The original argument revisited: (Page 2)

My answer is just getting to he swim. W/o training and desire, forget it.

Training for it and doing it is just SOOO hard.

I don't understand how to train for swimming. It's not as easy as "just keep doing more of it." I don't understand intervals or how they're going to help me when I need to be able to swim a mile continuously. It's all about form and I can't afford a coach. I can't make myself read all of Total Immersion. Heck I can't even find anyone that looks like they're a good swimmer either so I can't just imitate someone. And water gets in my ears. And I lose track of doing laps and it's boring looking at a black line the whole time.
*tears* *whine*

And during the race, it's like being pummeled for your stupidity! How stupid of me to try to swim with a bunch of other people kicking me in the face and clawing me from behind because I'm in their way. And at the next tri I want to do, I'll need to wear a wetsuit (which I can't afford to even rent) or I'll just freeze like welshy. I figure they put the swim at the start because otherwise, you REALLY might drown.

I like the bike. It ROCKS! I pass a lot of people and it's fun to see how fast I can go. I still can't decide if I like running. Isn't that crazy? I'm doing a 10 mile run this Sunday and I don't know if I like doing that. But I'm doing it. And I do it in the tri. My favorite part of the run is sprinting at the finish. It makes me look like I'm actually fast or something.

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Edited by TriMom217 2004-08-27 2:03 PM

It's not as easy as "just keep doing more of it."

Funny Whit cuz that is excatly how I got to be a "decent" swimmer (29 min/mi in my Oly last week)
After back surgery in aug 01 swimming became my rehab mainstay. Never took a lesson,never attended a masters program- nothing. I've looked at TI and picked up some hints but basically just go w/ my own stroke. I still swim 3 days a week cuz of the low impact and have actually come to enjoy it. As many runners say they just get in the zone I can do the same w/ swimming. I laughed at the thread about counting laps, I dunno seems so easy to me tho on a lot of days I just swim for 45 minutes w/o thinking about anything. Sometimes I do intervals but usually just go at my pace for whatever time i have that day. Wish I could do the same w/ running.

Edited by rollinbones 2004-08-27 2:32 PM

"if you can swim a 10x100m in 1'30" with 15' rest"

Does that mean that the 100m has to be in 1 minute, 30 seconds and all I get is 15 seconds of rest and I have to do that 10 times?

What do I do if it takes me 2'30" on a good day to do 100 m? Do I tailor the intervals to my own abilities? Do I say I will do 10x100m in 2"30 with 15" rest?

Also, the tri I'm looking at is in early October. http://pe.southern.edu/intramural/triathlon.htm Water temps have been anywhere from 66 to 78 degrees in the past. I don't know any female tri'ers in GA so borrowing is out. I suppose I could gut it out. When I was a young teen, I had a swimming class in a lake so cold that the skinny girls nearly got hypothermia. Anyway, I'll figure something out or I just won't do it. Shoot, I can't really afford the entry fee anyway. Maybe if I successfully sell some stuff on eBay I'll have some spare cash. We'll see.

Edited by Whit 2004-08-27 4:33 PM

That means you actually finish in 1 minute and fifteen seconds and have the remainder of the time to rest.

i second that it depends on the person. for me, the swim is a joy, hardly any effort at all - but i know that is not the case for most people. the bike is also fun, but a little more work. the run is so hard for me. running is hard for me even without swimming and biking first, and i know that is not the case for many folks.

okay, never mind, i change my answer - THE RUN. its the hardest. think about it this way - the average sprint tri is about the same distance as a 1/2 marathon once you add up all the distances...only we get to do over half on a bike, and some in the water. still can't imagine running the whole way.

I used to love "swimming", that is I ran around, jumped in the water, splashed a lot and made a lot of noise. But swim training at a public pool is bout as much fun as having teeth pulled. It would not be so bad if I a whole swim lane to myself to practice in. However, the pool is always crowded to capacity and it always seems that every jackass in the city has chosen the same time as me to do their swim. I prefer cycling, that is my first love in sport, where; on my bike I can do my best without worrying about other cyclists crashing into me. I also love running, which offers me a certain measure of inner peace and contentment.

Edited by Machiavelo 2004-08-28 11:22 AM

The bike is the hardest for me. And it messes up my run! ;-)

Whit - I agree. I wrote a thread on our local forum titled "I Loathe Swimming". I've finally reached sort of an agreement with swimming, that I'll try to stay smooth and relaxed, and just not worry about my time. I did manage to finish the Triathlon Swimming Made Easy, on the Total Immersion method, and one of the best things I got from that is that the swim portion of any tri is much less time than any other part. Therefore, according to that author, you shouldn't worry too much about making a big improvement in swim time, just in getting out of the water less fatigued. You can more easily make up 5 to 15 minutes on the bike than in the washing machine cycle of the race.
I'm the President of our local running club, so I dearly love running, and have always loved biking. Now, I'm just trying to do a Camp David with swimming, and get out of the freakin' water with enough to make it thru transition and onto my baby, the Lemond!

People who hate runners want the good runners to be afraid of the swim, freak out...whatever! That way if all the good runners can't get through the water then we stand a chance of finishing well. Of course just finishing is my mark for my tri in Sept.

On the bright side of running I managed to improve to an 11min/mile without too much effort. Wooohooo!!!!!

skeedawg

PS rollinbones I'm happin join that BT Run Haters club!

Edited by skeedawg 2004-08-30 2:05 PM