My friend “Keri” took up triathlons back in the 80’s. She was an extraordinary runner and a good swimmer so after several months of training on the bike, she was primed for a spectacular debut in one of Seattle's first multi-sport events. This seasoned competitor had everything it took to be a great triathlete; except for one very important skill.
The gun fired for the start of her race and Keri splashed out with the crowd. Her arm was banged by some psycho to her right and she got annoyed. Another swimmer swam over her legs which stopped her progress. Then a series of collisions with nameless, red capped swimmers made it hard for her to keep her head above water. Panic, (and a little stomach bile) filled her throat and she quickly grasped the obvious; this triathlon stuff was not for her.
Keri never finished that swim, and never entered another triathlon.
She had all the tools to be a good triathlete except one; how to stay calm in the middle of a hurricane.
I clearly remember my first mass start triathlon at about the same time. I had trained hard in the pool for years and felt I was in very good shape. Good enough shape that I decided to play water polo for the UW as a kind of diversion -- an excuse to not do yet another hard set of 200’s at the ridiculous IMA pool.
Ten seconds into that first race I quickly decided that this event did not involve swimming, rather it was a mile long polo match. I swam with my head up, my legs kicking like mad, and my elbows were spinning wide like those knives on the Ben Hur chariot. Woe be unto anyone who got within three feet of me. Those polo practices saved my triathlon carrier, and maybe my life.
Now I don’t expect everyone to join a water polo club to prepare for the triathlon season, but I do encourage everyone to realize that swimming in the open water, and especially in a mass start competition, is not just about pulling, kicking, and good body position. Preparing for the Hurricane is your best chance of surviving it.
In her book; Fearless Swimming for Triathletes, (2011, Meyer and Meyer Publishing, UK. Distributed by the World Triathlon Corporation), Ingrid Loos Miller does a fine job not just of describing the hurricane and tallying up the dead, but also providing some scientific background, case studies, and of course a host of tools a triathlete can use to make it through a “bit of bad weather”.
The unwritten sub-title of Miller’s book is “Knowledge is Power”. Roughly the first third of the book’s 155 pages are devoted to outlining all the dangers lurking past the shoreline. Cold water, poor fitting wetsuits, crashing waves, other swimmers, mega fauna, bacteria and viruses, are just a few of the dangers Miller pains to point out. Besides these obvious obstacles, there are ancillary dangers, like dizziness from the cold water in your ears, and rip tides from the surf. Miller argues that a swimmer has to know what dangers are out there so that they can systematically confront, deal with, and dispatch them, in due time.
Of course, as the title of the book implies, the main obstacle a swimmer faces is sloshing around between his or her ears. Learning about the dangers inherent in open water swimming is just the first step in dealing with the fear or anxiety that tends to color our whole swimming experience.
Miller devotes about a third of her book to dispelling myths, soothing nerves, and providing statistics showing skeptical readers that you are indeed more likely to look good in a full length tri-suit than die in a Triathlon.
At the start of chapter Five, Miller writes; “The last thing you need on race day is fear that you will drop dead”. Well, actually, the last thing you need is a heart attack or a broken leg. What she means to say is that fear of dying is not a helpful emotion on race day. For that matter, the fear of getting lost, losing your shoe, or puncturing a tire are not very productive either, unless of course it motivates you to practice and prepare for all knowable dangers. It seems obvious but after coaching many beginning triathletes I feel it necessary to state over and over; being prepared is the best way to alleviate the fear of the unknown. Have a thorough health check up, allow enough time to put on your wetsuit, and don’t start in front if you are a slow swimmer. These steps, and many more outlined in the book, will make you a well prepared and a fairly fearless swimmer.
In Millers world of fearless swimming, everyone knows that Sharks never attack large groups of swimmers, there are no monsters at the bottom of a lake, and that wetsuits don’t shrink when they get wet. Miller points out correctly that “When bad experiences or scary thoughts are added to [cold water and wetsuits], your brain puts the two together and the fear becomes connected to open water swimming.” Miller suggests that the best way to deal with this flood of stimulation is to divide and conquer. Try your wetsuit out in a pool before going to the lake. Get goggles with a wide, clear view, and try wearing ear plugs so that you can avoid the disorienting effect of cold water on your ear drum. The kicker is to try all this out before heading to the lake for that early season practice and definitely before your first race. It’s just too much to deal with all this stuff while your face freezes and you are trying to stay on course.
My favorite passage in the book is the suggestion that a beginning swimmers’ first exposure to cold, dark, open water should be made fun, different, weird, and silly. Learning to associate an activity with fun and goofy memories is perhaps the greatest gift a coach can give an athlete. I’m already thinking of the silly games we will play the next time I lead a batch of minnows into the sturgeon infested depths of Lake Washington.
The final third of Loos Millers book deals with all of the mechanics of open water swimming like learning to go in a straight line, maneuver through a shore break in the ocean, and positioning yourself in a mass start event.
If only Keri had had this book back in 1983. Then again, like most of us egotistical, over confident, and over trained triathletes, she would have probably left the book on the coffee table while she went for another 10 mile run. There are so many things to learn and new skills to practice in order to become a competent triathlete, it’s good to see authors like Ingrid Miller drawing attention to the sport’s finer points.
The gun fired for the start of her race and Keri splashed out with the crowd. Her arm was banged by some psycho to her right and she got annoyed. Another swimmer swam over her legs which stopped her progress. Then a series of collisions with nameless, red capped swimmers made it hard for her to keep her head above water. Panic, (and a little stomach bile) filled her throat and she quickly grasped the obvious; this triathlon stuff was not for her.
Keri never finished that swim, and never entered another triathlon.
She had all the tools to be a good triathlete except one; how to stay calm in the middle of a hurricane.
I clearly remember my first mass start triathlon at about the same time. I had trained hard in the pool for years and felt I was in very good shape. Good enough shape that I decided to play water polo for the UW as a kind of diversion -- an excuse to not do yet another hard set of 200’s at the ridiculous IMA pool.
Ten seconds into that first race I quickly decided that this event did not involve swimming, rather it was a mile long polo match. I swam with my head up, my legs kicking like mad, and my elbows were spinning wide like those knives on the Ben Hur chariot. Woe be unto anyone who got within three feet of me. Those polo practices saved my triathlon carrier, and maybe my life.
Now I don’t expect everyone to join a water polo club to prepare for the triathlon season, but I do encourage everyone to realize that swimming in the open water, and especially in a mass start competition, is not just about pulling, kicking, and good body position. Preparing for the Hurricane is your best chance of surviving it.
In her book; Fearless Swimming for Triathletes, (2011, Meyer and Meyer Publishing, UK. Distributed by the World Triathlon Corporation), Ingrid Loos Miller does a fine job not just of describing the hurricane and tallying up the dead, but also providing some scientific background, case studies, and of course a host of tools a triathlete can use to make it through a “bit of bad weather”.
The unwritten sub-title of Miller’s book is “Knowledge is Power”. Roughly the first third of the book’s 155 pages are devoted to outlining all the dangers lurking past the shoreline. Cold water, poor fitting wetsuits, crashing waves, other swimmers, mega fauna, bacteria and viruses, are just a few of the dangers Miller pains to point out. Besides these obvious obstacles, there are ancillary dangers, like dizziness from the cold water in your ears, and rip tides from the surf. Miller argues that a swimmer has to know what dangers are out there so that they can systematically confront, deal with, and dispatch them, in due time.
Of course, as the title of the book implies, the main obstacle a swimmer faces is sloshing around between his or her ears. Learning about the dangers inherent in open water swimming is just the first step in dealing with the fear or anxiety that tends to color our whole swimming experience.
Miller devotes about a third of her book to dispelling myths, soothing nerves, and providing statistics showing skeptical readers that you are indeed more likely to look good in a full length tri-suit than die in a Triathlon.
At the start of chapter Five, Miller writes; “The last thing you need on race day is fear that you will drop dead”. Well, actually, the last thing you need is a heart attack or a broken leg. What she means to say is that fear of dying is not a helpful emotion on race day. For that matter, the fear of getting lost, losing your shoe, or puncturing a tire are not very productive either, unless of course it motivates you to practice and prepare for all knowable dangers. It seems obvious but after coaching many beginning triathletes I feel it necessary to state over and over; being prepared is the best way to alleviate the fear of the unknown. Have a thorough health check up, allow enough time to put on your wetsuit, and don’t start in front if you are a slow swimmer. These steps, and many more outlined in the book, will make you a well prepared and a fairly fearless swimmer.
In Millers world of fearless swimming, everyone knows that Sharks never attack large groups of swimmers, there are no monsters at the bottom of a lake, and that wetsuits don’t shrink when they get wet. Miller points out correctly that “When bad experiences or scary thoughts are added to [cold water and wetsuits], your brain puts the two together and the fear becomes connected to open water swimming.” Miller suggests that the best way to deal with this flood of stimulation is to divide and conquer. Try your wetsuit out in a pool before going to the lake. Get goggles with a wide, clear view, and try wearing ear plugs so that you can avoid the disorienting effect of cold water on your ear drum. The kicker is to try all this out before heading to the lake for that early season practice and definitely before your first race. It’s just too much to deal with all this stuff while your face freezes and you are trying to stay on course.
My favorite passage in the book is the suggestion that a beginning swimmers’ first exposure to cold, dark, open water should be made fun, different, weird, and silly. Learning to associate an activity with fun and goofy memories is perhaps the greatest gift a coach can give an athlete. I’m already thinking of the silly games we will play the next time I lead a batch of minnows into the sturgeon infested depths of Lake Washington.
The final third of Loos Millers book deals with all of the mechanics of open water swimming like learning to go in a straight line, maneuver through a shore break in the ocean, and positioning yourself in a mass start event.
If only Keri had had this book back in 1983. Then again, like most of us egotistical, over confident, and over trained triathletes, she would have probably left the book on the coffee table while she went for another 10 mile run. There are so many things to learn and new skills to practice in order to become a competent triathlete, it’s good to see authors like Ingrid Miller drawing attention to the sport’s finer points.
