Open Water Swims and Bike Crash :-(

First off, I didn't crash...keep reading for the story.


I have a "policy" of doing an open water swim every opportunity I get unless it's expensive or far away, like the OWS put on by a tri shop around here about an hour away which requires driving there in traffic on a weeknight and it's $25. However, Big Shark bike shop (which also has a tri racing team) has been putting on open water swims in a neighborhood about 30 minutes from me. It's the same swim course as the New Town Triathlon in July. It's a 0.62 mile course and it's as many laps as you can swim in 2 hours for $5. Not a bad deal. I think it was cheaper than paying the park entry fee to swim in the Chesapeake Bay.

I've gone the past three Saturdays and my swim times have varied a lot. The first week they were 17:30 each lap with a wetsuit. 19:30-20:00 without a wetsuit last week and about 19 minutes with a wetsuit this past Saturday. I have no clue what went on this week but, it may have something to do with my lack of swimming during the week. It's been a great time so far and they're having a race next weekend to end the series.

After the swim I head out for a ride with some people from the Tri Club. As I haven't really started training for a long race, I opted for the shorter 20 miles ride. It was slower than I wanted to go but the wind made it challenging and I pulled the whole way back into the wind. This weekend I wanted more of a challenge and figured I'd head out with 5 other people for a 40 mile ride. I had no idea how challenging this ride would be.

The ride got off to a bad start. The neighborhood is a very large neighborhood and it's a 2 mile ride to the exit we chose to use. Right before we got out a Penske truck comes flying to a stop sign at an intersection. We didn't have a stop nor did we think the drive was going to stop. I have no idea how this happen but the guy riding in front of me motioned he was going to slow and then put his hand back up to brake and I couldn't believe what I saw next...

His back wheel went up in the air and he went head first over the handlebars with his bike flipping over at the same time. It was one of the few times I've come skidding to a stop on a TT bike. He immediately sat up and everyone rushed over to see if he was alright. He had a few scrapes and said his neck hurt. You could tell from his helmet that he landed right on the top of his head. After several minutes of him sitting there and asking him how he felt, he said he wasn't alright and his neck really hurt. So, we called the ambulance and some people with their kids at the playground ran to their house and got him some ice. Then the ambulance, fire and police came not too long after. The officer said he was going to go after the FedEx guy for reckless driving after explaining the reasons one would be allowed to come to a stop passed the stop sign. 

Anyway, I'm sure he'll be OK. I haven't heard anything about it but I had a similar injury in HS and my neck was very stiff for a few days. With Pat's (the one who crashed) blessing we continued our ride. I'm not sure how he is doing right now as I don't know these guys very well. 

We finally got out on the main roads and I realized they were definitely out of my league. 25mph right away and I was struggling to stay on their wheels. I managed to stay within 15 feet for 4-5 miles and then it was more like within 50 feet and the gap kept getting greater until mile 13. They slowed down on a turn, I said I should have asked how far and HOW FAST, they laughed and told me to just stay straight on this road for 5 miles until I hit the little town and see the convenient store.  By the time I saw them hit an S-turn right before town they were at least 1/2 mile ahead. This is by far the hardest ride I've ever had. I averaged about 24 mph on the way out. The way back was a different story...

I knew we'd be riding into the wind on the way back and damn was it windy. They stopped at a couple turns since I had no idea where they were. The area we were in is mostly corn fields and everything looks the same. The only landmarks are railroad tracks. In short, the ride back was 17mph and my legs were screaming at me. 

It was a great challenge for myself and hopefully I'll be able to pull one week. 

My Thoughts on Open Water Swimming

In my opinion the swim can be the most dangerous part of a triathlon. You can tire yourself out since you normally can't touch bottom and have to keep swimming or get knocked out by a foot and potentially drown. If you panic you're going to exert a hell of a lot more energy than while swimming. The bike and the run portions are not similar and could be considered opposite in terms of energy exertion since you can simply slow down and not exert as much energy. I realize you can crash on the bike but, you're still on land and medical attention is easy to get. If you don't read past this point and you're doing your first triathlon...DO A COUPLE PRACTICE OPEN WATER SWIMS! You'll thank everyone who has ever told you to do one.

This weekend I went on vacation to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. I have never been there before even though I lived in Charlotte, NC for 10 years which is about 4 hours away. FYI: driving in SC is extremely boring, it's mostly tree lined interstates the whole way with nothing to see. Unless you're on I-95 heading towards the NC/SC state line...then the South of the Border billboards provide some comic relief. I'm writing this blog mainly because of the seemingly instantaneous change in my open water swimming abilities.

Anyways, while I was there the Cal U Sprint Triathlon was going on. Needless to say I decided to do it. The race report will come later when I get some pictures. This was my 3rd triathlon and 3rd open water swim. The first two swims went horribly (I can say they were a success since I didn't turn back and I'm still alive) but, this one was much different. I did not have any problems at all...other then this guy floating on his back who kept bumping into me and I eventually pushed him away.

First off, I started swimming laps in January and did not have the slightest idea how to perform rotary breathing and it seems most people struggle with this at first. I would guess it takes 4 or 5 times of swimming at least 500 meters each time to become comfortable with rotary breathing. Bilateral breathing is also very beneficial but, it's similar to trying to write with your opposite hand. I still haven't become comfortable with bilateral breathing after 4 months.

When I signed up for the DC Triathlon, I started reading every article about training for and racing a triathlon I could find. I now have a bookmark tab labeled triathlons which runs the length of the screen when opened. All of the articles about swimming in a triathlon seemed to suggest the same thing. YOU NEED TO DO A PRACTICE OPEN WATER SWIM! I completely agree with this statement. I did not do a practice open water swim mainly because I managed to not be in DC every weekend an open water swim was taking place. If you're doing your first triathlon you need to plan a practice open water swim, preferably with as many other people as possible.

My first triathlon swim was trial by fire. I was accustomed to swimming in a pool and being able to see the bottom. This time the swim was in a lake in North Carolina. If you've spent a decent amount of time in NC you know the soil many areas is clay. Meaning, the bottom of the lake I swam in was clay making it hard to see anything in the water. I was not very nervous before the swim since my swim wave was fairly small. However, I got in the water to warm up, made it about waist deep and pushed off to swim...I immediately stood...I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face in the water and I was not happy about this. I tried to accept the fact that I wasn't going to be able to see at all during the swim but, it wasn't happening. Eventually after swimming around for a minute I realized I didn't have a choice.

The race started and I threw pacing out the window and ran into the lake. I stayed to the outside and only had to deal with a few people around me. Not being able to see the bottom didn't bother me that much until I started to get farther out and could actually see the bottom. (I guess the lake bottom was being churned up near shore from everyone being in the water.) I started to freak out a little for some reason when I could see tree stumps (man made lake) and was apparently terrified of stopping to stand up on these since I could still touch the bottom. My pace was far to quick and I couldn't calm down or control my breathing. As stated in the previous blog, I swam the first 250 meters faster than planned and panicked when I nearly couldn't breathe. It took a long time to calm down after looking around wondering how the kayaks or boats would spot me and make it to me in time and then thinking I was going to drown. Not soon enough I remembered I had a wetsuit on and could pretty much float. I still couldn't regulate my breathing the rest of the race and probably only managed to freestyle 50 meters at a time. Based on some blogs I've read this is very common during a first triathlon. DC Rainmaker's First Tri

The second triathlon swim was also my second open water swim. This time it was in the Chesapeake Bay which had small swells to deal with. It was basically the same deal as the first swim except I tried to start out in back and pace myself. This didn't work and I ended up swimming the same way. I think the "swells" may have tired me out more since I was trying to fight them rather than roll with them.

The third swim makes it seems like my open water swimming abilities have progressed light years virtually overnight. I got one pool swim in between triathlons and some messing around in the ocean the day before the Tri. By messing around I mean diving into waves and breast stroking...sounds a little dirty. I don't know if this helped or not but, the next day the swim went surprisingly well.

I walked down to the beach in my wetsuit along with everyone else, walked the 500 meters to the start and got in the water for a bit. Strangely, I was not comfortable in the water during my warm up swim and was worried I was going to have a three peat. (In case you're curious, Firefox suggests threesome if you type threepeat. Still not sure which spelling is correct. Did the Bulls ever manage to trademark that term? I should know considering I work at the Patent and Trademark Office. I just hope they comeback against the Heat.) I stood on the shore and waited for the mass start. I didn't have a swim plan per se, other than not running out with the lead group. The horn went off and I hung back and slowly made my way into the water. Using my amazing logic abilities...I decided I was going to quickly move farther into the ocean and wait until almost everyone in front of me started swimming. Right before I started swimming I decided I was going to breaststroke out to the first buoy since it would be easier and not as tiring to get through the ocean waves this way. I finally made it to the first turn buoy and had to tread water since there was a ton of bunching. After the turn I pointed myself where I wanted to go and freestyled. I swam along with a decent amount of room at a comfortable pace and just waited for my breathing to get out of control. IT NEVER HAPPENED! I just cruised along stopping to breaststroke a few strokes every minute or so to see if I veered off course since I was passing some people and didn't trust their open water navigational skills. The rest of the swim was as smooth as I could have hoped for, I managed to roll with the swells in the ocean and control my breathing. I was as calm as a clam and comfortably did about a 500 meter swim in the ocean (with the current) each of the next two days. I tried going against the current but this proved very difficult especially the second non tri swim. The current was extremely strong and it felt as if I had swam 100 meters and I probably swam 25 meters judging by the lifeguard stands.

To sum things up, it took me three open water swims before I was comfortable swimming in open water and you could say I learned the hard way...don't learn the hard way, it's scary. However, it may be different since my three swims were during triathlons and a practice swim might be much more relaxed. At least you'll be used to water that is dirty and moving at the same time. To quote Hitchhiker's Guide..."Don't Panic!" (Written in Large Friendly Letters)