Breathing problems
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Member
1373 days
toni posted 2 years ago.
It could be a couple of things.
Sports-induced asthma or panic attack/anxiety attack. Since they don't happen during training, but do happen during races I think it's probably the panic/anxiety attack. You're probably really nervous and apprehensive. You probably need to do some mental training and work on deep breathing prior to the race, not getting yourself so amped up (I'm guessing here), and know that your trained hard and are well prepared for the race.
Research some mental training and anxiety relieving strategies or books.
A couple questions: Does this typically happen at the beginning of the race? How long does it last? How many races have you done in total? Did you eventually calm down? What helped you to finally calm down?
-Toni
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. - FDR
587
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954 days
deepbluex posted 2 years ago.
I am pretty sure it's a newbie nerves issue because it happened in the first 200-300 meters of the swim and my mind was going through a thousand things at that moment instead of that calm and quiet headspace I usually had when I was training. I thought at first it was the cold water taking my breath away, the constriction of the wetsuit around my chest, I was going too fast to keep up with others instead of racing my own pace, the choppy waters was doing it.. etc... Eventually I calmed down, slowed my pace down for a couple of minutes and forced myself to take deep slow belly breaths and I was able to get back to normal. The rest of the race went ok and I forgot about it.
Then, I did a short time trial bike race the other day and the same thing happened in the first two miles. I started breathing at a rapid pace in and out through my mouth and the breaths were shallow and my throat felt extremely dry. I never felt consciously stressed out but I guess I was a little more "amped" than I had intended to be.
It was like every breath I was taking was empty of oxygen and I could not sync my breathing to my movements. It took a minute to consciously wrangle my breathing back to a deep and slow rhythm before I could feel my heart rate go down and my body come back into my control.
It's really annoying - none of this ever happens while training and I'm loose as a goose then.
752
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1373 days
toni posted 2 years ago.
Yep. Sounds just like race jitters. That happened to me at my first two tri's during the swim. Swallowed half the lake. It's amazing what adrenaline does to you when you're out there for a race and excited to tackle what you've been training for.
I've learned to just hone my excitement and start out slow and then get into the thick of things just so I don't freak out. Worked the next two times.
With the more races you do the better your starts will be. Just work on your mental talk to keep yourself calm before the race.
Anyone else have any ideas??
Good luck with that.
Btw, what age group are you?
-Toni
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. - FDR
587
Member
954 days
deepbluex posted 2 years ago.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm 35 and I've done my first 2 tris this past year. I'm definitely going through a lot of stumbling as a newbie to this sport. I guess that the intensity of being at the starting line with a big group is a little more intimidating or overwhelming than I first thought.
699
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1060 days
Blitz posted 2 years ago.
Hi Deepblue,
Im not an authority, but what you wrote happened to me in the water, so I researched it thoroughly. I read (could even have been in here) that your face has many sensitive nerves, and when you put it into cold water, some people hyperventilate. When I learned this, I went in all kinds of weather to the lake and got my face into the cold water as much as possible. The next race it went better. I got in before and warmed / cold ed up. I also read once that you can practice putting your face into a bowl of icy water as your race gets closer. This would be a good alternative if you don't live near a cold body of water.
Another thing that comes to mind is something I saw after just watching tris. I noticed that towards the end of the run, some athletes were making this horrible breathing noise. Like they were going to die. I asked about it, and was told that they just pushed too hard, and didn't dosage out their energy between the three disciplines. I would then suggest that you invest in a good pulse reading watch and keep your pulse in it's range.
Good luck Blitz
Who needs a man when you have a Kuota Kalibur to wrap your legs around.
I've caught myself fall into a bad breathing pattern a couple of times. Once during a tri, once in a bike race. I start hyperventilating and this leads me to gasp for air for a while instead of getting into a slow deep belly-breathing pattern that I usually get during my workouts. I attribute this to race jitters which I am not even conscious of since it happens early on in a race. I *think* I'm calm but I end up breathing all wrong. I can eventually get back control over this panic-breathing pattern but it is momentarily distracting and distressing and I lose time and it's not fun.
Anyone else encounter this annoying bump in the road?