Open water swimming and lessons in humility.

Someone should warn you before you start triathlons that pretty much everything you wear for a triathlon is made of material that suctions itself to every part of your body. It is almost impossible to get on and/or off a wetsuit without a tremendous amount of pulling, tugging, and stuffing yourself into an outfit you would generally never wear around other people that can actually see you. This is why triathletes like to hang out with other triathletes, you don't look weird if you're in a group.

Last week, I bought a wetsuit. I live in the North now and most of my swimming will be in open water and likely in Lake Michigan, which is still pretty chilly in late Spring/early Summer.
My wife says I look like a super-hero. She clearly loves me. Another blogger has described it as feeling like sausage stuffed into casing and I would say that's a pretty accurate description.

The positive of this is the humility lesson. Very few people look slim and muscular in tri suits and wetsuits, but they are tremendously functional. It is very beneficial to be able to swim, bike and run in one tri suit and the wetsuit makes it possible to swim in 50 degree water and not freeze to death. I'm learning to appreciate my body for what it can DO and not what it looks like. I would be lying if I didn't say I would still rather see the slim, muscular version of myself, but it's not my sole focus and that feels like progress!

Ok, swimming. I love the water, I always have. I was a swimmer in high school (mostly back stroke) and I have always loved any opportunity to be in water. I'm not afraid of the ocean or open water. This is part of the reason I thought triathlons would be a good fit for me. What I didn't think about is the fact that it has been over 20 years since I have done anything more than leisurely swim. The first triathlon I completed was only 500meters and I managed ok, but definitely realized I needed more swimming practice. I struggled to maintain good breathing and could have had better body position in the water.

The first two weeks of group training for swimming with CES was working on technique. We were at a community pool and it was extremely helpful. My breathing improved and I could feel the difference in body position. I still need to practice a lot more, but I'm feeling a bit more confident. Then, we had our first open water swim in Lake Michigan. Lesson: I need A LOT more practice, especially in open water and using a wetsuit.

Let me preface this next section: It has been a cold and rainy and windy Spring here in Chicago. When we got into the Lake, it was pretty calm, albeit, cold (But the wetsuit helped tremendously with the cold!). Within a few strokes, the wind suddenly picked up and we were swimming in very choppy water. As soon as I swallowed a bunch of lake water from a wave crashing over me, I started to panic and lost control of my breathing. I had to stop swimming and try to take some deep breaths, which was harder to do because of the tight wetsuit. After a brief pause, I felt calmer and tried to swim again to find that I couldn't get my breathing regulated and the choppy water felt disorienting. Several times, I flipped over and did the back stroke for a minute to catch my breath, but I can't see from that position and worried that I would veer off. I also did a lot of side stroke and breast stroke to round out the swim. 20 minutes later, I was back on the beach with the rest of the CES group and coaches. It seemed a lot of the group was shaken up a bit from the swim and the coaches gave us good positive feedback for fighting through the bad weather conditions to finish the swim, but it was jarring to realize how uncomfortable I felt in the choppy water. I know someday I will probably swim in a race with water conditions that are worse than that if I continue in triathlons, which I hope to do, so I need to figure out how to deal with this new challenge.

(This picture was taken right after we got out of the water...it's hard to tell from the small waves on the shore, but it was fast moving, choppy water further out in the lake!)