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Don't DNF, learn from my mistake.
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 2005-05-23 5:59 AM |
Elite  2777     In my bunk with new shoes and purple sweats. |  Subject: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake.DNFed my first tri Sunday morning. Why? Because I did not prepare for the race environment. All those years of teaching Marines that you "fight like you train" and I couldn't practice what I preached. I even went up to the race site early only to waste my time cycling some inconsequential hills and jogging around the run course. I should've had my butt in the lake getting use to the temp, and the wind, and the chop, and the chilly air. Pool training just does't get it done for those conditions. I trained for the distancce but not the conditions. As soon as I got home I started planning my training for a tri in July.( oh no the Cracker will not quit) I remembered a fresh water lake at a park about 30 miles away which I will use for training. I will also do some ocean swimming. It won't be hard to get one of the kids to go along with the Kayak or jet ski to help"ol dad" out. So fellow first timers... pools are handy but when it comes to open water swims, well nothing prepares like being prepared. Remember that no matter how good you are at cycling or running, it means nothing if you can't complete the swim. The Cracker is down but not out.  |
| 2005-05-23 6:12 AM in reply to: #161567 |
Expert 773 | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. As the saying goes "SH*%& happens". It's too bad you DNF'd, but more importantly you learned why you DNF'd and have a plan to correct it so it won't happen again. Get out there and keep going until you get it right. I'm sure with your "Can do" attitude, you will have better results next time - Semper FI. |
| 2005-05-23 7:45 AM in reply to: #161567 |
Extreme Veteran 596 ma | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Hey..congratulations for getting there, being pysched and signing up again. More importantly, like crazylegs said...you figured out what to do and making the correction (with likely that much more passion). It looks like you will be superior on the bike and run too. I'm curious if you will share with us what element it was that confronted you. Was it the temperature, the conditions, or just the major difference and it got the better of you? |
 2005-05-23 7:32 AM in reply to: #161567 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2005-05-23 8:40 AM in reply to: #161567 |
Champion 6742  The Green Between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Failure comes not in getting knocked down, but in not getting back up. Go get 'em Gullah! |
| 2005-05-23 8:41 AM in reply to: #161567 |
| Elite 2777 In my bunk with new shoes and purple sweats. | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. It was the combination of all of the elements of water temp. air temp, and chop. I think I could have dealt with the cool conditions had it been calm. It seems the wind and chop did the most damage. I got a couple of mouthfulls of lake water and I seemed to go downhill from there. Swimming in close proximity to others didn't bother me nor did the lack of visibility. Some observations I made while struggling to breathe were: Those swimming with partners seemed to fare well. Everyone was supportive and helpful. I managed to keep my sense of humor as did those around me. I overheard one chilled competitor proclaim, "no wonder no one escaped from Alcatraz". Those folks who practiced open water swimming, if only once, fared much better than those of us who only trained in the pool. The "mad dash" wasn't bad. A few bumps and kicks and grabs but overall the part about swimming in a crowd was tolerable. In hind sight I probably should have adopted a tactic of swimming from buoy to buoy until I could have turned downwind. It may have helped. |
| 2005-05-23 8:52 AM in reply to: #161635 |
| Member 64 Columbia, SC | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Any chance this was the Lake Murray Tri? |
| 2005-05-23 9:04 AM in reply to: #161567 |
| Extreme Veteran 391 Oregon | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. I had my first tri this weekend. The swim was very interesting/challenging. The water was 60 degrees. I got in the water about 10 min before the race and tried to swim, but just could not get my rythm. I just could not feel like I could breath. As they talk to us before the race I kept telling myself "I just don't know that I can do this?" The gun went off and after 50m I began to panic and started sidestroking and back floating. Thoughts of not finishing went through my head. After a coulple of minutes after things settled down I tried it again. After about 200m I started feeling comfortable. I started catching people and drafting. I finished the swim, a very difficult task. I too think pool swimming is too easy. I did not feel tired during the swim. SWIM AS MUCH AS YOU CAN IN LAKES is what I came back with from my first tri. Randy |
| 2005-05-23 10:59 AM in reply to: #161567 |
| Pro 4206 Los Angeles, CA | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. I also agree that pool swimming is nothing compared to open water. The only way around this is the practice in open water. After a disasterous 400m ocean swim in 30 minutes at my first tri, my buddies and I now swim in the ocean every Sat so hopefully I can do a better job come my next tri. |
| 2005-05-23 1:13 PM in reply to: #161643 |
| Elite 2777 In my bunk with new shoes and purple sweats. | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Yes it was. I think I left you a post on your race report. I going to do the race in Florence in July. |
| 2005-05-23 1:24 PM in reply to: #161868 |
| Member 64 Columbia, SC | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Just saw your post to my post. Thanks for the kind words. You are exactly right about the difference in the open water. One week before this race I got a wetsuit and hopped in a lake. I made it maybe 10 yards before I started gasping for air. My first thought was -- there is no way I can do this. I kept at it for a little while that day and finally got to the point that I could breathe more normally and started getting a little less freaked out by not seeing lane lines, etc. I did one more brief OW swim on Thursday before the race. So, that's all to say that it doesn't take much to get over that hump but if I hadn't done any before the race, I would have been with you. It's not easy. I haven't signed up for any other races yet but am going to look at some more in June/July so maybe I'll see you in Florence. Good luck training. |
| 2005-05-23 1:25 PM in reply to: #161567 |
| Buttercup 14334 | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Some very vigorous water polo matches will help prepare you for the swim melee, as well. |
| 2005-05-23 2:51 PM in reply to: #161879 |
| Elite 2777 In my bunk with new shoes and purple sweats. | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Now that's something I hadn't considered. I've never seen them play water polo at my Family "Y" pool but what if.... I took a volleyball and beaned somebody three lanes down. HMMMM. Water polo always reminded me of aquatic hockey. I'll have to look into this. Thanks Renee. |
| 2005-05-23 3:31 PM in reply to: #161946 |
| Buttercup 14334 | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. After you bean them with the volleyball, when they jump on your head, instead of fighting them off, go down and pull them down with you. They won't expect it and you'll have their downward momentum working for you. They'll start panicking to get above water and you will have a competitive advantage. Don't ask me how I know this. |
| 2005-05-23 4:17 PM in reply to: #161567 |
| Extreme Veteran 574 Crossville, TN | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. I just competed in my first tri this last weekend. I almost drowned. It was a pool swim and I swim 4 times a week in an indoor pool. The water was a lot colder and I couldn't breathe. I had even taken several laps to get accustomed to the temp but I still boinked. I had to pull myself to the shallow end with the lane rope and stand up before I could breath again and still don't remember how I swam the last 100 meters. I sure learned a lot and now I know what to train for. |
| 2005-05-23 5:50 PM in reply to: #161567 |
| Veteran 280 Salem, MA | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Great example of dusting yourself off, solving the problem, and coming back stronger. This is what I love about triathletes! They are an inspiration to never, ever just give it up and go home. Great job. |
| 2005-05-23 6:05 PM in reply to: #162025 |
| Veteran 340 Greenville, NC | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. TerryW - 2005-05-23 3:17 PM I had even taken several laps to get accustomed to the temp but I still boinked. Umm, that's some pretty interesting sex talk. Perhaps you meant bonk? My wife lets me do one in public, the other, not so much. How cold was the pool? I can't recall ever swimming in an indoor pool that was so cold it did that, and I'm a huge weanie when it comes to cold water. All this talk about cold makes me glad to live in the south. Once you get over the red-neck factor, it's not that bad. |
| 2005-05-24 9:15 AM in reply to: #161567 |
| Extreme Veteran 574 Crossville, TN | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Sorry, I practice indoors and the swim was outdoors. Middle TN in May the water is still pretty cold. |
| 2005-05-24 9:54 AM in reply to: #161567 |
| Extreme Veteran 573 IL | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Way to recognize the situation and learn from it. With this experience you'll finish strong at the next race. A failure is only that if you don't learn from it. Oorah! |
| 2005-05-24 10:10 AM in reply to: #161567 |
Lethbridge, Alberta Bronze member | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. DNF still beats DNS so you're way ahead of a lot of folks.  |
| 2005-05-24 3:57 PM in reply to: #161567 |
| New user 6 | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Terry: Was that the Memphis in May Tri? How was it? Thanks to everyone else for the posts. I've been doing all of my training in pools. I haven't competed in a tri in over a year and then they were all sprint tri's with pool swims, but I thought I would get serious this year and take on some bigger events. Now I know I need to get in some open water swims. Thanks. |
| 2005-05-24 4:14 PM in reply to: #161567 |
| Extreme Veteran 353 Randleman, NC | Subject: RE: Don't DNF, learn from my mistake. Cracker, that was a tough swim! One of my friends called after the tri and could not believe how much chop there was in the water. It took him 17 minutes for a normal 14 minutes swim distance. 2 weeks ago I had my first ocean swim at Surf and Turf in NC. For 0.02 cents I would have turned back to the beach after getting to the first buoy. I was so tired and already out of breath it was unbelievable. I think the wetsuit and the help from the current after making the turn saved me. Now we both know and can learn from it! Hang in there and I promise you will do better on the next one-just hang in there! Fred |
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