swimming in a murky lake

[divingbiker]

Well, yesterday we did a practice swim in the lake where the triathlon will be in 2 weeks. It was awful.

I was (and will be on race day) in the first wave with the rest of the geezers. I started swimming, got thrashed with others' hands and feet, and got spooked by the murky green water filled with scratchy sea grass type stuff. I nearly had a full-blown anxiety attack. For a while I thought the canoes were going to have to come rescue me.

This was very unsettling, as I've always been a good swimmer. Not necessarily fast, but I swim with a steady stroke and I don't get tired. Growing up, my mom had a few rules we had to follow--don't ride motorcycles, don't eat mushrooms growing wild, don't wear red shoes (only hussies wear red shoes), don't swim in a lake--so I had a psychological barrier from the start. But after about 5 minutes of breast stroking and breathing fast, I calmed down and was able to complete the 0.6 mile course in 25 minutes. I'll be fine with that time on race day.

Then we did the "run"--3.3 miles on a hilly course. I walked most of it. I only started running 3 weeks ago, and I've been running on a flat street, and I just didn't have it in me to run yesterday. I have to kick it in the butt now and run on the hilly streets in my neighborhood that I've been avoiding, but I've decided that if I have to walk the course that will be ok, too. I would like to run at least half of it, though.

I rode the 17.5 mile bike course last weekend and it, too, was hilly, but not that bad. At least you can't drown on a bike.

There were several hundred women at the practice session, and it was very discouraging to find that nearly everyone was young and skinny. I had the idea that there were going to be more women of all shapes and sizes there, but by and large they're all thin and fit. Maybe the big, fit women will show up on race day. Surely among 1800 women there will be more than 5 that are overweight.

I am so glad the race organizers had the practice session. I can't imagine how anxious I would have been hitting that green water for the first time on race day. They also went over transitions, nutrition, etc., and the race director was very motivating. 60% of the women participating are doing their first triathlon.

Maybe my reward for finishing will be the red Sidi Dominator biking shoes, on sale for $200 now...I NEED red biking shoes!

http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=18173

[crazycanuck]

Hey DB,

I too don't like swimming in lakes, murky places or anywhere that i can't see the bottom...(I had a bit of a panic attack myself this year at one tri swimming in the swan river..(eeeeerrwwwww....)) and am sitting here wondering what the responses are!

Now, about the sizes of the other chicks...Let me say this:
1-YOu may be a bit bigger but it's showing others that you're moving you're a** and doing something about getting fitter
2-Don't give up! Think about you & what you need to do to finish. You're there for you, not the skinny chickies!
3-Remember to SMILE!!!

I wish you tons of luck at your tri dear. I wish i could offer more support in the swim

C

[Brina]

I am with you on the lake swimming. I live less than a mile from Lake Michigan and haven't swum there once this summer. I proobably should before my tri in two weeks. Put me near an ocean and you have to fight to get me out of the water. You can do this, and you will. I love the reward you have picked out. Kill two demons in one event.

[KSH]

You do have to get use to swimming in a lake. It's different. Many people get freaked out the first few times. Maybe try to practice some more... just so you can get use to it.

Otherwise, stay to the outside, away from the bouys... and you won't get beat up as much.

Running... you only started 3 weeks ago?! Wow. Well, it takes time to get up to the speed and distance... so, if you need to walk in the tri... then you need to walk. That's OK. And, don't try to cram all the running into the next 2 weeks, you aren't going to make that much stride in doing that, and more than likely, you will wear yourself down. Just do what you can in the race.

No one is "over weight". Well... unfortunately... these races bring out the really fit people. For what it's worth... I'm 5'4"/125 lbs... and I feel self-conscious at races... I feel fat next to all those perfect bodies.

But, I also see other people who don't have perfect bodies racing... and a lot of the time they are kicking my butt. You can judge a triathlete by it's cover! Trust me on this one!

Can you register as an athena racer? If so... if there aren't any other ones... you will get a MEDAL for winning your age group! That will be cool! So, there is an upside to maybe not having a perfect body.

It sounds like you are going to do just fine. Just go out there, do your thing... and don't worry about anyone else!

Good luck!

[KnottedYet]

I get a major cootie-attack from swimming pools. I'd much rather swim in a lake. (haven't swum in a pool in.... mmmmm... 7 years?)

But our lake keeps getting sewage in it. Not so good. And I can't say I really enjoy algae IN my suit with me.

Thanks, KSH, for the tip about staying to the outside away from the buoys. I'm gonna be putt-putting, and one of the women at work keeps saying I need to stay to the INside, but that'd mean I'd get run over!

DB, I'll be walking in my tri. I'll cheer for you and the murky water, you cheer for me and just being able to swim the distance! (I'm NOT a good swimmer) We shall persevere!

[Nanci]

That's weird to have a rule about don't swim in a lake!! Unless you live where there are alligators.

As a kid, I had a recurrent nightmare where I would start swimming from the "point" (penninsula) at our lake cabin, to try to get to the other side of the lake. This was our usual swimming spot, but of course we never swam across. There was either the drop off, with a nice stone bottom, unless you went out far enough to get to where the weeds were, and it was very daring to swim down and grab one- (like 10/15 feet?) or the sand bar, which was shallow and had clams to catch for fish bait. Anyway, I would start swimming, and eventually become entangled in weeds, in the dream, and wake up. I _always_ had this dream.

The thing that cured me of my fear of weeds was scuba diving in those lakes, with 10 feet vis on a good day, and getting relaxed about swimming among the weeds, with the fish. I also did some diving looking for artifacts in lakes, along mud/muck bottoms, in near-zero vis. You have to build up gradually to get used to it- I mean in worse and worse visibility, and it was still pretty easy for me to get spooked if I allowed my mind to go there.

I think in your murky lake, if you can practice ahead of time and get used to the feeling of the weeds touching you, that will help a lot. If it can become a familiar and non-threatening feeling for you. I think this can only be done by repetition, and you have to mentally control yourself to think "friendly" thoughts about the weeds, not scary thoughts.

I did a tri last summer in the ocean, in a bay, where it was just about zero vis from the brown mud/muck bottom. I did practice swims there almost every day the week before to get used to the crap vis. It's freaky to swim and have things touch you that you can't see.

Good luck!!

Nanci

[Lise]

DB, the practice sessions sound like a brilliant idea. I do much better at a race when I can imagine each step ahead of time.

So now you've swum in the lake, and you can start imagining yourself doing it again, handling each challenge calmly, swimming strongly, etc.

I learned how to swim in Lake Michigan, and am more comfortable swimming in open water. When I was a teen, a friend died when he hit his head in a pool, and I wouldn't swim in pools for years. It took me a good deal of swallowing hard to get back in the pool. The only reason I did was to train for tris. Many of us have our "thing" about swimming/being in certain kinds of water.

One thing to remember is that if weeds are touching you, it means the bottom's not far down, therefore you could put your feet down at any time. For some people that's very comforting. Like Nanci, I think of weeds as friendly, keeping the lake healthy, stuff like that. I'm a bit freaked about the tri I'm doing next week. I've never swum in that lake (a spring fed lake in Wisconsin); my fear is that it's really deep. (and...what? I'm going to sink like a stone? Fears are not rational!) One thing to know is that you will have lake debris on your skin when you peel off your clothes after the race. You're not going mouldy. It will wash off!

Have a great time. L.

[KSH]

Thanks, KSH, for the tip about staying to the outside away from the buoys. I'm gonna be putt-putting, and one of the women at work keeps saying I need to stay to the INside, but that'd mean I'd get run over!

Well, people who want to swim the shortest distance possible... like to stay on the inside.

They do this because:

1) They want the best time possible- so they are highly compeitive and WILL swim over you to shave a few second off.

2) Are not confident they can make the distance... and want to make it as short as a swim as possible.

So, if you are confident with your swimming and you don't want to get run over... stay on the outside... most people don't go there.

I have done 3 open water swims in races... and one was a HIM (relay team), and I have NEVER been run over, hit, beaten up, kicked, etc. WAIT! I was kicked once, as the exit area was all jumbled up... and they guy who kicked me apologized.

[divingbiker]

Thanks for all the encouragement/advice. Unfortunately, the lake where the tri will be held is normally closed to swimming, and they opened it just for the practice swim yesterday. I don't know of any other lakes nearby that allow swimming, so I'm stuck with the pool for practice.

I think I will definitely stay to the outside. The distance won't be a problem, but the traffic certainly will be. I think I'll be ok anxiety-wise now that I've done it once. The nasty green stuff in the suit was disgusting.

KY, I'll be rooting for you in your tri. We walkers may be slow, but we can go the distance!

Not sure why my mom was so freaked out about lake swimming (I grew up in Nebraska) but the "lakes" were really sand pits and maybe all the quicksand they showed on Bonanza and Gunsmoke made her think it was a real threat. I know I did when I was little.

I laugh when you ladies abbreviate my name as DB, because I had a friend in college we called DB, short for Dinky Butt. That certainly doesn't describe me! Another friend was MT, for Mushy Tushy. That's a bit closer...

[Lise]

Not sure why my mom was so freaked out about lake swimming (I grew up in Nebraska) but the "lakes" were really sand pits and maybe all the quicksand they showed on Bonanza and Gunsmoke made her think it was a real threat. I know I did when I was little.

That is pretty funny. I remember that. Growing up, it seemed to me that quicksand pits were a frequently occurring danger out there in the wild world. You just never knew when you'd find yourself in one. It happened pretty often on TV. I remember memorizing the skills to get out of one. Ha! I'll bet your tri's organizers have checked pretty carefully for quicksand. They really don't want to lose any athletes.

Do you have the website for the tri? I always get a kick out of looking at the promo for the event.

[divingbiker]

Do you have the website for the tri? I always get a kick out of looking at the promo for the event.

Here you go.

http://www.tricolumbia.org/irongirl.html

[Lise]

Thanks! I love reading about and imagining triathlons. Probably more than I love doing them! Your run course looks really nice--along the lake most of the way. I love the day before/race day instruction sheet! That is great. I read and re-read the FAQs of my first tri. Unfortunately, there wasn't much info on there. One that really confused me the first year said, "Nudity will not be tolerated." Nudity?, I thought, why would anyone get naked? How bizarre! Since then I could see how someone might try a quick slip-out-of-this-into-that move in transition! I'm still horrified at the prospect, but...!

Have a blast, and remember details, cuz we'll want a race report! L.