About Me

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Texas, United States
Welcome to my blog. What is a triathlon? It's a swim, bike and run usually in that order. My goal is to give exposure and insight to triathlons along with encouraging living a healthy life style. My post will also contain my collective thoughts pertaining to my training experiences. Feel free to send an email to ej@trilifeblog.com with any feedback or questions you may have. facebook: www.facebook.com/TriLifeBlog

Swimming 101


Swimming..! This is the first event in a triathlon and for me the hardest. I do not have a swimming back ground. I didn’t swim as a child, in high school or in college. To this day I can still remember my first swimming experience. I’m living proof that it’s never to late to start to learn to swim. I was 34 years old when I took the plunge into swimming. I could barley swim 25 meters without stopping.

My advice to beginners is to be patient. It will take time before you see progression. If it’s in your budget, go get a swim coach to help you with your swim technique. If it’s not in your budget then go visit YouTube.com. There are several good video’s out there to help you find and efficient swimming technique.

Here are a few of my favorite video clips.

Learning to swim options:
- Hirer a coach
- Internet (Youtube.com)
- Get an instructional DVD
- Ask a friend who has a swimming background

Swimming Equipment:
- Goggles
- Swim cap
- Swim suit
- Wet suit
- Kick board
- Hand paddles
- Pull buoy

Where to Swim?
There are two common places to work on your swim. You may either swim in a lap pool or find an open body of water for an open water swim (OWS). There are also indoor stationary swim machines which are not in water and there is a stationary option for non lap swimming pools. Both of those options are pretty pricey. Most of us especially beginners will either pool or open water swim.

Lap Swimming:
Pros
-        Indoors
-        Can swim alone
-        Swimming conditions are always good.
-        You know the exact distance you are swimming

Cons
-        Limited to 25/50 yards/meter lanes.
-        Cannot simulate open water swimming conditions

Open Water Swimming:
Pros
-        Allows you to become comfortable with open water swim environments.
-        You can work on your OWS sighting techniques.
-        Practice with your wet suit in the cooler months

Cons
-        Not recommended to do alone. You should always swim with a group

If you have any questions or would like to leave me any feedback feel free to send an email to ej@trilifeblog.com.

..ej