Swim fans/motivational gurus; I have signed up for the 6k Bantham Swoosh estuary swim on July 16th in Devon. I love outdoor swimming (as Candy Club followers know) but have suddenly got the wobbles about making it to the finish line. Four weeks to go and I am looking for swim motivation for amateurs like me who don’t care about times etc but do like to get out of their comfort zones. What’s your one piece of advice for the right mind set? Please and thank you (I have loosely trained for it but am slow and also easily distracted!)
I think it’s a case here of ‘jump’ in and enjoy it. If there are others faster than you, so what. I do remember the anxiety though of waiting for an event to start (in my case running) and how it took a few minutes to settle into the pace, not too fast and not too slow. Don’t overthink it, enjoy it first and foremost. No one is judging you.
Are you swimming with a friend? All my ‘out of comfort zone’ experiences only ever take place when I’m with a good friend to share the day/panic with/swear we are never doing anything like it ever again and then at the end say what a fabulous time we’ve had and what’s next on our challenge list! - I’m too much of a wuss to do things on my own!
Focus on your breathing, particularly at the start of the race. It will help you acclimatise quicker. Most importantly enjoy yourself. I hope the sun shines for you. Good luck! 🌞🏊♂️💦
I did my first ever open water race last year (2.5km) around an island. I was worried I couldn’t do it without stopping but built up over the weeks before and felt more confident by the time the day came. When the race started I thought I was last (cause you aren’t looking behind you) but I was far from it. Go at your own pace, I only took breaths on my ‘good side’ (when training I try to alternate breathing on both sides) and get some polarized googles if you don’t have some. With the current what is the equivalent distance you will cover? Good luck.
I think it’s a case here of ‘jump’ in and enjoy it. If there are others faster than you, so what. I do remember the anxiety though of waiting for an event to start (in my case running) and how it took a few minutes to settle into the pace, not too fast and not too slow. Don’t overthink it, enjoy it first and foremost. No one is judging you.
Are you swimming with a friend? All my ‘out of comfort zone’ experiences only ever take place when I’m with a good friend to share the day/panic with/swear we are never doing anything like it ever again and then at the end say what a fabulous time we’ve had and what’s next on our challenge list! - I’m too much of a wuss to do things on my own!
Best of luck! 💙
You’ll be fine, the current is quite quick. Look at river bed, it’s really good water quality, you can see fish and crabs.
I often think bubble bubble breathe to give myself a rhythm for strokes
Thanks team x
Focus on your breathing, particularly at the start of the race. It will help you acclimatise quicker. Most importantly enjoy yourself. I hope the sun shines for you. Good luck! 🌞🏊♂️💦
I did my first ever open water race last year (2.5km) around an island. I was worried I couldn’t do it without stopping but built up over the weeks before and felt more confident by the time the day came. When the race started I thought I was last (cause you aren’t looking behind you) but I was far from it. Go at your own pace, I only took breaths on my ‘good side’ (when training I try to alternate breathing on both sides) and get some polarized googles if you don’t have some. With the current what is the equivalent distance you will cover? Good luck.