I was asked today by one of my kids' coaches to join her in a triathlon team on the swimming leg. I'm trying to work up the guts to say yes. :blush:
They Hyvee triathlon, held here in Des Moines, is in September. I've never been a distance swimmer, but have been working lately on improving my endurance. I've been swimming 500s (technically 600m as it's a 30m pool) during my workouts and doing all my flip turns on them. Don't laugh, it's a big accomplishment for me. :p
Anywho, I know I'd need to do some OW training as well as increasing my distance endurance. I'm going to look into the local training groups for the tri around here - I know there are plenty. Does anyone have any tips on preparing? Or am I crazy for considering it? :D
Looks like fun! I try to get on triathlon teams whenever I can. It is one of my few limited OW options in the area. A few months should be plenty of time to get ready. You should be fine training in the pool. Swim in the lake a couple times before the event to get familiar with everything. In the pool, try to pull your head up and look forward to sight every lap to get used to it. Try to sight as high up as you can without dropping your hips too much and killing your momentum. On longer legs of the swim, it can be hard to see the buoy. Pick out a landmark in the distance to swim towards instead.
Some other random things:
* Get tinted goggles especially if the start is in the morning and you will have to breathe towards the sun
* Warm up before the start
* Practice transitions. Around here, they typically use a band with an RFID chip mounted on it to track when you go through a checkpoint. For relays, the band may need to be transferred to your teammates for the next leg. You don't want to do this for the first time during the race. You might swim with a band on your ankle a few times to get used to something like that being there (it never really bothers me).
* Swim until the water is knee deep. Running in waist deep water is very slow.
One last thing... A couple years ago, I did the swim leg of a sprint triathlon and didn't pay much attention to the overall course. After a 400m swim which I did at full speed, I got out of the water and realized I had a 400m run to the transition area. It stinks to run that far completely out of breath. Remember it is a swim + some distance of running. Know what that distance is ahead of time.
Looks like fun! I try to get on triathlon teams whenever I can. It is one of my few limited OW options in the area. A few months should be plenty of time to get ready. You should be fine training in the pool. Swim in the lake a couple times before the event to get familiar with everything. In the pool, try to pull your head up and look forward to sight every lap to get used to it. Try to sight as high up as you can without dropping your hips too much and killing your momentum. On longer legs of the swim, it can be hard to see the buoy. Pick out a landmark in the distance to swim towards instead.
Some other random things:
* Get tinted goggles especially if the start is in the morning and you will have to breathe towards the sun
* Warm up before the start
* Practice transitions. Around here, they typically use a band with an RFID chip mounted on it to track when you go through a checkpoint. For relays, the band may need to be transferred to your teammates for the next leg. You don't want to do this for the first time during the race. You might swim with a band on your ankle a few times to get used to something like that being there (it never really bothers me).
* Swim until the water is knee deep. Running in waist deep water is very slow.
One last thing... A couple years ago, I did the swim leg of a sprint triathlon and didn't pay much attention to the overall course. After a 400m swim which I did at full speed, I got out of the water and realized I had a 400m run to the transition area. It stinks to run that far completely out of breath. Remember it is a swim + some distance of running. Know what that distance is ahead of time.
