'Tis the Season: Ironman Coeur d'Alene

[colby]

+1 Great Tips on the swim.

I am a slower swimmer (hope to be about 1:50 for IMLP) and am really nervous about the mass start. The good news is by halfway throught the second lap is shouldn't be too crowded :-)

Sharon

All of my finish times are between 1:40 and 1:55, so I know where you're coming from. The first lap will be fairly crowded but not too bad, the second lap will be pretty thin. Sometimes I struggle with feeling like I'm the ONLY person out there on the second half of the second lap when it's really thinned out. My advice in that position is to just keep swimming, sighting, and moving forward, and try not to get frustrated.

If you know you're going to be slower, hang back and choose a less aggressive angle. When I know I'm going to be slow or haven't focused on my swimming, I just ease up and would rather have a really consistent, even, quality, low stress swim than fight it out.

[Susan Otcenas]

I just ease up and would rather have a really consistent, even, quality, low stress swim than fight it out.

Precisely!