Monday, May 26, 2008

Taper is On

I never got the chance to do my final long ride before Vikingman. Oh well, I will survive. The bike is dialed in so at least I am not too worried about that part. I had hoped to have gotten in the long ride today, but I got rained out. I have mentioned before that I won't do long rides in the rain and I am not going to start now. I did do a long swim today. 2200 yards and 2000 of it was timed. Including stopping once because to talk briefly to Bridget and another time to fix my new earplugs (which rock, by the way), I swam 2000 yards in just over 44 minutes, or about 2 minutes 12 seconds for each 100. That will do for such a long distance. This is about 12 seconds slower than I do in swim class, but we do shorter distance and get breaks.

I always seem to hate the first 500 to 1000 yards on these long swims. I flip out or I get too winded...something happens that messes with my mental state. Sometimes I even get a claustrophobic feeling in the water for a while. But then once I am in for a bit I can get a handle on things and I do better. I seriously need to figure out how to fix my mind when I am in the water, because I am strong enough to swim Vikingman without much problem, but I get all freaked out when I swim without breaks for a long time.
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4 comments:

Fish said...

I know what you're saying about clausterphobia. On open water swims, I almost always go out too fast. That combines with the uneasiness I feel with not being able to see my hands in the murky water, much less my hands. After 300-400 meters I'm completely gassed and not a little bit panicked. Then I think about how I'm not even close to being done. About that point, I wish I'd never even started the stupid race and think about how bad the remaining 1500 or so are going to suck. Then I try to find a pace I can actually sustain while trying to keep myself from freaking out. Yeah, I'm excited about adding breath stealing cold water to the mix.

May 27, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Mr. Flynn said...

I am getting that same panicked feeling just reading your post. That is exactly who it is for me. Geesh, this is going to suck.

I talked to a woman doing the Boise Half next weekend. She says that her face and teeth start to hurt when the water is in the 50's. But I figure I just gotta stroke for 35 minutes or so and the worst (hopefully) will be over

May 27, 2008 at 4:54 PM
Fish said...

I forgot the joy of the wetsuit. The tight fit constricts my lungs and makes my shoulders feel tight. With training pretty much over, the dread of that swim is starting to set in.

May 27, 2008 at 9:38 PM
Mr. Flynn said...

I have to ask if you like getting kicked in the nuts? Isn't that what we do with these tri's? "No that wasn't hard enough, kick me harder, damn it!" (via a full Ironman for you). You are going to do one worse this fall doing the whole enchilada in Arizona. Please forgive me if I for once leave you to your misery without joining you.

I am going to do an open water swim at Hagg lake on Friday. Weather was too bad during prior attempts. This will be my last shot to see how bad it is. The water is about the same temp as the Snake right now.

May 27, 2008 at 9:50 PM

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