Yesterday morning, my buddy / triathlon mentor Patrick and my pastor at church Chris teamed up on me and convinced me to meet them in the morning for a swim in the Ohio River. Patrick has been telling me for a while that it was time for me to give it a try. Chris on the other hand, I suspect, has always thought that my baptism way back when didn't quite take and in my case may require another several good dunks to be effective.
In any case, they met me at the Ohio River behind Tumbleweed at 8 AM. It was a good time to try it out because one of the local triathlon clubs had organized a training for the swim and the bike for the upcoming Louisville Ironman Triathlon. They had some volunteers in kayaks for safety and there were several dozen swimmers, so you weren't alone in the river.
If you have been following for a while, you know that I have been working on the swim now for almost 3 months. I have swum a mile continuously, although in a pool, on several occasions now. So, I thought that I was prepared for this. While I was a little nervous, I did not hesitate to jump in and start swimming. But it was quite different than I had expected.
The water temperature was fine; actually I would guess that it was pretty close to 82 degrees which is the temperature of the pool I have spent most of my time in. The water being river water and is brown and you cannot see through it. I was always close to shore or a dock but I also knew I could not stand up if I wanted to. Also, for the initial part of the swim, I was fighting a current.
None of these things bothered me too much at first. I just started swimming until, I accidently ran into someone swimming ahead of me. I had to stop and then I realized that I really had not been paying attention to where I was going so I tried to adjust my stroke. The result was that I never felt like I could get anywhere. I would swim a few strokes and then stop to see where I was and what was going on and this was taxing me more than I expected. This feeling was enhanced by some of the small debris in the river that I was running into.
As I look back at it, I realize that I was never in any kind of distress or danger. I was always near the shore. There were people all around me including people in kayaks to help if needed. I was never too fatigued to continue. I just lost my confidence and it took me a while to overcome that. To calm myself, I switched to all breast stroke and quit worrying about how fast I was going. I kept an eye on where I was going at all times. But I kept that uneasy feeling for the rest of the swim. When we turned around, I had the current on my side and I made it back to the starting point in no time.
This is just one of those things I am going to have to get used to. I will also need to consider whether I need a better plan for when I am in open water.
I decided not to try to bike with the groups following the swim. I wasn't sure I was prepared for it. I later discovered that they had set up several sag stops for the bikes. Had I known that, I probably would have tried it. Sixty miles would have been a stretch for me but if there were stops for some food, water and repairs if needed, I think I could have made it.
I did go biking later in the day. I went to Seneca and Cherokee Parks around 5:30 and biked for about an hour for about 15.3 miles.
Since this was more or less a day dedicated to learning about triathlons, I also ventured into a triathlon store to ask one of the questions that has been bothering me ever since I started working on this: "What do you wear?" That may seem like a silly question BUT remember first you swim, then bike, then run. You can't wear padded bike shorts to swim in, because the padding will get wet and you will be sitting in a puddle for the entire bike. A swim suit on the other hand doesn't necessarily seem like the best choice for a bike or a run.
Turns out the answer is that there is no definitive answer. It depends. I am told some people simply buy a speedo and do the entire thing in a speedo. There are some "tri" shorts, which are designed to accomplish everything. They are supposed to work fairly well, although I am told that for the longer races, some guys just like to change for the particular sport or pull on additional bike shorts for additional padding. You just have to see what works well for you and for a particular race. I decided to buy some "tri" shorts and a "tri" top to try them out. My current plan is to use the shorts for the race this Saturday and maybe bike and run bare chested.
Six days and counting! Got a swim in this morning of 1800m. Hoping to add a bike and either a trip to the gym or a run to that this afternoon as well. We'll see how it goes.
Have a great day!
David (lazy swimmer)
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