Maurice Greene, talking about Alan Webb, then a senior at South Lakes High School in Reston, VA, who, during the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, OR, ran a 3:53.43 mile to break Jim Ryan's 36 year old national high school record (3:55.3) once thought to be untouchable.
Your future triathlon bike? (The Cervelo display) |
My last blog, Death in Triathlon, brought a significant response. (If you haven't had a chance to read it, please do so before you read this as the two are complimentary.) It hit a nerve in a number of readers and I wanted to share some of those thoughts with you as I believe them to be quite pertinent.
They say that experience is the best teacher. And, we can learn from the experiences of others. The point being made that was that if you're going to get into trouble in a race, it would most likely be in the swim and several strategies were discussed in the "forewarned is forearmed" school of thought.
1) You can't arrive at a race sit too early. If body marking, transition set up and warm ups are complete, take the time to just sit. Sit and relax, visualize the upcoming event and the possibilities you've planned for...and maybe some you haven't. When they call your wave, you'll be in total control.
2) Be completely comfortable in your wet suit. I heard from one gal would said that she wore it at home, "Cooking dinner, watching TV, etc." for a little while every night for the couple weeks before the race so she was completely comfortable in it. Like an old comfortable pair of shoes. She also found a flaw in the zipper that if not discovered until race day, would have ruined the event for her. As it was, she got it easily repaired.
3) Know the course cold. Water entry/exit, everything. Walk through it on race morning after you have everything else set up. If you've followed #1, you'll have the time to do it in an unhurried fashion. This would seem obvious to me but potentially not to all.
4) This 4th one came from a physician in Canada who took the time (thanks) to make an extensive blog comment (to Death in Triathlon) that applies to all of us. I'm going to reproduce it below in it's entirety as I feel there's something here for each of us;
1) You can't arrive at a race sit too early. If body marking, transition set up and warm ups are complete, take the time to just sit. Sit and relax, visualize the upcoming event and the possibilities you've planned for...and maybe some you haven't. When they call your wave, you'll be in total control.
2) Be completely comfortable in your wet suit. I heard from one gal would said that she wore it at home, "Cooking dinner, watching TV, etc." for a little while every night for the couple weeks before the race so she was completely comfortable in it. Like an old comfortable pair of shoes. She also found a flaw in the zipper that if not discovered until race day, would have ruined the event for her. As it was, she got it easily repaired.
3) Know the course cold. Water entry/exit, everything. Walk through it on race morning after you have everything else set up. If you've followed #1, you'll have the time to do it in an unhurried fashion. This would seem obvious to me but potentially not to all.
4) This 4th one came from a physician in Canada who took the time (thanks) to make an extensive blog comment (to Death in Triathlon) that applies to all of us. I'm going to reproduce it below in it's entirety as I feel there's something here for each of us;
Thanks for adding to an important dialogue. As a triathlon physician, a triathlete, and a race director of an open water swim, I feel I can add a few points to this:
From the athletes' perspective, get in the water BEFORE the race starts if possible, to let your wetsuit fill with water and for you to warm it up. That will lessen the shock of the cool water.
Minimize how much you eat in the hour or two before you start swimming. If you need to eat before a race, get up earlier to eat. Digestion and exercise are competing demands that have negative consequences that will stress you especially while swimming.
Caffeine is known to enhance performance, but for those that are sensitive to it, it may cause tachycardia, and gut symptoms that may not be helpful in the swim. Ask yourself if you really need it to race.
Practice swimming in all conditions, including wind and chop and cool water. Athletes will often go home when they see these conditions while training, but you can't do that on race day. Get comfortable swimming in chop.
Practice, if you can, in a safe and friendly environment ( a pool or shallow water) with friends, "combat swims". Most swimmers don't mean to run into you, but the bigger the race, the more inevitable it becomes.
Develop some strategies to avoid swimmers who keep running into you, without getting mad, which only increases your adrenaline further.
Seed yourself appropriately!
For race directors, organizing a race with several smaller waves, each with boat support, are clearly safer than larger ones.
Consider even starting without a loud starting gun (which also stirs up too much adrenalin), instead having everyone's race begin by crossing a timing mat (chip time, as they call it in big marathon races).
Avoid 90 or 180 turns in a swim race if possible. Tight turns cause too much congestion. Try to round the turns where possible.
Give swimmers an opportunity to warm up with some easy swimming.
Make it possible to separate good swimmers from beginners, whether by wave or cap color.
_______________________________________________
In short, with just a little pre-race planning, you can ensure both safety as well as success.
From the athletes' perspective, get in the water BEFORE the race starts if possible, to let your wetsuit fill with water and for you to warm it up. That will lessen the shock of the cool water.
Minimize how much you eat in the hour or two before you start swimming. If you need to eat before a race, get up earlier to eat. Digestion and exercise are competing demands that have negative consequences that will stress you especially while swimming.
Caffeine is known to enhance performance, but for those that are sensitive to it, it may cause tachycardia, and gut symptoms that may not be helpful in the swim. Ask yourself if you really need it to race.
Practice swimming in all conditions, including wind and chop and cool water. Athletes will often go home when they see these conditions while training, but you can't do that on race day. Get comfortable swimming in chop.
Practice, if you can, in a safe and friendly environment ( a pool or shallow water) with friends, "combat swims". Most swimmers don't mean to run into you, but the bigger the race, the more inevitable it becomes.
Develop some strategies to avoid swimmers who keep running into you, without getting mad, which only increases your adrenaline further.
Seed yourself appropriately!
For race directors, organizing a race with several smaller waves, each with boat support, are clearly safer than larger ones.
Consider even starting without a loud starting gun (which also stirs up too much adrenalin), instead having everyone's race begin by crossing a timing mat (chip time, as they call it in big marathon races).
Avoid 90 or 180 turns in a swim race if possible. Tight turns cause too much congestion. Try to round the turns where possible.
Give swimmers an opportunity to warm up with some easy swimming.
Make it possible to separate good swimmers from beginners, whether by wave or cap color.
_______________________________________________
In short, with just a little pre-race planning, you can ensure both safety as well as success.
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.....and take you to your special island. (Billy Joel) |