I can't say it hasn't been a busy week.
First of all, i had the Stroke N Stride Thursday night. 750M swim and a 5k run... THAT was an interesting experience. There were about 300 people and I had some minor trouble registering (summary: I'm an idiot). We headed down to the beach on Boulder Reservoir and the 1500m swim group started off at 0600. Five minutes later, we were plunging into the cool water.
There were three factors that seemed like they could be major issues in this first swim.
The first is the 'Open' part of the open water swim. Some people, being very accustomed to pools, get kind of freaked out or uncomfortable (or bored without all the laps) swimming in open water. I didn't think this would be a problem since I grew up swimming in lakes and ponds and I don't think it was an issue.
The second possible issue is the so-called 'washing machine' or 'blender' of swimming in a large group. This was one I was fairly concerned about, but I started at the back of the group and I was very slow, so it ended up being a pretty minor factor.
The third thing I saw as a potential issue was the cold water. Again, I grew up swimming in cold ponds and lakes, but I think of any of the three factors was a real issue, it was probably this one. I think a combination of the cold and excitement made it very difficult for me to get a rhythm down for probably the first 500m. I couldn't get my breathing or stroke down until I rounded the second buoy and headed back for the beach. My breathing got straightened out, my nerves calmed and the rest of the swim was easy. Still slow, but not as slow as the first part of the swim.
Once I was out of the water, the transition was pretty quick, although it would have been quicker if I had brought a proper towel and didn't need to put a band-aid on my right heel.
The run was great. It took a little while for my legs to warm up, but I felt like I put out a good, consistently hard effort and i was very pleased with it.
The Numbers
I really had no idea what my swim time was or my transition but now I have the official numbers.
Swim 18:52 - Considering the trouble I had for most of the swim, no complaints at all. I know I can improve. I think i can get this to about 17:00 doing the breast stroke.
Transition 3:45 - This REALLY should have been faster. Two minutes, tops.
Run 26:25 - That's about an 8:30 mile, whick I really can't argue about. Still pleased.
Total 49:01
Turns out, I took FOURTH in my age group (Men 25-29). Ok, granted, there were only 6 men in the age group... but still! Of the three guys from my group who were ahead of me, two of them were within 2:40 of my time. If my transition time gets down and I can have a stronger swim, which i should, then i could reasonably take second in my age group. In fact, the guy who took second in the age group got out of the water one second ahead of me! He beat me in transition (by 1:21) and on the run (by 1:17). The other guy beat me on the swim and transition, but I got him on the run.
Friday morning I had my swim lesson with Mike Ricci. 0730 AM I was getting into the pool and showing Mike what I could (or rather, couldn't) do. he put me through some drills to see what I could do and then some others to teach me how to do things more correctly. My main problem, which is fairly significant, is my breathing and the way I'm picking up my head to do so. I'm holding my breath when my head is underwater rather than exhaling slowly the whole time. Then I'm lifting too much of my head out of the water to breath, rather than turning my head, pulling my chin back to my shoulder and keeping one goggle in the water. Mike observed that my stroke technique was good and I took the corrections he asked for well, but when I started getting caught up in the breathing problems, I tensed up and my stroke technique went to hell.
After the hour long lesson, I was completely exhausted (which was probably a factor in the pool as well) and Mike said he would email me with some drills, tips and suggestions.
Overall, it was very encouraging and good to know I'm not a complete mess. I knew the breathing was an issue, but at least now I have some ideas of what to look for and some drills for correcting it.
Today, I went to yoga (I needed some loosening up) and relaxing. The last couple days were pretty tiring, especially for what's supposed to be a recovery week. Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the 5430 Sprint and going to the BTC barbecue. In between I'm going to go for a swim and a long, easy run.
First of all, i had the Stroke N Stride Thursday night. 750M swim and a 5k run... THAT was an interesting experience. There were about 300 people and I had some minor trouble registering (summary: I'm an idiot). We headed down to the beach on Boulder Reservoir and the 1500m swim group started off at 0600. Five minutes later, we were plunging into the cool water.
There were three factors that seemed like they could be major issues in this first swim.
The first is the 'Open' part of the open water swim. Some people, being very accustomed to pools, get kind of freaked out or uncomfortable (or bored without all the laps) swimming in open water. I didn't think this would be a problem since I grew up swimming in lakes and ponds and I don't think it was an issue.
The second possible issue is the so-called 'washing machine' or 'blender' of swimming in a large group. This was one I was fairly concerned about, but I started at the back of the group and I was very slow, so it ended up being a pretty minor factor.
The third thing I saw as a potential issue was the cold water. Again, I grew up swimming in cold ponds and lakes, but I think of any of the three factors was a real issue, it was probably this one. I think a combination of the cold and excitement made it very difficult for me to get a rhythm down for probably the first 500m. I couldn't get my breathing or stroke down until I rounded the second buoy and headed back for the beach. My breathing got straightened out, my nerves calmed and the rest of the swim was easy. Still slow, but not as slow as the first part of the swim.
Once I was out of the water, the transition was pretty quick, although it would have been quicker if I had brought a proper towel and didn't need to put a band-aid on my right heel.
The run was great. It took a little while for my legs to warm up, but I felt like I put out a good, consistently hard effort and i was very pleased with it.
The Numbers
I really had no idea what my swim time was or my transition but now I have the official numbers.
Swim 18:52 - Considering the trouble I had for most of the swim, no complaints at all. I know I can improve. I think i can get this to about 17:00 doing the breast stroke.
Transition 3:45 - This REALLY should have been faster. Two minutes, tops.
Run 26:25 - That's about an 8:30 mile, whick I really can't argue about. Still pleased.
Total 49:01
Turns out, I took FOURTH in my age group (Men 25-29). Ok, granted, there were only 6 men in the age group... but still! Of the three guys from my group who were ahead of me, two of them were within 2:40 of my time. If my transition time gets down and I can have a stronger swim, which i should, then i could reasonably take second in my age group. In fact, the guy who took second in the age group got out of the water one second ahead of me! He beat me in transition (by 1:21) and on the run (by 1:17). The other guy beat me on the swim and transition, but I got him on the run.
Friday morning I had my swim lesson with Mike Ricci. 0730 AM I was getting into the pool and showing Mike what I could (or rather, couldn't) do. he put me through some drills to see what I could do and then some others to teach me how to do things more correctly. My main problem, which is fairly significant, is my breathing and the way I'm picking up my head to do so. I'm holding my breath when my head is underwater rather than exhaling slowly the whole time. Then I'm lifting too much of my head out of the water to breath, rather than turning my head, pulling my chin back to my shoulder and keeping one goggle in the water. Mike observed that my stroke technique was good and I took the corrections he asked for well, but when I started getting caught up in the breathing problems, I tensed up and my stroke technique went to hell.
After the hour long lesson, I was completely exhausted (which was probably a factor in the pool as well) and Mike said he would email me with some drills, tips and suggestions.
Overall, it was very encouraging and good to know I'm not a complete mess. I knew the breathing was an issue, but at least now I have some ideas of what to look for and some drills for correcting it.
Today, I went to yoga (I needed some loosening up) and relaxing. The last couple days were pretty tiring, especially for what's supposed to be a recovery week. Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the 5430 Sprint and going to the BTC barbecue. In between I'm going to go for a swim and a long, easy run.
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