Elicit Substance

I didn't know wetsuits could do that.

After a successful one-on-one with my swim coach, treading water while in a wetsuit is no longer an issue for me. She showed me how to pull myself upright and just hang out in the deep stuff. Easy. I wish I had spent the money on a wetsuit years ago.

Regarding One Little Mistake, where I described why treading water was something I sorely needed to learn, I had a comment from Roy and Christine of the Pedal Pushers regarding this post.

"I am not sure I understand the Intricacies of the swimming part. My friends just talk about getting kicked or jabbed...."

Your friends forgot to mention getting swum over, pushed down and rolled over.

Here are a couple of different types of triathlon swim starts. They put the "MA!!" in Mass Starts;

Point-to-Point Start
This means you start at some pre-determined point in the water and swim to another point (hopefully somewhere near the shoreline).
This is the start of the Pros at the Ironman World Champsionships in 2009.

To be honest, you could put your thumb on the screen and cover as many women as will be in my next point-to-point start. This just looks so much more awesome.

Beach Start
You start at the beach and swim to another point along the shore, either out and back around a line of buoys or along the shoreline.

The theory: You start near the front and run like an animal into the surf. Once you're about knee-to-quad deep, you dive in head first. Do 3 dolphin kicks, keep your head down and drive for about 20-25 hard strokes. Come up for air using the breaststroke, pick a spot on the horizon that you can watch to keep yourself swimming in a straight line, and start your swim stroke of choice. It should feel like the Filene's Basement Running of the Brides.



The reality: Figuring you've been plowed over enough at these starts, you start in the middle to back of the mob and walk in like you're waiting for a popular ride at an amusement park. You might start swimming while others are just about ready to make their turnaround. This traffic jam is why treading water could be important. Sinking is a bad thing but even more so when no one knows you've gone under and anyone in a wetsuit won't be able to dive down and grab you.

This is the beach start for 2009 Ironman Florida.


It's these kinds of starts that inspired this iconic Clif Bar ad:


Oh, and if you are unfamiliar with the "Running of the Brides" - here's the video. It is currently on hiatus in Boston but I believe New York is carrying the torch right now.

The mentality is the same but with less sand and water.