Did a little bit of open water over the weekend, and man it sucks. It's going to take a few more times to get comfortable. I know it's a mental thing, but my heart was pounding and I couldn't get my breathing under control. Pretty similar to when I started swimming in a pool, so I know I can get over it. I plan on focusing on breathing for the next couple of months, I figure if I can lengthen the time I can swim without breathing the more I'll feel comfortable in the water. We'll see.
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"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
- Christopher Reeve
One thing that might help is building your confidence that you can stop and rest if/when you choose to. So, either turning on your back and floating or switching to side stroke (if you know it) or just gently treading water - not that you'd do that in a race, but knowing that if things get uncomfortable you can get into a stable and relaxed position can calm you - just like in a pool the edge is never that far away, in open water a calm and relaxed position in the water is never far away.
My first open water experience was in my first triathlon. 1/4 way through had that same feeling you had.
After that I've been doing most of my swimming in open water. Do you have an ocean pool or something like that? My biggest thing was learning to lift my head further out of the water in the ocean due to the chop compared to a still pool.
Lisa,
Good call on taking a break, just knowing I won't drown if I do get too tired is huge for me now.
Josh,
Unluckily I don't have alot of options near me. My buddy has a new lake house, which is where I was over the weekend. It's 1.5 hours away, so I won't bre doing that too often. The best option I have is a quarry, which is probably about 150 yards or so. I'm going to look into swimming there a few times, and hopefully that will be enough to get over my nerves.
__________________
"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
- Christopher Reeve
The quarry is filled with water. No idea how deep it is, but I would think at least 50 feet. I haven't been there in a few years, but my swim instructor brought it up the other day. It's not as dark as lake water, but it will be closer to a lake than the pool I'm currently training in.
__________________
"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
- Christopher Reeve
I've got a 1500m OWS coming up in two weeks in my first Olympic distance tri. I'm kinda nervous and have NO way of practicing in open water before then. Just telling myself to breathe, breathe, breathe... go slow, breathe, breathe, breathe...
Good luck with 1500m. I may have to step up next year and try that.
__________________
"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
- Christopher Reeve
As I posted in your other thread, it really turned out to be no big deal. I had zero anxiety, much to my suprise. I just wish I'd had more confidence in myself and started closer to the front of the pack so I didn't get stuck behind a bunch of folks in my wave. If I hadn't spent so much time navigating around them I'd have been out of the water in less than 30 minutes.
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