full of water too, dunk your head back down, spit out the water, and quickly get horizontal and keep stroking so as to not loose momentum. Maybe do a two footed butterfly stoke kick ("dolfin kick"?) as you jerk your head up. If you stop your forward motion and come to a full vertical for every breath, you'll be 10 minutes per 100 yds, and exhausted by the time you reach the beach. If the waves are bigger, you can time your breathing to the crests, but in "washing machine" chop, you just have to do the best you can.
4. I've been 1 to 2 miles offshore in the ocean, several times, while windsurfing, and had equipment failure, or rougher than expected conditions, or sudden change in the weather, and an out-going tide. I usually begin with personal vows of never again, etc., eventually I start negotiating with God... all the while, I keep telling myself, "slow and steady, just keep going, you'll get there, this is a temporary discomfort, 20 more minutes, etc". I think and rethink, tactically, should I keep going straight to the beach, or do I need to be trying to angle more across the tide (or waves, or wind)?, etc. "slow and steady, just keep going, you'll get there...".
5. I don't know how one fends off panic. In most worrisome situations, if you can stay busy, and concentrate on the task at hand, the difficult time will pass. In the case of a difficult swim, replay in your mind every swimming lesson you've ever had. Concentrate on technique, reach, entry, catch, pull, glide, steady kick. I know, in the chop you can't get a rthymn, but just keep telling yourself over and over "reach, entry, catch, pull, glide, steady kick". If that doesn't work, start with the first year of your memory and page through every place you've lived, every school teacher you had, every person you've met, every vacation you've been on, every race you've run, every car you've driven, every bike you've ridden, etc. There's a lot of old pages in the catalog of your memory if you dig through them, before you know it you'll be at the beach.
Good luck.
06-14-09, 10:24 PM
#3
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Set small goals. Like "I'm going to make 5 more strokes without panicking" Then, when you do that, do it again, except 6 strokes. Wash, rinse, repeat.\
Practice your bilateral breathing, so that you can breath on the non choppy side, away from the waves.
Practice your bilateral breathing, so that you can breath on the non choppy side, away from the waves.
06-15-09, 12:00 AM
#4
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Does "tough love" help? The attached pic is from the Strawberry Fields Tri in 2005. The waves were 10-12 feet and recent rains had washed large trees down the rivers and into the surf lines. What this meant to us was that we ran into the ocean, tripped over tree trunks and got hit in the face by huge waves. No big deal for me as I grew up surfing So Cal beaches...but my wife almost drowned when she was a toddler. She fell in the pool and her mom found her on the bottom a few minutes later. She was in a coma for weeks. She did this race and made it through the swim despite her fears and baggage. So...if she can do it, all I have for you is a simple HTFU!!! Oh, and have a fun race 
__________________
Fredo, you're my older brother and I love you...but don't ever take sides, with anyone, against the family again...ever.
Fredo, you're my older brother and I love you...but don't ever take sides, with anyone, against the family again...ever.
06-15-09, 10:01 AM
#5
superArti
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1. You have a good high base level of fitness. "I feel really comfortable in every other open water swim" this is a good mantra to replay in your head. When the going gets tough, tell yourself "just keep going".
2. The workout in choppy water was a fantastic training experience! Try to put it in perspective... "One of my coaches (several time Ironman finisher) said she hasn't even had an ocean swim that bad". Realize there's a 99% chance you'll never swim in such rough water again. But if you should encounter water, even half as rough, you'll have the confidence that you've survived worse and you'll get through it. If it was that rough at a triathlon, they'd cancel the swim (look up St Anthony's 2009).
3. I don't think there is any technique for stroke or breathing while swimming in choppy water so rough it makes it impossible to breathe by simply turning your head. Perhaps a Navy Seal or Coast Guard rescue swimmer can correct me if I'm wrong. Just blow out your exhale, jerk your head straight up, gasp a big gulp, expect to get a mouth full of water too, dunk your head back down, spit out the water, and quickly get horizontal and keep stroking so as to not loose momentum. Maybe do a two footed butterfly stoke kick ("dolfin kick"?) as you jerk your head up. If you stop your forward motion and come to a full vertical for every breath, you'll be 10 minutes per 100 yds, and exhausted by the time you reach the beach. If the waves are bigger, you can time your breathing to the crests, but in "washing machine" chop, you just have to do the best you can.
4. I've been 1 to 2 miles offshore in the ocean, several times, while windsurfing, and had equipment failure, or rougher than expected conditions, or sudden change in the weather, and an out-going tide. I usually begin with personal vows of never again, etc., eventually I start negotiating with God... all the while, I keep telling myself, "slow and steady, just keep going, you'll get there, this is a temporary discomfort, 20 more minutes, etc". I think and rethink, tactically, should I keep going straight to the beach, or do I need to be trying to angle more across the tide (or waves, or wind)?, etc. "slow and steady, just keep going, you'll get there...".
5. I don't know how one fends off panic. In most worrisome situations, if you can stay busy, and concentrate on the task at hand, the difficult time will pass. In the case of a difficult swim, replay in your mind every swimming lesson you've ever had. Concentrate on technique, reach, entry, catch, pull, glide, steady kick. I know, in the chop you can't get a rthymn, but just keep telling yourself over and over "reach, entry, catch, pull, glide, steady kick". If that doesn't work, start with the first year of your memory and page through every place you've lived, every school teacher you had, every person you've met, every vacation you've been on, every race you've run, every car you've driven, every bike you've ridden, etc. There's a lot of old pages in the catalog of your memory if you dig through them, before you know it you'll be at the beach.
Good luck.
2. The workout in choppy water was a fantastic training experience! Try to put it in perspective... "One of my coaches (several time Ironman finisher) said she hasn't even had an ocean swim that bad". Realize there's a 99% chance you'll never swim in such rough water again. But if you should encounter water, even half as rough, you'll have the confidence that you've survived worse and you'll get through it. If it was that rough at a triathlon, they'd cancel the swim (look up St Anthony's 2009).
3. I don't think there is any technique for stroke or breathing while swimming in choppy water so rough it makes it impossible to breathe by simply turning your head. Perhaps a Navy Seal or Coast Guard rescue swimmer can correct me if I'm wrong. Just blow out your exhale, jerk your head straight up, gasp a big gulp, expect to get a mouth full of water too, dunk your head back down, spit out the water, and quickly get horizontal and keep stroking so as to not loose momentum. Maybe do a two footed butterfly stoke kick ("dolfin kick"?) as you jerk your head up. If you stop your forward motion and come to a full vertical for every breath, you'll be 10 minutes per 100 yds, and exhausted by the time you reach the beach. If the waves are bigger, you can time your breathing to the crests, but in "washing machine" chop, you just have to do the best you can.
4. I've been 1 to 2 miles offshore in the ocean, several times, while windsurfing, and had equipment failure, or rougher than expected conditions, or sudden change in the weather, and an out-going tide. I usually begin with personal vows of never again, etc., eventually I start negotiating with God... all the while, I keep telling myself, "slow and steady, just keep going, you'll get there, this is a temporary discomfort, 20 more minutes, etc". I think and rethink, tactically, should I keep going straight to the beach, or do I need to be trying to angle more across the tide (or waves, or wind)?, etc. "slow and steady, just keep going, you'll get there...".
5. I don't know how one fends off panic. In most worrisome situations, if you can stay busy, and concentrate on the task at hand, the difficult time will pass. In the case of a difficult swim, replay in your mind every swimming lesson you've ever had. Concentrate on technique, reach, entry, catch, pull, glide, steady kick. I know, in the chop you can't get a rthymn, but just keep telling yourself over and over "reach, entry, catch, pull, glide, steady kick". If that doesn't work, start with the first year of your memory and page through every place you've lived, every school teacher you had, every person you've met, every vacation you've been on, every race you've run, every car you've driven, every bike you've ridden, etc. There's a lot of old pages in the catalog of your memory if you dig through them, before you know it you'll be at the beach.
Good luck.
Does "tough love" help? The attached pic is from the Strawberry Fields Tri in 2005. The waves were 10-12 feet and recent rains had washed large trees down the rivers and into the surf lines. What this meant to us was that we ran into the ocean, tripped over tree trunks and got hit in the face by huge waves. No big deal for me as I grew up surfing So Cal beaches...but my wife almost drowned when she was a toddler. She fell in the pool and her mom found her on the bottom a few minutes later. She was in a coma for weeks. She did this race and made it through the swim despite her fears and baggage. So...if she can do it, all I have for you is a simple HTFU!!! Oh, and have a fun race
__________________
i woke up one morning and i stepped out of bed | had to get a bike, had to paint it red
Of all the treasures I have, it’s the memories that are the most precious.
i woke up one morning and i stepped out of bed | had to get a bike, had to paint it red
Of all the treasures I have, it’s the memories that are the most precious.
06-16-09, 08:35 AM
#7
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Tell yourself that was the worst the water could be, anything from here on out is only going to be better.
When I am in the middle of a swim/bike/run, I tend to let my mind go back in time to the day's events, what I did, what I am going to do....let your mind wonder. I run through my routine, enjoy the scenery. Last night when I was running I ran past a subway restaurant and wondered what the people were eating...if it was good. Ran past a few houses and got some ideas for what I wanted to do to my yard. Passed a guy riding his bike in the dark and thought "dude, put a light on it", then imagined what would happen if a car didnt see him.
If your sole focus is on the present tense than your going to panic. When I was swimming, I kept my mind on my stroke count then as I passed each buoy I pictured myself in a different part of the race, next thing I new I was rounding the last buoy and heading for shore.
I tend to focus on my goals...one step further, is one closer to the finish. One stroke more is one stroke less...
When I am in the middle of a swim/bike/run, I tend to let my mind go back in time to the day's events, what I did, what I am going to do....let your mind wonder. I run through my routine, enjoy the scenery. Last night when I was running I ran past a subway restaurant and wondered what the people were eating...if it was good. Ran past a few houses and got some ideas for what I wanted to do to my yard. Passed a guy riding his bike in the dark and thought "dude, put a light on it", then imagined what would happen if a car didnt see him.
If your sole focus is on the present tense than your going to panic. When I was swimming, I kept my mind on my stroke count then as I passed each buoy I pictured myself in a different part of the race, next thing I new I was rounding the last buoy and heading for shore.
I tend to focus on my goals...one step further, is one closer to the finish. One stroke more is one stroke less...
06-17-09, 07:41 PM
#8
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Relax, relax, relax...
Sometimes, slowing down a bit can result in the fastest time. It's so easy to go right up to the redline in a dicey swim, so just take your time and try to relax. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!
Sometimes, slowing down a bit can result in the fastest time. It's so easy to go right up to the redline in a dicey swim, so just take your time and try to relax. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!
06-17-09, 10:23 PM
#9
superArti
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I think I'm mentally prepared now for whatever gets thrown at me biked the race route last sunday, and am really psyched about it. enough so, that I'd swim through anything to get there.
plus- yes, I'm doing it for fun, and a cause I really believe in. My goal is to finish, even if that means a ridiculously slow swim (although I'd like to make top 1/2 of my age group). several of the gals I've been training with are also in my age group, and are doing their first tri also. We're very much there to support each other.
I'll have a race report in just a few short days... as I become a triathlete!
biked the race route last sunday, and am really psyched about it. enough so, that I'd swim through anything to get there.plus- yes, I'm doing it for fun, and a cause I really believe in. My goal is to finish, even if that means a ridiculously slow swim (although I'd like to make top 1/2 of my age group). several of the gals I've been training with are also in my age group, and are doing their first tri also. We're very much there to support each other.
I'll have a race report in just a few short days... as I become a triathlete!
__________________
i woke up one morning and i stepped out of bed | had to get a bike, had to paint it red
Of all the treasures I have, it’s the memories that are the most precious.
i woke up one morning and i stepped out of bed | had to get a bike, had to paint it red
Of all the treasures I have, it’s the memories that are the most precious.
06-18-09, 09:15 AM
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I think I'm mentally prepared now for whatever gets thrown at me biked the race route last sunday, and am really psyched about it. enough so, that I'd swim through anything to get there.
plus- yes, I'm doing it for fun, and a cause I really believe in. My goal is to finish, even if that means a ridiculously slow swim (although I'd like to make top 1/2 of my age group). several of the gals I've been training with are also in my age group, and are doing their first tri also. We're very much there to support each other.
I'll have a race report in just a few short days... as I become a triathlete!
biked the race route last sunday, and am really psyched about it. enough so, that I'd swim through anything to get there.plus- yes, I'm doing it for fun, and a cause I really believe in. My goal is to finish, even if that means a ridiculously slow swim (although I'd like to make top 1/2 of my age group). several of the gals I've been training with are also in my age group, and are doing their first tri also. We're very much there to support each other.
I'll have a race report in just a few short days... as I become a triathlete!
