Zen in the water

Tuesday night I had my first open water session of my 4 week course with Peter Scott - AKA Seahiker.

He comes highly recommended by Judith and Cindy and well I need to get a handle on the panic attacks I have in open-water.

I will be honest I was a little skeptical during the first session - they had us lie back and float to prove we could not sink. Then they had us lie face first - again can't sink then they had us dive down to the bottom - see you pop back up. Okay get it.

He also showed us relaxation techniques - let your neck completely rest in the water so you are not using energy for that and drag your hands so you get a feel for the water. Got it.

Yesterday I did the Sasmat Canada Day swim - I was in the 2km swim. It was a success in that I felt completely calm at the start and throughout the race - I thought about all the things he said - relaxing the neck, dragging the fingers, feeling the water. Check, check and check! Time not so good 54 minutes - my slowest time yet so a little bummed but as coach said you were not last, you did not panic and you came out of the water not exhausted. Still 54 minutes - I am hoping to do the Ironman in 1 hour 40 minutes - so I need to get faster to.

Next week we work on stroke technique and rate - I am crossing fingers that I will get back my 4 minutes but in the end Ironman is 3 events and not 1 so as long as I get out of the water before cut-off which I do not see as being a concern it is all good. Coach says the swim is a warm-up for the bike and thus should be treated that way.

Shaun

Comments

Kirsten said…
Glad to hear that you achieved several of your goals when you went into the water yesterday. That's really something to be proud of. I hope that this clinic is helpful -- are you going just once a week or two times a week like Diane?
July 2, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Shazam said…
Same course as Diane so again this evening - I am anxious to get to the how to be faster portion of the clinic now.....
July 2, 2009 at 1:02 PM
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