Open Water Swim Clinics

I’ve never been much of a morning guy, but NOW . . . I seem to roll out of bed at ridiculous hours.  Today was 5 am so I could join other triathletes for open water swim.  The worst part?  I didn’t even get in the water. 

My shoulder’s been a little wank lately, so I went out to shoot video for the Crushing Iron documentary.  And, even though I didn’t swim, I got a huge charge out of watching others working to be great. 

These clinics are first and foremost about feeling more comfortable in open water.  The more you do it, the more the techniques Robbie gives us pay off.  You work on real open water situations like mass starts, beach starts, sighting, and drafting.  Open water is a serious hurdle for some people, but I’m sure they would be surprised how quickly they’d embrace lakes, rivers, and oceans if they did a few of these clinics. 

Training for three disciplines puts you in a perpetual state of questioning.  You decide your run is in a good spot, then focus on swimming for a couple weeks only to feel like your run falls off.  It’s a major balancing act that never ends.  That said, the more I think about Ironman, the more I feel like the swim is the key.  People rarely think about it that way because it’s by far the shortest time spent, but a bad swim can make those next 138.2 miles miserable. 

I’ve had two races this year.  An early season sprint and an Olympic 10 days ago.  The sprint swim was a mere 300 meters and left me a mess.  I was completely anxious, out of breath, and my heart rate was through the roof.  It killed my bike and likely dabbled in my run.  The Olympic swim started rough, but I settled down, had a nice time, and came out of the water fresh to hammer the bike and have a decent run.  I definitely think my Open Water Swim Clinic with Robbie Bruce helped, and I’d only been ONE day.  Imagine what a whole summer in the lake would do for your big race?