Hyperventilating in the Water
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1205 days
lkkowski posted 2 years ago.
My first triathlon I experienced this. It really scared me, a few people told me to turn around and go back, but there was no way I was about to do that so I did the backstroke the entire time. My girlfriend swam next to me the whole time to make sure I didn't drown!
I find that if I warm up in the water before the race until the hypervenntilating feeling goes away I have a great swim during the race.
I also found that a little 'chant' or counting each stroke helps take your mind off the hyperventilating/breathing thing.
L
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beads1985 posted 2 years ago.
I agree, get in the water to get acclimated and warmed up if you can before so you won't feel so shocked. :D
Nothing to it, but to do it
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1412 days
RV posted 2 years ago.
Yup, I had the same problem in a sprint last year that had very very cold water. I massively hyperventilated. Weird part was that I was fine during the warmup, then 20 min on the beach waiting for my wave to go and when I hit the water couldn't get my breathing under control and had to do an alternate stroke to get through it.
The mantra thing does work - I use "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast". It helped me in following races. And I will be doing the same race in a couple weeks and the weather here hasn't been warm at all, so will be a good chance for me to overcome it.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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1152 days
deepbluex posted 2 years ago.
I had that problem in my first two races. The first time was much worse.
For me, the issue was definitely psychological. I did not trust the water. I did not believe the water would permit me to take in air whenever I needed to and I didn't have an instinctive feeling that buyoancy was something I could count on. I had that weird "I'm about to fall down and through the water" feeling like in cartoons when the character realizes the bridge they were standing on has collapsed under their feet five seconds ago.
I came up with this mental imagery that has helped me a great deal:
I imagine the water to be a solid bed onto which I lie down, with particular focus on my head - I used to hold my head up just a little bit, with tension in my neck muscles throughout my training swims and races. Now I let my neck muscles relax just as if I were to rest my head on a pillow - pushing my head firmly onto that pillow of water. Relaxing my neck has done a lot to help my form as this pulls my legs and feet upward.
Trust the water to hold you up and trust that there will be plenty of air whenever you turn your head out of the water. Breathe in and exhale as you turn your head back into the water. Set a comfortable breathing rhythm and time your stroke according to that breathing rhythm rather than setting your breathing to your stroke. You'll work on speed once you get comfortable.
Now I trust the water hold me up as securely as laying on a granite block would. With this in mind, I find it much easier to swim long distances without feeling fatigued. Cold water doesn't bother me too much in a wetsuit, cat, and earplugs. If it's much colder, a neoprene cap on top of a rubber one helps. I've swam in waters that were between 53 to 65F
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Sling posted 2 years ago.
beads1985 wrote:
I agree, get in the water to get acclimated and warmed up if you can before so you won't feel so shocked. :D
Yeah, I normally do. But with Alcatraz, I won't have that luxury -- we will jumping off a ferry.
Speed hurts; how fast do you want to go?
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1726 days
beads1985 posted 2 years ago.
Try to get in the water the day before just to get an idea what to expect.
Otherwise suck it up and get swimming :D
Nothing to it, but to do it
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Sling posted 2 years ago.
beads1985 wrote:
suck it up and get swimming :D
Yep, that's pretty much what it all boils down to, right? :)
Speed hurts; how fast do you want to go?
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beads1985 posted 2 years ago.
Sling wrote:
Yep, that's pretty much what it all boils down to, right? :)
Pretty much, bite the bullet :D
Nothing to it, but to do it
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970 days
Sling posted 2 years ago.
That's going to be my mantra when I jump in that cold-ass water next time:
"Suck it up and get swimming." :p
Speed hurts; how fast do you want to go?
477
Member
1343 days
geochuck posted 2 years ago.
A friend of mine Bert Thomas used to fill a bathtub with ice cubes and have cold water and ice cube baths before he did this swim http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,866510,00.html
My other friend Cliff Lumsdon did a little cold water swimming http://soloswims.com/cliff-lumsdon.htm
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lkkowski posted 2 years ago.
pee in your wetsuit, maybe that'll warm ya up!
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1343 days
geochuck posted 2 years ago.
Sling wrote:
Yeah, I normally do. But with Alcatraz, I won't have that luxury -- we will jumping off a ferry.
A little dab will do ya. When you can't get in the water get a bucket of cold water and dab it on the top of your head, on your wrists, around the neck and wet the wet suit and let your body heat the wet suit up before the race.
I'd like to segue from the topic ht001 started below. Every once in a while when I am nervous or excited about a race and/or the water is exceptionally cold, I will hyperventilate when I first enter the water.
I am wound tighter than a golf ball to start with, and then you throw in the excitement of a race and ice cold water and breathing is naturally going to become an issue at some point if you do it often enough.
The first time it happened, it scared the heck out of me, now I just recognize it for what it is, deal with it, get my breathing under control and just concentrate on getting into my rhythm.
This afternoon, I am going over to a quarry to swim with my team and I am going to purposely jump right in with no warmup to try to mimic the conditions of Alcatraz to get myself prepared mentally for the sure shock that is going to be coming there.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
Speed hurts; how fast do you want to go?