:eek: I am training for my second sprint which is next weekend and I finally got nerve to get back into the lake where the race is and do the swim portion today. Yuk on the grass, but man oh man the water was cold. I did have my wetsuit on. I normally breath every 2 strokes to each side but due to the temp I ended up breathing every stroke to the same side and could not seem to get out of this ryhthm. Help, any suggestions. The weather just has not been warm enough to warm that water, nothing to do about the grass and murkiness. I was glad to be out of the water today, but worry because I have an olympic distance in the Mon River in Morgantown two weeks later. HELP.
Two words: Wet suit
Two more: Very Expensive
Take a water temp reading. anything below 76 degrees and a wetsuit is all but needed. They aint cheap, but if you think your gonna like this thing, its a sound investment
My body was fine, it was the cold water on my face that took my breath. any suggestions
Make sure you keep your head warm and covered, major heat loss from the top of your head. Are you allowed to wear the wet suit in the race. Soak the wet suit in hot water before you put it on, or let the body heat up the wet suit before the race. I was never allowed to wear a wet suit in arace and the water I raced in was nearly always in the low 60s sometimes in the 50s. Just relax and you should be fine. Some of the swimmers have worn a wool hat under the bathing cap.
wet suit is a def for the race, wore it at the same race last year, I guess there is really nothing to do about the cold temp on the face and taking away your breath. Tough it out right. thanks for the tips. Maybe it is the whole darkness thing that is freaking me out and making my breathing have no pattern. Hmmm........
One other suggestion waxed lambswool ear plugs. Roll them in your hand, the heat of the hand makes the easy to insert.
Try to prevent the water from hitting your nose until you are a bit acclimated to the temperature. Triggering the vagus nerve in your nose with cold water will provoke an accelerated heart rate response and the associated hyperventilation, as well as vasoconstriction which can cause numbness in the limbs - if push comes to shove, I've even heard of people using ear plugs in the nasal passages to prevent this, although I wouldn't go that route (that's more for folks attempting English Channel swims, etc.).
Kelli
Along those lines, take a deep yoga breath out of the water and start breathing out through the nose and put your face in the water slowly until the air is out. Take your face out of the water and repeat. Try to really regulate your breathing during all of this - close your eyes and try to tune the race out of your mind.
Do this between ten and twenty times and you should be good to go.
Good luck and happy racing.
thanks virturace and kelli, hope it helps. I will def give those things a try.
trimommy...
do you wear goggles or a swim mask? If you wear goggles give a swim mask a try. It covers a little bit more of your face. It has helped me with cold water and swimming in murky water because of the greater area of vision. Just a thought! Good luck!
Thanks krbrownabq, you just described to the letter my initial response at the beginning of all my tri races started in open water. Normal race day temps here in water are 14-17 degrees C, and I always find myself in one of two situations: 1) get a good a warm-up as i can in the cold water before race, which normally results in completely numb hands and feet by the end of swim, or 2) jump in just before start, which results in a heart rate rocketing through the roof and me gasping for air for 2/3 of race. I use a fullsuit for all racing, and its not a cold torso problem at all (I'm actually fairly comfortable at cold temps, I've been scuba diving for up to 17 min in a 7mm wetsuit before in water at 2 degrees C).... so it must have something to do with that vagus nerve you mentioned. Would using a nose clip for duration of swim fix problem (have to get used to it a bit in pool first I imagine).
Thanks... so much excellent info on these pages.
kevin
Just wondering when does cold water get up your nose or even warm water? When you are swimming?
Splash your face, the back of your neck even your head if you are not wearing a wet suit all over your body, even get in the water and get the feel of it if you are allowed. The shock of getting in a swim pool that is 80 degrees gets me gasping for air. Don't hinder breathing with nose plugs. I raced the proffessional marathon swimming cicuit for 12 years no one ever plugged their nose with any thing. We swam in water 48 degrees to 92 degrees the general temp was in the 60 to 65 degrees range. I shivered more at 92 degrees then I did at 56after the race.
kevo, thanks for the tip on a swim mask. I have seen these and never gave it a thought. I am not sure I want a larger field of vision in that murky water, actually would like to swim blind:) Will give it a whirl, need to figure it out before next sat which is the sprint dist (only a few min in the water, but also the 26th an olympic distance in a river, yuk, for over a half an hour. Thanks a bunch, and keep the tips coming........
A neoprene swim cap might help, too. The Barracuda Hot Head is about $20. Long distance cold water swimmers use vaseline and/or grease as their sole protection from the cold, although you'd want to be careful with that around your mask/goggles.
A good read is Lynne Cox's [I]Swimming to Antartica [/I] for anyone interested in what its like to do a cold water swim. Geochuck, I'm sure, has some great stories.
thehitman.
Second on the Cox book. An excellent read. Really gives you perspective on what the human body can handle with the appropriate training.
I've also heard good things about putting a layer of body glide or the like on your nose, but I understand it's more of a nasal cavity/blood vessel thingee.
I'm not sure using a nose clip would help.
Kelli
I swim in cold waters(see address), I am usually the first to do a lake swim, then I have to report to everyone else, yes its cold, but its always cold. I would say most problems are mind games, however i do plug the ears, wear nose pinchers, and wear two swim caps. Next, I know that cold water takes your breath away, this is why people die / drown in cold water. Therefore, tell yourself to stay calm and start out in a nice relaxed rythm, it takes practice, so practice. When practicing, start out swimming the shore-line, it will give you some degree of confidence knowing the ability to stand is there if things go bad. I find that if you start out relaxed, that in about 10min. all is well. good luck, and get excited about your lake swims. lake swims are fun !!!!!! oh, and for breathing every stroke, exactly, that is what it takes for me to stay relaxed,
Hey good advice Action - I just had a difficult open water swim in a tri - the water was cold - thought that I had warmed up, but 25 min waiting for the wave start kinda blew that - I think from the adrelaline and cold water - I couldn't get a breath. I know I let it get to my head - just need to get out and work through it. Then again being PO'd about the swim made me go even that much harder on the bike and run. May try the ear plugs - and maybe an insulated swim cap - then again it is actually getting pretty warm this week so the issue should be lessening anyway.
I just saw an article on precooling. A cyclist getting into a bath tub of cold water adding ice cubes to cool his lower extremities before riding, for an athlete using arms and legs cooling the whole body before doing a workout, so they could do a longer runs and swims before getting too hot. What do you think of this.
Studies have found that precooling aids aerobic activities of athletes to work harder than those who did not have the benefit of precooling.
Although this has nothing to do with the subject i thought this is interesting.
This may sound dumb, but if the lake I swim in is too cold, I pee in my wet suit before the face. You wouldn't believe how warm you get. Plus it helps to ease the pre-race jitters. If you ask me at a race I will deny any of this. If you are swimming along and run into a warm spot in the water, you can thank someone ahead of you for being so kind as to share their body heat so you can be more comfortable.
That's one way to warm yourself up and it's cheap....HAHA
Trimommy
I would suggest doing more open water swims in that or other cold lakes. Half of the battle is just getting used to it. Typically pools are fairly warm and that is your only comparison. Your wetsuit will keep you plenty warm so you just need to get used to the cold on your face. Others have posted some good ideas but in the end you just have to get used to it. Someone else already pointed it out, but it is mostly mental. The shock will go away, just stay focused on your stroke, mental picture of your kids, etc. to get your mind off of it. After a few swims you probably won't think much of it anymore. Good Luck.
Greg K
[I]I don't know what the future holds, but I know WHO holds the future.
TriMommy
I would suggest doing more cold water swims. We typically do 90 percent of our training in pools which are nice and warm. It's just like anything else, if you train on a bike indoors you never get used to the winds and they can be very rude at times. Others have posted some good suggestions about how to get used to the cold but in the end it is just something you have to work through.
When I first did open water swims I concentrated on my stroke or had a mental picture of my kids, or something similar. I just did everything I could do not to concentrate on the water or others around me, during events. You may have to adjust your breathing from the pool because of the tightness of the wetsuit or anxiety that you might feel. Just be adaptable.
Isn't this the great part of triathlon though? Overcoming whatever comes your way gives you all kinds of confidence outside of triathlong. At least that is my experience. Keep at it, and use different techniques until you find one that works for you. My opinion is just more cold water swims and eventually it will be the norm and you won't even think about it.
Greg K
After reading Dannyboy's post, I'm wondering about that used wetsuit I bought!
Get in the water well before the race starts and get the hyperventilating over with. We all want to spend as little time as possible in the freezing water, but your body will adapt and you'll be able to swim much better after 5 minutes of standing shoulder deep, 5 minutes of treading weater and then 5 minutes of swimming before the gun goes off. Stay where the water is shallow when warming up because it will be warmer there. Ken
I always think of that as I hit warm water in swims. I just think of the swim as the part where it's easiest to go to the bathroom! I just can't bring myself to pee while biking or running...
completed my first (sprint) tri today, completely unprepared for the swim. i'm a capable cyclist & runner, so i count on those to catch up. regardless of the time i spent in the pool, nothing prepared be for the sub-70 degree water - thus, i resorted to a container of vaseline i found in my car. there's no replacement for a wetsuit (picked one of those up on my way home...i'm too much of a wimp for the cold water bare-skinned), but some vaseline on my face was definitely a plus. give it a tri, if it doesn't work, you've just purchased a giant container of chapstick (too bad it's not tinted, to cover up those blue lips)!
Vaseline stops chaffing, never used it for the cold. Never used wet suits, it was illegal. You hands become numb, you jaw is frozen when you swim in very cold water. We thought it was fine if the water was 57 degrees or above, under 50 was nasty, under 40 you don't feel anything the whole body goes numb. The Egyptians used Lanolin to keep the cold out but nothing works below 55. The Italians and Mexicans always got out if the water was under 60. Most swimmers out at 55, just a few like Abou Heif, Myself, Cliff Lumsden, Dennis Matuck, and a few others stayed in below 55.
I aspire to be that hardcore!
When Lynne Cox swam Hudson Bay, she had to break ice with her forearms; and after that, she swam a mile off the coast of Antartica. check out [I]Swimming to Antarica [/I]. [url]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375415076/104-0705387-823...
Swimming in water that's barely above freezing - now that's hardcore.
thehitman