Pool Tri vs. Group OWS

[Alex]

I can either sign up for a pool sprint tri or a so-called "course preview" for an open water tri. They are on the same day and they are two weeks before the open water sprint triathlon I have signed up for.

I'm trying to decide which one would be more beneficial. The pool sprint is a race and it's a 400 yard swim, 14.2 mile bike, and a 5K run. The course preview is at one of the local reservoirs and features a 750m swim, 13.4 mile bike, and 3 mile run. The course preview is for a triathlon that I have not signed up to do, and it is in a different body of water than the race I have signed up for. I understand that folks keep their bikes on their cars and head off on the bike course after the swim, so it's not like there is a transition area.

Which one would help me more? I've never done a tri. I have done some cyclocross races and other things that have acquainted me with the feelings of competition, so I'm not really concerned about that. I have been doing an OWS every weekend, but not in a group. The best I could come up with to replicate that was asking DH to swim with me and grab my legs, touch my feet, etc. Yeah, I really did that! The distances for the course preview are similar to the distances for my race.

Any thoughts?

Alex

[sfa]

I'd do the course preview. I have my first triathlon coming up in a couple of weeks and in addition to regular training I did a super-sprint triathlon with a pool swim back in April and a course preview swim and run last week. That preview was in the lake where the triathlon will be but not the same course set up. Of the two, I think the course preview was much more helpful for preparing me for what race day might be like. Unlike you, though, I haven't done any open water swims as part of my training. But the crowds at the swim preview were a MUCH different animal than the crowds with the pool swim during the race in April. In April we started ten seconds apart so it was easier to manage, and because the swim was so short I never had to deal with more than a few people in the water around me at any time. The mass of churning swimmers at the OWS practice was very, very different and much more difficult to manage. I don't know what kind of open water swimming you've been doing, but practicing it with the buoys and turns and boats of a race course might also need some getting used to if that isn't part of the practicing you've been doing.

If you're already used to the adrenaline rush of competition you don't need any more experience with that, and all that's left is practicing transitions. You can easily do that on your own, and you can also set up the course preview so that you have your car as your transition area and practice it there. You won't be tripping over so many people, but it'll be a fair approximation.

Good luck!

Sarah

[colby]

I was torn on this at first, but I think I agree with sfa. So many people panic unexpectedly during the swim start that I think if it really is a race simulation the mass-ish start is something that could be invaluable. Your first time, transitions will be relatively slow compared to your second, third, etc, anyway, and you can totally practice those at home (once a week - or more often - when you get out of the pool/practice swim, practice transitioning to your bike, same for bike/run, etc).

I did not expect to panic the first time I got in the water with other people. I was a strong swimmer and had pool swam with other people plenty of times and practice open water swam, but I got completely overwhelmed once people started moving. I was able to get in and breastroke the entire thing (which is more than I can say for a lot of people their first time), but I was way more panicked than I expected.

The only way to get used to open water swimming with other people is... open water swimming with other people. If you're good with race anxiety and comfortable with open water, this would erase one other big variable. I think there's less to mess up in a transition (unless you are trying to win) than there is the risk of freak-out-on-GO (I wonder if there's an official term for that kind of performance anxiety).

[sfa]

...freak-out-on-GO (I wonder if there's an official term for that kind of performance anxiety).

I think you just coined a good one: F.O.O.G.

[HillSlugger]

I also agree that the "preview" would best prepare you for your real triathlon. If at all possible try to set up your own transition area and try to do a timely transition from event to event. If necessary, ask DH to watch over your stuff while you are on the course.

ETA, FOOG is a great phrase!

[Tri Girl]

I also agree with doing the open water preview. The more OWS practice you can get, the better. We've done two Splash and Dashes with our tri club the last few weeks. Just to let people who are new to triathlon get a feel for OWS and a race we're having next weekend. So many of the new people commented on how different open water is compared to the pool and they were so glad they did it in a "race simulation."

How fun!!! Have a great time and tell us all about it when you get done!

[Alex]

I learned today that there will be 3 open water swim clinics in the next couple of weeks. (And they're free!) I reserved a spot in two of them. It would be really easy, given the location, to take my bike and take a ride immediately after the clinic. I'm wondering if that would be a good enough race simulation?

The first one is the day before the pool tri closes, so I wouldn't have to decide until then if I want to do the race. OTOH, it might be good to know at the beginning of the week if I'll be racing on Saturday or not.

FWIW, I had a swim lesson today and asked my instructor what he thought. He recommended doing the race so that I would get used to swimming during a race. I suspect he has a point. Bike racing or running gives a sense of performance during competition, but is a bit different than how it would feel to swim in competition.

Do you all think the OWS clinics would be a good race-simulation? I've never been to anything like that.

Thanks!

Alex