Swimming Confession
4464
Member
1641 days
beads1985 posted 13 weeks ago.
'Swimming Confession'?
I thought you were going to admit you peed in the pool!!
I don't panic so much in the pool but I do have a healthy respect for the water, especially open water.
However, you can't drown on the run or the bike so it is understandable.
''Nothing to it, but to do it''
http://beads1985.trifuel.net/
1639
Member
1004 days
tri-ac posted 13 weeks ago.
you're not alone. i find my long continuous swims are difficult mentally too. my mind conjures sharks and alligators, and e coli and such, and i swim in a 4ft deep, 25yd indoor pool! maybe the e coli is real...i think i can see it reproducing on the floor mung at the bottom of the pool!
a typical 2000+ set:
first 500, i'm focused, calm, and self-assured.
second 500, I start to think of other things, usually starting to question my counting by 1000; i reassert a reasonable count around 1000yds and sometimes add a lap if i'm not sure.
approaching 1500, i've definitely lost count and have started to see moving things at the corner of my eye (sharks? alligators?)
approaching 400 to go, i try to shake it off, and tell my self i'm almost there. my pace picks up as i focus and i realize i probably lost some good time in my mental wanderings.
done: did i really do it? can i trust the time on my watch? mental calculation of the splits and see if they're anywhere close to believable...
I don't attribute much to this for my succes in open water because there's more stuff going on in the world around me as I swim in OW. but, in order to make the most of it when I have to swim long indoors, I do try to focus on calm, pleasant, positive, training thoughts before hopping into the pool to do one of these swims, if only to keeping my lap counting honest and to get through the long swims with some success. someone told me to pull the lane line rings (one per 100) and then push them back every 500...a kind of swimmer's abacus. i haven't tried it yet because now it's warm enough to do OWS's.
(and i don't think about sharks/alligators/ecoli in my OWS for some reason!)
933
Member
262 days
TriSooner posted 13 weeks ago.
beads1985 wrote:
'Swimming Confession'?
I thought you were going to admit you peed in the pool!!I don't panic so much in the pool but I do have a healthy respect for the water, especially open water.
However, you can't drown on the run or the bike so it is understandable.
+1 Was thinking I'd see a pee story. And that you got caught.
115
Member
1056 days
NotAsFast posted 13 weeks ago.
I will confess I bought a finis lap counter for the pool.
I had the same problem. Was I on lap 50 or 54. Can I trust the clock on the wall. If I am swimming at 45 second 50 yard pace, then I have gone so far, which equals how many laps, dang, did I just do another lap, now I have to recalculate.
Now I know exactly where I am, how fast and how many laps I have done. I think I will leave it in the bag next swim, just to reminisce.
523
Member
234 days
jsk85 posted 13 weeks ago.
I was certain it was a pee story as well.
I swim at my gym pool in the mornings...it gets really creepy when I'm the first one there b/c the pool is isolated in the corner of the gym...they don't have video equipment monitoring it either which bothers me a little. It's usually only dim-lit and it's still dark outside at this point...it makes me feel like I'm in the abandoned high school in a horror movie and someone's waiting for me in the water. Or at least waiting for me to lower my guard so they can pounce.
No need to worry about drowning when you're being stalked by a serial killer ;)
55
Member
1391 days
rlauredo posted 13 weeks ago.
I live in Miami and so mainly swim in open water, never in pools. On two occasions, as I've raised my eyes the centimeter or two above the water line to breath, the quick 1-second glance has captured grey fins swimming towards me. Granted that on both occasions they turned out to be "nice" fins (pairs of dolphins). But I'm here to tell ya: if I'd been wearing an HRM it would have definitly recorded a spike. (And thank God it's ok to pee in the ocean).
56
Member
1681 days
Dannyboy posted 13 weeks ago.
I had something similar happen to me in a race. It was like my 10th or so race and about 400M into the swim I started to think about my breathing and then my wetsuit started feeling tight, I had to flip over and backstroke for about 15 seconds before I could talk myself down. It is amazing how your mind can be your worst enemy, or you best friend in the race.
988
Member
328 days
ChunkyB posted 13 weeks ago.
I wasn't thinking it would be a pee story. I was thinking about the first time I swam with goggles as a kid. I pretty much spent an hour under the water looking at all the girls in their swimsuits. I think my lung capacity grew quite a bit. Kind of a "necessity drives invention" type of thing.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
72
Member
332 days
john_grieco posted 13 weeks ago.
oh, man - you validated all the stuff that happens to me that I thought I shouldn't tell anyone about. Seeing stuff out of the corner of my eye in the pool and in the ow (I was ow swimming and thought I saw the shadow of a real shark, but I'm pretty sure it was just cloud clouds from above, but didn't want to turn my head around to look), losing count - do that all the time and then start doing the math while continuing and get even more lost in what time/laps were/were not included. Thanks for a good laugh.
re: peeing- in a race if i don't take care of that before the start, I cannot go once i'm swimming-very uncomfortable. Is that normal?
Now on the bike-I have no problem at all..
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-T. S. Eliot
84
Member
276 days
swimmer52 posted 13 weeks ago.
Peeing while on the bike? I think that's a trick only guys can pull off.
If I were OW swimming and saw a shark I think I would absolutely freak. There's no way you could outswim it! I was once snorkeling and feeding fish and had this barracuda follow me everywhere but always staying about 15' away, that alone gave me the creeps.
"Whether you think you can or can't, you're right"
4218
Member
1559 days
kylie posted 13 weeks ago.
Naw, peeing on the bike isn't so hard, even for girls. You just have to accept you don't really direct it ;)
Peeing while swimming I have to ease up or focus on the peeing part for a minute to get going.
I haven't yet pee'd mid-run though! :-D
Miles of Life --- Powered by MarkyV
189
Member
390 days
Nutty posted 13 weeks ago.
ChunkyB wrote:
I wasn't thinking it would be a pee story. I was thinking about the first time I swam with goggles as a kid. I pretty much spent an hour under the water looking at all the girls in their swimsuits. I think my lung capacity grew quite a bit. Kind of a "necessity drives invention" type of thing.
I'd be lying is i said i dont still do this. I just swim as im doing it. Good way to work on bilateral breathing if youve got some talent on either side...
-alan
My fancy new blogitty blog.
http://therunningfridge.blogspot.com/
772
Member
752 days
cayman posted 13 weeks ago.
kylie wrote:
I haven't yet pee'd mid-run though! :-D
I confess
john
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
308
Member
181 days
diva_mom posted 13 weeks ago.
post degenerated - and i like it that way.
Don't be so easy on yourself 'cause this one might be all that you have left
4464
Member
1641 days
beads1985 posted 13 weeks ago.
Kinda the nature of the degenerated crowd around here ;-)
''Nothing to it, but to do it''
http://beads1985.trifuel.net/
492
Member
399 days
TryScott posted 13 weeks ago.
I thought the confession was going to be about checking babes under the water.
I've never once thought that I saw something scary in the water. If I start thinking it now that I read this thread, I'm NOT going to be happy.
772
Member
752 days
cayman posted 13 weeks ago.
TryScott wrote:
I've never once thought that I saw something scary in the water. If I start thinking it now that I read this thread, I'm NOT going to be happy.
Have you ever seen the elderly water aerobics at the pool--eek!!! I shouldn't poke fun, I'll be there in a couple of years myself.
Please somebody get us back on topic :)
john
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
3337
Member
1327 days
RV posted 13 weeks ago.
cayman wrote:
Have you ever seen the elderly water aerobics at the pool--eek!!! I shouldn't poke fun, I'll be there in a couple of years myself.
See 'em - usually you know they are there by all the perfume in the water - Yuck!
And I just know there are lake sharks out there! Nothing like entering the food chain. Didn't need to be reminded to look for big nasties in the water!
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
4464
Member
1641 days
beads1985 posted 13 weeks ago.
Big nasties!!??
Who pooped in the pool?!?!?!
''Nothing to it, but to do it''
http://beads1985.trifuel.net/
3337
Member
1327 days
RV posted 13 weeks ago.
beads1985 wrote:
Big nasties!!??Who pooped in the pool?!?!?!
Ah, can always rely on Beads for the potty humor! :)
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
4464
Member
1641 days
beads1985 posted 13 weeks ago.
RV wrote:
beads1985 wrote:Big nasties!!??Who pooped in the pool?!?!?!
Ah, can always rely on Beads for the potty humor! :)
I do have a reputation to live up to ;-)
''Nothing to it, but to do it''
http://beads1985.trifuel.net/
385
Member
110 days
jtrimom posted 13 weeks ago.
I was doing a tri today, and I was running around the lake we swam in, I saw a warning sign: please do not disturb the alligators in the park!
470
Member
471 days
Socket posted 12 weeks ago.
As soon as I think about breathing, that's when I get all messed up, my form falls apart, and I'm breathing every other stroke. But then you can't tell yourself "don't think about breathing" because that's like saying "don't look down."
I'm always creeped out a little bit by water I can't see through. I went to summer camp once where they filmed the first Jason movie and you couldn't see an inch in front of you in the lake, so any time a leaf or twig brushed against my foot I'd flip out ;-)
4464
Member
1641 days
beads1985 posted 10 weeks ago.
Socket wrote:
As soon as I think about breathing, that's when I get all messed up, my form falls apart, and I'm breathing every other stroke. But then you can't tell yourself "don't think about breathing" because that's like saying "don't look down."I'm always creeped out a little bit by water I can't see through. I went to summer camp once where they filmed the first Jason movie and you couldn't see an inch in front of you in the lake, so any time a leaf or twig brushed against my foot I'd flip out ;-)
Ah to reminisce about Jersey ;-)
''Nothing to it, but to do it''
http://beads1985.trifuel.net/
650
Member
1067 days
deepbluex posted 10 weeks ago.
I came back from my honeymoon where I went swimming with sharks.
They numbered in the dozens and came as close as a foot away from me.
Once a month I'll do a test to monitor my progress throughout the season. I take these seriously and was ready for my mile swim test in the pool. After my warmup I started my watch and was off at a quick pace. I only got about 400 yards into the TT and I started thinking about my breathing (big mistake) and trying to get enough air after the turns to feel satisfied. As I was focusing on speed, streamlining off the walls and keeping that first breath low profile I was feeling the stress. Turn after turn I felt this and let my mind wander to the torturing hypoxic workouts we'd do in college and relived the panicked stress of needing air. I fought to refocus my mind but couldn't take it anymore. I actually stopped in the middle of the pool to get out. It took me all of 2 seconds to realize that if I quit, then the next time I did a TT I would most likely bail again. I got going and probably lost all of 8 seconds. I focused really hard on just thinking about my favorite bike course (nothing to do with breathing) and got through it just fine.
When I hear about people panicking in the water I usually brush it off and think it's nothing. But after having swum competitively for 7 years I can still find myself in a panic, (been a long time though) I think I'll be a little more understanding from now on.
"Whether you think you can or can't, you're right"