Hopefully you have a little time before you tug on that wetsuit and hit the water for your first triathlon. Triathlete and PT Lucy Hurn shares her experience so nothing will take you by surprise come race day.
Before your first triathlon your body will be a shivering blend of nerves and anticipation. Not only with the brisk chill of an early start but the knowledge that you will soon have to perform in three hugely different disciplines.
Chances are you know how to ride a bike and the run is self-explanatory, but the swim portion can prove a slippery customer for anyone, especially when it’s your first. And if you’re fearing the wet stuff Lucy Hurn, Head Coach at Windrush Tri and a PT at Virgin Active Walbrook, advocates diving in head first.
“Target your area of weakness. Train at your weakness,” says Lucy, “and you will be stronger and more confident when it comes to race day.”
When you enter a race find out the details of what you’ll be tackling and train specific. Most will start en mass where competitors are treading water but some will take place in a pool. There is little use putting in freezing hours in the Channel when you’ll be competing in the local lido and it’s even worse if the reverse is true.
If the swim is all natural then you lose the luxury of a straight line to follow. Lucy explains how one of the most crucial, and most difficult, skills in your repertoire will be sighting, or actually knowing which way to swim.
Practice swimming with your head above water and feel how it affects your stroke. Eventually, make every third breath one where you look forward. Swim in a straight line and you greatly reduce the distance.
Mostly you’ll be following the line of the person in front. Admittedly, even this is fraught with its own dangers. “The likelihood is that you will get at least a little bit kicked or dunked,” says Lucy, “it’s just the nature of open water swimming.”
“Try to get used to swimming with a lot of people around you by piling into the pool with a few friends and all trying to swim in the same lane,” suggests Lucy, “ideally, don’t try and drown anyone.”
If you’re competing for space or just trying to keep pace, then it actually serves to follow a fin. Drafting, or following closely behind or to the side of someone, will save you and invaluable 20% of your energy to get you over the line or fuel attacks where they can be more potent.
Include at least one swim in your weekly training plan, ideally in the same conditions as the race. If that is in open water then it almost certainly means getting used to swimming in a wetsuit.
Unless your first Triathlon is someone particularly warm (lucky you), they’re a necessity says Lucy, “try loads on and certainly don’t buy the first one you try”. Not only do they help you with warmth and buoyancy, they will make you more efficient.
Although they are custom built for the purpose, actually using one can be an odd experience. The excess material around your arms – as well as the tightness around your chest – can affect your stroke technique and breathing so it pays to know what to expect.
Don’t think that the battle is won just by getting it on however: this whole article could be spent discussing the intricacies of wetsuit removal. It’s certainly the hardest transitional element you will face and you don’t want the first time you do so in anger to be race day. Keep calm, breathe slowly and ease the process with a little lube on your hands and feet – coconut oil, Vaseline or even the bedroom variety.
You want to make sure the day itself goes as smoothly as possible and that largely means not letting anything take you by surprise. And as it’s often the swim portion that’s the choppiest, it pays to be prepared. If you’re nervous about the swim or think that it’s your weak spot then get some lessons,” says Lucy. A few extra sessions will help to dial in your technique and make you a more efficient and ultimately a quicker swimmer.
No one has ever won or lost a triathlon in the water and you certainly don’t have to be the strongest swimmer to finish or even place well. Keep your breathing regular, your energy topped up and you will be thrown onto a bike before you know it.
Lucy Hurn is Head Coach at Windrush Tri and a PT at Virgin Active Walbrook. She is training for her first Ironman triathlon.