Is there any way to practice open water conditions in a pool setting? I've thought about having a training partner swim directly in front of me so I can practice drafting as well as having them swim right on my heels so I get used to being crowded. I've also contemplated getting very dark tinted goggles to impair my vision as much as possible, even thought about closing my eyes for a certain number of strokes every lap just so my body can adapt to no sight under water. Obviously, there is no alternative to practicing in open water conditions, but there has to be some pool modifications that can be used to at least help the transition a little...right??
Is there any way to practice open water conditions in a pool setting? I've thought about having a training partner swim directly in front of me so I can practice drafting as well as having them swim right on my heels so I get used to being crowded. I've also contemplated getting very dark tinted goggles to impair my vision as much as possible, even thought about closing my eyes for a certain number of strokes every lap just so my body can adapt to no sight under water.
Obviously, there is no alternative to practicing in open water conditions, but there has to be some pool modifications that can be used to at least help the transition a little...right??
My son's new swim coach was the open water swim coach for the US Olympic team at the 2012 Olympics.
She provided me a video for open water swimming that had some pretty good swim techniques that you can use when training in a pool.
The only problem is that the pool would need to be an Olympic distance pool without lane lines. Within the video, they take out the lane lines and run a course that teaches them to draft and sight and corner and pass others.
There were some pretty cool techniques shown, but it was geared toward open water swim races that are much less crowded than 3000 swimming friends..
Within LA Fitness type of pool, I would focus on maintaining speed over a 'long' interval and if you can share a lane with a similar speed partner or two, that would help you draft and get the feel of traffic.
Life Goals:
#1: Do what I can do
#2: Enjoy life
I did a triathlon yesterday in my hometown.
Olympic distance.
A death happened, but not in the swim. It was the run. He had a heart attack.
I was running a few yards behind him when he stopped, and I didn't attend to him as I thought he was about to puke. I never suspected the heart attack.
It was an out and back run, and about 1/3 mile before the turn around. I saw him being attended to when I was running back by a teammate of mine who was gingerly walking him toward an aid station to call medics. I read in the paper this afternoon that he died.
Sad, scary.
I'm sick to my stomach for not attending to him or asking him whether he was ok.
Remembered this thread that I started 5 years ago.
Anyway, stay safe. Just needing to 'share' what's heavy on my heart this afternoon.
rectumdamnnearkilledem
Oh, man, I just read the other day about this...there were no details other than that a man had died during (?) the race. I just assumed it was during the swim (one reason I won't do tris is my risk of asthma attack and drowning during the swim). A few years ago a guy died of heart attack right before the finish of the Riverbank Run 25k. IIRC he had played football for GVSU and was in pretty decent shape, otherwise. Apparently they found out after the fact that he had a congenital heart defect. And there was a guy who had a heart attack during Barry-Roubaix a few years ago...and was technically dead, but extended CPR managed to save him (seriously miraculous, since CPR rarely helps someone who's suffered a coronary episode like that). We still see this guy out riding around like a beast. But he's a true rarity.
Don't feel bad. There is likely nothing you could have done to help. Like the Riverbank Run guy, in a lot of these scenarios these are athletes who were found to have previously undiagnosed heart issues. Had they been inactive, their defect likely would have shown up earlier and while sitting at home. Their physical fitness bought them longer lives.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Thanks, Zoomy.
Ya, it was tough. I sent the race director a full email detailing what I saw and when I saw it with map images, etc.
They were looking for more information regarding what happened to him from witness accounts.
Anyway, very sad.
He was 62 years old, and the race hosted the "Clydesdale" national championship. He was from out of state (3 time zones away), and was leading his division after the swim and the bike. He biked 21 mph, and swam quite a bit faster than I did! He was about 1/2 into the run, and was running a 10:30 mile. He appeared to be conditioned properly for a podium finish for a man who was 17 years older than I am, and weighed at least 50 pounds more than me.
I took a couple years off of long distance training (to rejuvenate my mind, body, and soul). Last fall, I decided to get back into full distance racing in 2018, and went to a cardiologist again to have a complete test to ensure I was safe.
It makes me sick how it happened right in front of me.
Seeing someone in the moments before they die is really something that haunts a person, even if there is nothing they could have done to change fate. My nephew died from a brain tumor when he was 12. It wasn't something they even knew was there until he collapsed at home. I still can't get out of my head the image of him in the hospital bed attached to dozens of wires before they decided to remove life support. I can only imagine what my sister has gone through and how everything must play out in her head.
62 is too young, for certain, but it's still a relatively long life and it sounds like this guy made the most of it. I hope to be so lucky! There are plenty of people who live decades longer, but without the awesome lifetime that this guy appears to have had.