the wall - Triathlon Week

sprint50:43mike · 05-30-2006, 05:38 AM

what hapend; the first race of my cyson and I hit the wall at the START

It took 200mtrs. for me to settle down so I could swim the remaning 600. After I settled down my form was good I streched out nicley, and I ganed a little time. I'm sure my HR was someweare around the 180 mark . What can I do to calm down

Hernan96 · 05-30-2006, 08:05 AM

It happened to me also. I know for one thing I am going to be doing more open water swims to prepare. Also I am not going to be afraid to warm up properly. One of the coaches my team trains with tells us we need to warm up more. You swim 2000 -3000 yards in a workout but before you start the actual workout you warm up with 500-1000 yards so why not do the same thing before a race? He told us if you don't warm up because you want to save your energy, you are not ready to race. Your body should be ready. FYI, he is 9x Ironman competitor finishing in 9 hours.

sfricks · 05-30-2006, 05:46 PM

I agree with the warm-ups. I try to swim 400-500 meters before every sprint sized race I do with the last 100 meters at 90% max intensity. I find this helps me find a rythm much faster. I also ride to most races here (I live on an Island so that's 5-10 miles) and run a mile or so before hand.

As for HR at the start.... You might expect the Polar HR data to show a nice resting HR then an immediate increse. What you actually see is my HR starts and stays at 80% MHR during the entire swim. As long as you're comfortable, I wouldn't worry about it. It's your bodies "fight or flight" hormones getting you ready to go.