This past weekend I had my first OPEN WATER SWIM ... kinda.
It was part of a one-day triathlon clinic I went to over the weekend. Held by the Ottawa Triathlon Club, the clinic covered key skills in each of the three disciplines, transitions and program planning. There was no intense work out involved so I didn't have to worry about my injury.
The day started with open water swim skills - the first of which was how to put on your wetsuit. You wouldn't think it would be that hard but it takes some real finesse, and man those things are tight! Once we all had our wetsuits on we headed into the cold Ottawa River from a local beach.
I was super surprised at how quickly I got in the water given the temperature. In the summer at the cottage it takes me about 1/2 hr to get fully submerged in the water. This past weekend, it took me 5 minutes. The feet and head were the worst as they were completely exposed but, I did a few bobs and I was good to go.
The instructor then set up a little swim course with two buoys and we proceeded to swim around them a few times, practicing sighting and practicing keeping our cool with so many bodies around us, splashing all around, etc.
Good first time experience. I will (obviously) have to do some more open water swims to get used to the wetsuit. I really liked it at first because it gives you additional buoyancy so I felt like swimming was easier, but eventually it did start to feel a little constricting, especially around the neck.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment