Don't Let A Little Swim Stop You!

So many times I have heard people say that they would do a triathlon if only they didn't have to swim. It seems that the swim part of the triathlon is what keeps so many people from attempting their first tri. I always tell them that the swim is short in a sprint. Anyone can do it. It's nothing! Don't let the swim stop you from doing one.

Image from oyster.com

Almost anyone, if they are motivated and in fairly good shape, can get in a pool or lake and swim 400 to 600 yards straight. In most sprints, that's all you need. In some of the sprints, the water is shallow enough that you can stand up and walk if you get tired and there are also folks in kayaks out there that will let you hang on and rest for minute if you need to. Almost all my problems in the swim have been when I have gone out too fast at the start. I've learned to relax even if I have to slow down for a minute.

Most people go into triathlons from one of the other three sports, running, cycling or swimming. Sometimes the strongest swimmers are not the fastest in a triathlon. I came into the world of triathlon through cycling. I was a fairly strong cyclist back then and doing regular rides with the bike club group, which consisted of several triathletes. I would see their race shirts and hear their race stories and wanted to try one for myself.

Image from fuelrunning.com

The only problem was I couldn't swim. Yes, I could dog paddle, tread water, float on my back and get from one side of the lake to the other in a haphazard manner, but I didn't know how to freestyle. I didn't know how to put my face in the water and breathe from side to side. My head was always out of the water when I swam or either I would be totally under water swimming. Way too anaerobic for a tri swim!

Image from tumblr.com

Image from tumblr.com

At that time I was working with a guy, S, who had sons that were competitive triathletes. He told me about some upcoming triathlons that were good for beginners. One was in June and was the Buster Britton triathlon at Oak Mountain State Park in Birmingham, AL, practically in my back yard. I signed up!

Image from blog.al.com

After three years of cycling, I was determined to give triathlon a try. I was too embarrassed to join a swim group so I went to the local library and got a book on master's swimming (similar here and here). I read about how to free style and breathe correctly. I found a time when the indoor pool at the JCC was empty and I took my book, my goggles and my swim cap and taught myself how to swim. It wasn't pretty! I recommend hiring a coach to work one on one with you if you can afford it instead of the way I did it.

Image from Amazon.com

The swim in the Buster Britton tri back then was 600 yards (now it's only 400 yards). It was March so I had three months to work on my swim. It didn't take me long before I could swim 600 yards without stopping. I went to work and told S that I had swam 600. He told me that I needed to swim two 600's before the race just to make sure I could do it and and to make sure I could cover any extra yardage when/if (but mostly when!) I got off course.

I swam one 600, rested a few minutes, swam another 600. I did that at least twice before race day. I also started running and worked my way up to three miles before the race. The sprint was a 600 yard swim, 16 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile run. I had the bike part down since I'd been biking in century rides, MS150 rides and 30 to 70 mile group rides with the bike club.

Before the race I went out to Oak Mountain to practice swimming in the lake and had a canoeing friend spot me. I didn't swim long, maybe 5 minutes tops and thought I was going to drown! Then I did a short bike and run on parts of the course. I knew I could do it if I just settled into a rhythm during the swim and stayed calm and focused on breathing and moving forward. Moving forward would get me to the end and out of the water! That was my goal for the swim. Then I would kick ass on the bike.

On race day I started out too fast in the swim and got out of breath and panicked, but managed to calm down and finish the swim in about 12 or so minutes. The bike part was a breeze even though I was a little tired from all that swimming. (ha!) The run was hot, but I finished the race in under 1 hour 30 minutes (1:27:00 I think) and placed 2nd in the beginner category. That was 1999. I was hooked!

After the race, I had a little more confidence in my swim ability so I started swimming with a master's swim group 3 days a week at the JCC. It was much more fun swimming in a group than by myself. The coach corrected some things I was doing wrong and the other swimmers pushed me to go faster.

That is why I cringe when I hear people say they can't do a triathlon because of the swim. I know if I can do it anybody can! The biggest part of a triathlon is the bike segment. Being strong on the bike is key if you want a chance at being competitive or not. You have to hold your own in the swim and the run, but you don't have to be a fast, expert swimmer to get to the finish line. You just have to be good enough to get through that part and onto the next. Believe me! I suck at swimming, but in sprints I usually place in the top 10 of my age group, if not the top 3.

So please don't let the swim stop you! I have now been training and racing for over 14 years. It has helped me deal with the anxiety, stress and depression of divorce, raising a child on the autism spectrum, financial and career struggles and just general everyday life stuff. Not to mention the being tone and fit part. That part rocks!

I can't say I like the swim training part or even that I do it regularly anymore unless I have a big race coming up, but I never let it stop me. Triathlon training and racing is a great way to stay fit and feel good about yourself in an endorphin-induced high kind of way! I came into the sport in good health and had been continuously exercising for years before I started swimming. If you have been inactive or are not in good shape, I would get to a doctor for a check up first before attempting to swim or race.

Image from iamtri.com

That being said, the swim is really not that bad! It's really not. I wouldn't lie to you!

And for all you males out there who haven't discovered tri shorts...

Image from facebook.com

Thank you!

Buster Britton Memorial Triathlon

Watching the 3rd place baby fly!

Saturday I raced in the Buster Britton Memorial Triathlon in Birmingham, Alabama. It was my 12th time to do the race which was the very first one I did in 1999 when my son was seven years old. I have raced it every year except two over that 14 year period. (read about last year's race here and here)

Over the years they have shortened the swim from 600yds to 400yds and shortened the bike from 16 miles to 13 miles and moved the transition area up the road a bit until now it's at the very last picnic area before you start up the barely paved rough road that winds it's way up the mountain to peavine falls.

That's where the run takes place. It goes gradually uphill out and then mostly downhill back except a couple of small uphills. It's not bad though. The bike ride is the same. Going out is rolling but mostly uphill and coming back is smoking fast downhills with a couple of uphills.

There's a reason it's called "Oak Mountain" State Park.

In line for swim start... adjust the googles.... it's important!

The swim start is not a mass start. Everyone lines up by race number and goes in the water every 3 seconds. It use to drive me nuts to stand in line and wait, but after last year being at the end because I registered late, it doesn't bother me at all. I even got to the race at 6:30 instead of my usual 5:30 a.m time and parked a fairly long distance away from transition and that was fine. This was my husband and chief athletic supporter, staff photographer and food and beverage coordinator that broke me of the my OCD habit of having to get there at a certain time, park in a certain place, do everything in a certain way or have complete meltdown.

I actually race better now!

There was one small moment of panic when I couldn't get my bike in transition area before the race start because I wasn't wearing my arm band. It was way down the street in the car because I hate wearing those things! We have to have our bike racked by 7 a.m and I only had 5 minutes to run back to the car and grab it and get back. I had also forgotten my bike pump and had pumped the tires a little before we left Pensacola on Friday, but I knew they needed more air.

I rode the bike to the car to get the arm band and then went by the Bike Link tent to get the guys to pump air in my tires. Good thing because the back tire only had about 65psi and I usually race at 100psi. Luckily, there wasn't a line and I got my bike in transition right at 7 a.m with tires full of air.

Image from Facebook.com -Team Magic photo

Ready to go!

The water as usual was very warm and very brown and squishy at the bottom. The ramp is slippery but they had us going in next to the ramp with a carpet down. I wish the carpet had been extended all the way into the water until it was deep enough for me to start swimming though. It was squishy.

Thinking if I lean back far enough it will postpone going into the icky brown water....

Finally in the water swimming around...

It was very foggy at the start of the race and my googles were a little foggy too so I had a little trouble seeing where I was going. I think I stayed on course though. My swim time was only a few seconds slower than last year at a little over 9 minutes. Two minutes slower than I had wanted though.

Buster Britton transition area... you can't come in without your wristband... don't forget the wristband! Trust me!

The camera battery died right after the swim start so the Murph couldn't take any other pictures of the bike and run portions of the race. I got the awards ceremony photos off of facebook. The President of the Vulcan Triathletes Club took them. I missed the group photo with them though. I usually do! Now I am a member of both the Vulcan Triathletes and the TriGulfCoast club in my new home city. I guess this will be my last year as a Vulcan Triathlete. 

I will miss that too even though I haven't been training with them much the last couple of years because I haven't been training much at all the last couple of years! That will change now that I'm training for a 70.3 race.

Transition area

Award ceremony

I felt a little flat on the bike and I don't really know why. It was the first time this year that I've used the race wheels. I didn't use them in the other two races I did last month so I thought I would feel faster but nope. I was a minute slower on the bike than last year which was disappointing since I've been on the bike more than last year.

Buster Britton Finish line... always a welcome sight!

My run was much faster and I that's because of all the 5k's I did in April. I've been working on speed and keeping my long distance runs under 13 miles. Long distance has always slowed me down.

Overall I was about 3 minutes faster than last year and placed first in my age group same as last year. This year we stayed for the award ceremony so I could get my award. I'm glad I did because I also got a bag of all kinds of goodies such as running socks, bike tubes, water bottle, bike co2 pump, power gels, etc. It took a very LONG time to get to my age group though because I'm so old. The Murph was somewhat patient and I appreciate it. He even broke down and used the port-o-potty, something I thought he would never do.

Also, new this year was that everyone, all the race finishers, received a very nice finisher medal. After all that hard work everyone deserves a medal, especially the ones on the course in the heat after the 2 hour mark. They deserve something more than the top finishers and now they get some hardware too.

At packet pickup Friday I ran into the psychiatrist my son has been going to for ADD meds since he was in 6th grade. The same psychiatrist who diagnosed the Boy with Asperger's when he was in 8th grade and changed our lives for the better. He told me he was racing and that Buster Britton was his first triathlon. I didn't see him during the race, but as I was heading over to look at the results after the race I ran into him again and asked him how he did. He kicked butt! He placed 6th in his age group and was 6 minutes faster than me.

I have to admit I couldn't find his results because I thought he was much younger than he is. When I first took my son to see him many years ago, I even remember thinking he's so young that he probably just got out of school. "How much experience does he have? He's barely older than the Boy." Of course, I immediately realized he was very qualified and I shouldn't be so quick to judge. After seeing the race results I realized he's older than I am! Oh, well, sorry I thought what I thought! I'll never tell though!

The race is named after Buster Britton, a Birmingham area triathlete who died while doing a fun run a couple of weeks after doing the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii about 25 years ago. Buster Britton's family was there and his daughter spoke about what a great legacy this race was for their family. This was the first time I had seen the family and I didn't realize that Buster Britton's daughter was pregnant with his grandchild when he died. The granddaughter had never met her grandfather, but his legacy lives on in the triathlon which is one of the longest running ones in Alabama.

That was very touching. I hope that I can continue to do the race in the future even though I'm not living in Birmingham. Oak Mountain use to be practically in my back yard and was one of my favorite places to train. I will miss it.

Another pic of award ceremony.... babies still flying!

Except not the icky brown water part!

Wanted: Faster Running Shoes To Make My Legs Go Faster

I've been looking for a light weight racing shoe for running marathons and half marathons to replace the Zoot triathlon racing shoe that I sometimes wear. I love the Zoot tri shoes, but I want to save them for when I do triathlons and get light weight racing shoes just for runs.

During the Mercedes Half marathon I wore my regular training shoe, the Brooks Glycerin 10.  It's a great shoe for me to train in,  but it's a little heavy for racing.  I wore the Zoot Tri shoe in Mobile for the half and the Brooks Glycerin Sunday and could tell the difference in weight.  I thought that by wearing the more cushioning Brooks shoe that the bottoms of my feet wouldn't feel so beat up after the race as they did in Mobile, but there wasn't much difference than when I wore the Zoot tri shoe.

The choices I am considering for a light weight running shoe are the Newton Women's shoe which is only a little lighter than my Glycerin 10.  I love the color!

Image from Newtonrunning.com

Newton Women's Distance U

I also found out there is a new pink performance running shoe coming out this Spring by Karhu.  The Karhu reps were at the Mercedes marathon expo and had pictures of it.  It is very cute and pink and worth checking out before I purchase anything.  And did I mention it's PINK!

I love the Brooks Glycerin 10, but as I said before it is pretty heavy for racing at about 9.6 oz.  I really want something under 8 oz for a racing shoe.  I wore the Glycerin 10 in the Chickamauga marathon and the Mercedes Half marathon.

Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon

Brook Glycerin 10

For most of my races the past couple of years, I have worn these Zoot triathlon shoes.  The difference between these and regular light weight running shoes is that these have built in lace locks that makes it easier to pull on in the transition area after taking off your biking shoes.  All you have to do is pull them on, give the laces a quick yank and go.  No time wasted trying to tie them.

Similar one here - Zoot Tri Shoe

Before I got these to do triathlons in, I had to put lace locks on my regular running shoes.  They weren't as easy to deal with as already having them built in the shoe itself.  The Zoot tri shoe itself is designed to tug on quickly and easily.

Image from Profile-design.com

I've worn these Zoot tri shoes at Rock And Roll New Orleans Marathon,

Heading to the Port a let where all well hydrated runners hang out pre-race

At the Buster Britton Triathlon,

Buster Britton Triathlon

Mobile Half marathon, and many other races throughout the past few years.

I have two other pairs of Zoot Triathlon shoes that I don't wear as much.  One pair is turquoise and the other is white and pink and very similar to the ones above except the laces are white instead of black and they are a little stiffer than the ones above so not as comfortable.  When I went to Hawaii two years ago to do the half ironman triathlon in Kona, I absent mindedly packed up one of each.  The right Zoot shoe with the black laces and the left Zoot shoe with the white laces.  What's worse is they made it all the way into my transition bag like that.  I didn't realize I had two different shoes until I was in the transition area ready to put them on race day.

Imagine my surprise after swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and then reaching in my transition bag and discovering what a stupid mistake I had made.  I said a short prayer right there in the middle of transition for God to PLEASE make one of them a lefty and one of them a righty or I was going to have to

1.   Put two right shoes on and run "awkwardly" for 13.1 miles hoping nobody would notice

2.  Run barefoot for 13.1 miles and hope there was skin on the soles of my feet at the end of the run

or

3.  Abandon the entire race right then and there and that would have been a toughy because I'm not a quitter and I had just flown thousands of miles all the way to Hawaii just to do this race!

Lucky for me I had a lefty and a righty so the entire run part of the race became a science experiment to find out which Zoot tri shoe felt the best and most comfy to me during a race.  It made the run go by just a little bit faster since I was going over in my head which foot was crampy, which one felt all cushiony like it was in a glove, etc.

Guess it's easy to see which pair won!  Unfortunately, they are getting a little worn out.