Moving from Indoor Triathlons to the Real Thing (Read 1369 times)

I don't Tri but my brother does. He once told me that his first outdoor Tri swim was a real eye opener. You get kicked and smacked by other swimmers and you'll probably do the same to others. Not on purpose of course. Once the field gets spread out he found that his open water times were much faster than his indoor pool times. Me- I'd probably drown. The thing that keeps me from doing Tri's is not the water or the running- it the part of having that bike seat crammed up in your rear and flying down the road at 100 mph just waiting for your tire to blow out or your frame to brake. My bro is 7 years younger than me and just loves the Ironmen and sprint events. He's in the best shape of his life. Go for it-

I am also scared of the swim outdoors. I want to do an olympic distance this year even if the swim is in a lake.

Buffalo Gal! The fact that you are thinking about doing outdoor triathlons is a great sign that you are mentally READY to do so. At outdoor Sprint distance events you will find athletes of varying ability and experience. Some will be there to just finish (this is the case with about 70% of people who participate in Danskin or SheROX events) and others will be there to actually race (aka- redline) the distance. In the swim, those who are racing will move to the front on the wave pack at the start; the finishers, will stick with the middle/rear. Danskin and SheROX events are terrific for beginners. They attract a TON of participants so you are assured of wave starts (groups of about 50 to 100 women) and you can pick wherever you are most comfortable for that start. So, if the swim makes you a wee bit nervous, just stick to the outside and rear of your wave. I have a sneaking suspicion that you will be totally fine. Having a swimming background (any swimming background) goes a long way in triathlons b/c you are already comfortable in your ability to stay afloat. Also, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong breaststroking your way through the swim... I have seen pleanty of women do this. Many also add a breaststroke and backstroke to their freestyle just to recover a bit. Whatever gets you from Point A to Point B. You can totally do this! I took a friend from not being able to swim proper freestyle at all (she couldn't even put her head in the water) to competing in her first open water swim sprint triathlon in just two months! She certainly isn't the fastest person out there, but she is able to get the job done.... and you can too! To mimic OWS in a pool, you can have a friend 'knock' you around a bit in the pool. Honeslty, the whole knocking around thing isn't all that bad. I tend to swim up near the front with the stronger swimmers and while yes, my arms/legs/feet get touched and and I do get body bumped, I have never, ever been hit so hard that it's interrupted my overall swim (and I've swam with some pretty aggressive ladies). If you start closer to the rear of your wave, you'll have to worry about touching/bumping even less. Can't wait to hear more about your adventures! I hope you decide to give an outdoor tri a shot. I think you'll love it! Let me know if I can be of any additional help.

I think the biggest thing for me will be no black line to follow. How do you guys and gals go about sighting and breathing while swimming?

I think the biggest thing for me will be no black line to follow. How do you guys and gals go about sighting and breathing while swimming?

I have to sight almost every other breath. I can't swim straight to save my life. Even with that minor annoyance and getting all tangled up in seaweed, I still prefer OWS any day to pool swimming. Pools are icky! My swimming has totally fallen off this winter just because I cannot stand going to the pool! I can't wait until the water warms up enough for me to swim w/ my wetsuit this spring!

Thanks so much for the info. I will try and practice in the pool until the water warms up some. I zig zag too so it will be a challenge. I kinda look forward to not breaking my stride in the water since there is no pesky wall to contend with!

I haven't done one either -- but not b/c of swim -- I played water polo, so I'm happy in the water, and might have some experience kicking and fighting back underwater -- but b/c of lack of confidence on the bike. So I've only done club tris -- all outside (never heard of an indoor tri before) but all in the pool as well. But at my local tri club we do OWS, and I greatly enjoy that. From the little I've seen, we that are comfortable in the water are in the huge minority in triathlons. Heck, I go faster than most local triathletes, and I was a polo player, not a fast swimmer -- so if you've competitive background, I'd expect you'll find yourself comfortably in the way upper percentages in the swim if you want to -- or you could take your first one easy, and branch out to the side of the pack. You're a real (ie, past competitive) swimmer, you can afford to swim a bit extra and go around the outside of the pack and cover a bit more distance, until you feel comfortable, or just to try out the first one.