Overcoming the open water woes: Oakland Swim clinic

It was a cloudy Saturday morning at Jack London aquatic center in Oakland. Around 8 of us at gathered around 7:30 am waiting for the concerned person to show up. It was a cheerful bunch who broke the ice with one another immediately. Most of them were attempting a triathlon for the first time and they were trying to overcome their inhibitions with regards to open water swimming. 

The swim clinic was scheduled to begin at 8. After 10 minutes, a lady walked up to us and introduced herself as Sharon. She was our coach for the day who would be taking us through the course preview, starting off with the swim. After a round of introductions, she made a note of who was new to open water swims and who wasn’t.

We gathered our stuff and headed towards the estuary. Sharon explained the nuances of getting into a wetsuit. She emphasized on the importance of a body glide which makes it easier for a person to get in and out of a wetsuit. Ear plugs were also essential especially while swimming in open water. After patiently answering our queries, she showed us the swim start for both the Olympic as well as the sprint distance. 

Swim:After getting into our wetsuits, we entered the water. It in the 60s and didn’t feel too bad.  After warming up, we decided to swim up to the start for the sprint distance.  For the first half, we drifted along with the current which made the swim easy. While returning back to the deck, it was challenging to swim against the current. Some of us felt that we were hardly moving, which wasn’t the case as Sharon later told us. The current just slows down our pace. Fortunately for us, the swim course during the race was with the current. So, it would work to our advantage.

While swimming back to the deck, Sharon encouraged saying “Excellent. Good going.” Words of motivation brings out the best in anyone and I was grateful to Sharon for that. Earlier I had mentioned that I was probably the slowest. Fast enough to make the Ironman 70.3 cut offs which I did last year but slow in comparison to the others. “That’s absolutely fine,” she reassured me. 

After coming out of the water, Sharon asked if we were all feeling okay and we answered in affirmative.  She then exhibited a few open water skills such as sighting to ensure that a swimmer doesn't go off course. 

I expressed my latest concern to her. Recently I was facing a phenomenon called the race anxiety. Whenever I'd see people overtaking me in a swim event, I’d lose my nerve and start gasping for breath. Somehow this never occurred during a run or any biking event. 

“It’s your race. Do not look at anyone else. If they go too fast in the swim, they might just end up falling off their bikes, who knows,” she assured me with a tinge of humor. 

I nodded and listened intently. It was something that I ought to work on and not let the water or swimmers get to me. After getting off our wetsuits, we headed to the parking lot to get our bikes.  

Bike: Sharon explained that the transition from the swim to the bike was around 0.3 miles. Apparently, we had to climb a flight of stairs, cross the railway tracks and climb down another flight of stairs before getting to the transition. We biked up to the swim exit where she explained that we would be pulled out of the water. We then biked from the swim exit to the point where we had to take the flight of stairs. Sharon cautioned us stating that the stairs were likely to be wet and gave us a few tips on how to get to transition safely. 

We decided to check out the bike course. The roads were rather bumpy and there were a few sharp turns which we had to watch out for. Sharon lead the way and we biked for 10 miles, stopping at each signal and watching out for cars. It was a flat and a fast course. One was definitely bound to PR on their bike, if they could watch out for a few bumps. 

Run: It was almost noon when we set off for the run. It was scorching hot just as it was expected to be on race day. We ran up to Lake Merrit and back which was around 2.2 miles. It was a relaxed run to check out the course. We were told that we had to climb a flight of stairs again, cross over and climb down again to reach the finish line. 

After the run, we gathered around for lunch and were treated to some delicious sandwiches.  Sharon answered our queries. Everyone began to leave thanking Sharon for her inputs and wishing each other good luck for the race. 

I thanked Sharon again. This time she told me a story of a woman who came last in many races. This was some years ago. Apparently whenever she would finish her swim and get to transition, all the bikes would have gone and hers would be the only one on the rack. One time she sat down to eat chocolate cake when a volunteer asked if she was ok. To which she remarked stating that she was celebrating her swim finish with cake. She then headed out to bike after eating her chocolate cake. “So, you see, its each person’s individual race. It doesn’t matter who goes ahead of you as long as you finish.” 

I smiled in gratitude for her kind words and her humorous story that lifted the weight off my shoulders. I decided to adopt the same philosophy that I do for my runs-to enter into my own zone and set my own rhythm. 

As I drove back home, I chuckled at the thought of the lady having chocolate cake in transition. Not that I was going to do that. I might indulge in some post the race though. After all, considering the long transitions, Oakland triathlon wasn’t going to be a piece of cake. (Pun intended)