Thursday, July 07, 2005
FIRST OPEN WATER SWIM!
My first open water experience happened at the latest triathlon clinic. Donning a sleeveless wetsuit (which putting on was a workout in itself!), we sat through a 20 minute talk about technique on the beach. Then it was time to go in! It was pretty choppy, so I was a little tentative. As well, everyone had swim caps and seal masks as opposed to the flimsy, non-tinted Fisher-price goggles that I have. When I put my first foot in the lake, it was cold! Not prolonging the agony, I quickly dived in. Immediately, I could feel my body protesting, not being used to the sudden plunge in termperature! But, as I got my arms moving, it wasn't too bad. In fact, it was quite refreshing! How best to describe the experience?
- YOU CANNOT SEE ANYTHING!! Lake Ontario has sort of a greenish hue to it and everything is mirky. You can see your arms going into the water, but that's about it.
- OCCASIONALLY, YOU BRUSH AGAINST SOMETHING IN THE WATER!! I think it was either seaweed or the branch of a tree. At times, I felt like the seaweed had wrapped itself around my arm, making me a weird kind of sushi!
- WAVES ARE DECEIVING!! Sometimes, I felt like I was moving backwards, being carried back by the waves, despite putting my best effort into swimming forwards!
- YOU CANNOT SINK IN A WETSUIT!! The bouyancy of the neoprene is very good. It helps keep your body straight, so the swimming technique is much more effective. In fact, some triathletes don't even use their legs while they are swimming in a wetsuit! This is great when one needs to rest.
It ended up being more of an exercise of mental discipline than physical exertion. All during the 20 minutes or so that we were out there, I had to fight panic attacks. I think that I was so focused on not drinking the lake water (which I succeeded - zero gulps!) that it distracted me from staying calm. I had to work really hard staying focused on technique and proper breathing, which is disappointing because I feel like I've come a long way through pool training over the last few months. I'm glad that I had this experience because it better prepares me (in terms of expectation) for the actual race day (can't imagine having to go through all this for the first time during a competition). All in all, it left me with feelings of awe (that I actually survived swimming in Lake Ontario) and disbelief (that I actually swam in Lake Ontario)!
- YOU CANNOT SEE ANYTHING!! Lake Ontario has sort of a greenish hue to it and everything is mirky. You can see your arms going into the water, but that's about it.
- OCCASIONALLY, YOU BRUSH AGAINST SOMETHING IN THE WATER!! I think it was either seaweed or the branch of a tree. At times, I felt like the seaweed had wrapped itself around my arm, making me a weird kind of sushi!
- WAVES ARE DECEIVING!! Sometimes, I felt like I was moving backwards, being carried back by the waves, despite putting my best effort into swimming forwards!
- YOU CANNOT SINK IN A WETSUIT!! The bouyancy of the neoprene is very good. It helps keep your body straight, so the swimming technique is much more effective. In fact, some triathletes don't even use their legs while they are swimming in a wetsuit! This is great when one needs to rest.
It ended up being more of an exercise of mental discipline than physical exertion. All during the 20 minutes or so that we were out there, I had to fight panic attacks. I think that I was so focused on not drinking the lake water (which I succeeded - zero gulps!) that it distracted me from staying calm. I had to work really hard staying focused on technique and proper breathing, which is disappointing because I feel like I've come a long way through pool training over the last few months. I'm glad that I had this experience because it better prepares me (in terms of expectation) for the actual race day (can't imagine having to go through all this for the first time during a competition). All in all, it left me with feelings of awe (that I actually survived swimming in Lake Ontario) and disbelief (that I actually swam in Lake Ontario)!
# posted by Duffshot @ 2:59 PM 
