Re-Run: Mastering The Swim at IMNC 70.3 Triathlon

Every endurance athlete remembers the moment when things finally click. Your swim feels smoother, your pacing makes sense, your fueling works, and suddenly the sport feels not only easier, but more fun. And for many athletes, that moment happens at training camp. That's exactly why we created the Endurance Edge Triathlon Training Camp happening April 22nd through 26th at Lake Jocassee in South Carolina. For 4 incredible days, you'll train in a small group with expert coaches, sports nutrition support, and sports psychology guidance, all designed to help you train smarter, race stronger, and finally connect the dots in your performance. We swim in crystal clear mountain water, ride beautiful and challenging roads, run scenic trails, and spend the rest of the time recovering, learning, laughing, and eating some seriously amazing chef-prepared food.

Mm-hmm.

Camp is intentionally small, just 20 athletes, so you get real coaching, true connection, and amazing breakthroughs. So if you want an experience that can transform your entire season, we invite you to join us. Head to theenduranceedge.com and click training camp and reserve your spot with just a $100 Deposit. Come train hard, learn a ton, and leave stronger than you ever imagined.

I'll see you there. Hello, all you awesome triathletes and soon-to-be triathletes. I'm excited to reshare this 5-day podcast series that covers everything from preparing for race day to having a great swim, bike, and run, as well as post-race tips. Specifically for Ironman North Carolina 70.3, though you really can apply these insights to any triathlon. So if you're racing this weekend, good luck. You've got this. For those of you who are dreaming big for 2025, we have some amazing plans in store for you to achieve your goals. We invite you to join us for our virtual open houses both this week and next week, where we'll focus on making your triathlon dreams a reality. We're launching some pretty amazing programs in 2025, including group training for Ironman and for 70.3 events, as well as a scholarship program and our winter strength and speed training. So if you're ready for a personalized training plan designed just for you, one that's based on proven science and supported by real coaches with more than 60 years and 1,000 races under their belts, then this is your chance. Save your spot at our open houses where you can ask our coaches anything, discover how we can help you accomplish amazing amazing, incredible things and become part of a supportive community. Visit theenduranceedge.com/2025 to secure your spot today. And again, that's theenduranceedge.com/2025. Welcome back to the Find Your Edge podcast. I am your host, Coach Christina Fiumara Newport, and we are on day 2 of our podcast blitz as we prepare for race day. This days episode. Welcome back to the Find Your Edge podcast. I am your host, Coach Chris Newport, and we are on day 2 of our podcast blitz as we lead into race day for— Welcome back to the Find Your Edge podcast. I am your host, Coach Chris Newport, and we are on day 2 of our podcast blitz for race week preparation. Today's episode is all about the swim. So first and foremost, it's important that you have all your necessary gear and equipment ready to go. So you've got whatever you're gonna use for your triathlon. Welcome back to the Find Your Edge podcast. I am your host, Coach Christina Fiumara Newport, and this is day 2 of our podcast blitz as we lead into race day. This is specifically for Ironman North Carolina 70.3, but it can honestly be for any race, any triathlon that you are preparing for as you head into race week. So first and foremost, it's important that you have the right swim gear as you lead into race day. So you'll be wearing whatever it is that you are going to be racing in. So could be a triathlon kit as we like to call it. So it could be a top and a bottom. Or it could be a single piece suit. Sometimes people will race in a bathing suit, but, um, bless you, that's impressive. Um, so typically that's what people have underneath. Make sure that you are taking care of any spots that will potentially get rubbed. So have a good quality type of anti-chafe material. We are partnered with 2Toms. They're amazing. I'll put a coupon code. In the link for you guys to use their products. They are typically a silicone-based product, so it makes everything nice and slippery slidey. Key places that you wanna make sure to put that anti-chafe is anywhere where there might be a seam or a zipper. So might be right kind of where your collarbones come together at the base of your throat where like a, the top of a zipper, uh, might be for like your, um, tri kit or around the backs or sides of your neck. If you get some rash there, you look like you have a lovely little hickey and then it burns burns to high heavens when you get into the shower later or even later on in the race. So let's try to avoid those by getting all of your anti-chafe material on there too. Around the armpits is a helpful place if you have any skin, um, exposed that might be exposed to a seam on a wetsuit. And then the other nice place to lubricate is around your calves, ankles, and shins so that you can get your wetsuit off really quickly. I also like to do the heels and sometimes even in between my toes just to prevent any blisters from happening on the bike or on the run. So that is your wetsuit. Hopefully you've also been in it. If you have not been in your wetsuit and you plan on racing with it, you need to get in the water with it. So whether it be a lake or a pool, jump in, test it out first, because if it's too big, it's gonna create a bubble and it's gonna create a lot of drag. If it's too small, you're more likely to have panic attacks. So make sure you have a good fitting wetsuit that you've already tried prior to race day. Another essential gear and equipment is make sure you have a good pair of goggles that you've already used. Um, make sure they have anti-fog on them. You can either use a, like a chemical version of anti-fog, um, or my favorite is a drop of Johnson Johnson's baby shampoo in each lens, rub it around, and then rinse it off in the water, uh, before you actually put it on. Also get familiar with the water, like the temperature, the taste of the water. So Ironman North Carolina is in the Intracoastal Waterway, so I don't know why it didn't even dawn on me the first time I did a race in that water. Uh, it didn't dawn on me that it would be salty, and that was kind of shocking to me. Sounds kind of dumb when I say it now, but you know, sometimes the full experience of the water, uh, can get in your head a little bit, which is a good segue to making sure that you are mentally prepared for the swim. So in your training, hopefully you've been doing some more specific things that are applicable to triathlon. Uh, this is one of the fun things that we do as part of our triathlon team that we'll do in our swims is we'll do group swim starts in the pool and in our open water. We'll practice sighting, things like that. So hopefully you've done some of that. Obviously we can't rerun the clock where we're at right now, but you can at least mentally prepare for the swim as you are preparing in this sort of start corral. So race day nerves are a real thing and it will affect your day. So it will also affect, is one of my favorite things, it will affect your nutrition needs. It will zip through those glycogen stores really, really quickly. And that's really what you need in order to perform your best. So really try to do your best to stay positive, maybe listen to some music prior or talk to some friends, talk to some family members, you know, kind of move around a little bit and get, get ready, get prepared. Watch what's happening in front of you. Watch how the swimmers in front of you are going out and see the way that the tide is pulling or the current might be pulling you. So that's important. Know your course. That's really important to making sure that you can kind of take it piece by piece and oftentimes breaking it down into reasonable chunks. For example, okay, my next goal is to make it to the next buoy. Then when you get to that buoy, okay, my next goal is to make it to that buoy. So, Similarly, as it relates to when you start, be realistic about your ability as a swimmer. If you feel like you're a weaker swimmer, go to the back or go to the edges. Uh, take your time. Don't feel like you have to be snug up against people or be super aggressive. And also don't be ashamed to take a break. So put your hand up and a kayaker or a lifeguard or a paddleboarder will be over to talk to you. That's one of my favorite things to do on race day is volunteering on the water as a lifeguard and just talking to people. One thing to remind yourself is to breathe in particular before the race actually starts to kind of, um, turn on that parasympathetic nervous system just a little bit more. So versus our sympathetic nervous system, which is more fight or flight, which is, you know, helps get you amped up. But if we're too amped up or if we're too anxious, things can go sideways. So really focus on your exhalations. So deep breath in and then a longer exhalation either out through your mouth or out through your nose will help you to kind of calm down, especially before you get into the water or if you stop and hang out on a kayak or a paddleboard and just need to take some time to breathe, right? That's super important. So then as you're moving, it is important to know how to sight. How are you gonna navigate? The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, right? So I'm always a big fan of trying to snug up to the buoys as much as possible, but that night that might not work with your ability. So can you swim in a straight line? One of my favorite things to do in the pool is to, to open up two lanes and have people push off the wall with their eyes closed and take 5 to 10 strokes and see if they've been able to swim straight or if they're kind of leaning to one side or the other. Like maybe one arm is a little stronger than the other and it's making them turn. So knowing your ability as a swimmer prior to getting in the water is important. So that you know how often you'll need to sight. Sighting is a method, and we've got a YouTube video, I'll be sure to link to that, on how to sight. You basically are just lifting your eyeballs out of the water, trying not to lift your nose and mouth at the same time. That is a good way for getting a big old wave into your face or somebody, you know, kicking some water in your face, and then we're choking at the same time, right? So, but you don't necessarily always have to look up to sight. You can also use things around you to sight. In the case Ironman North Carolina, you'll have the shoreline that you'll be sighting at the beginning part of the race, and then you turn and have a, a whole line of houses that you can look at on your right side. Um, and then you kind of ever so slightly turn a little bit, but you still should be able to see those houses as you turn right. And then once you turn that sort of final kind of soft left-hand turn, then you're looking at those little floaty things, uh, that everybody likes, the little blowup floaty guys. Um, and there's also a massive white building that you can also sight if you look up. But looking to your right, you should be able to see the dock and then you'll be able to see people. So knowing that there are gonna be things around you that you can use, not just looking forward, so that will help from disrupting your stroke and lifting your head and dropping your hips. Cuz we wanna try to be as efficient as possible, albeit this is one of the fastest swims in triathlon. It's super fast and it's a lot of fun. And then as it comes to like drafting or getting in the right position, draft away. Um, you are drafting if you can see someone's bubbles ahead of you or if you are hip drafting, so kind of on their side. Um, that's also very trusting of the person in front of you and knowing their ability and whether they're sighting correctly. Um, but still can be a nice break to kind of hang out behind somebody for a little bit. If that is just of zero desire to you, don't worry about it. Go at your own pace. Um, certainly hopefully you'll know an alternate stroke that you can do if you get in trouble. So I prefer doing breaststroke if I need to. It allows my head to be completely upright out of the water so I can take in my full surroundings. A lot of our athletes like to flip on their back and just kind of relax in that respect. Um, I like to call it the elementary backstroke, but I have literally taught somebody how to do that while lifeguarding in the water because somebody was making zero progress and I taught 'em how to do it. While standing up on my paddleboard and it worked great. It's basically being on your back, taking your arms out to a T and then sort of pushing arms quickly next to your legs to sort of put yourself into this position of moving but still being on your back. And one of our coaches, Coach Marty, he likes to say, just be a bag of potato chips when it comes to this type of swim or the swim at Ironman North Carolina. It really is. You can just get on your back and you, even if you're floating, you're still gonna be making forward progress, which is super awesome. So next step, I wanna make sure to cover pacing and breathing. Um, in our workouts that we do with our athletes, I will do a lot of, as we lead into race week, I'll do a lot of positive splits. So that means going faster when you start a set and then slower on the back end of the set. You may have heard of negative split, which is the reverse of that. I like to do positive splits to sort of get you used to going out fast, going out a little harder, and then teaching yourself training yourself to kind of calm down. So know and expect that you're probably gonna be a little nervous going into the start, and you may need to adjust your pacing a little bit just to get yourself to calm down a little bit. Find a nice breathing rhythm. Um, I personally like to breathe every other stroke for the first 200 or so yards of a race, and then I'll settle into a pattern where I might be breathing every 3 or more. That's totally up to you, but I just find that that is a good strategy to know. Like, there is no specific rule when it comes to breathing. You just have to make sure that you can get enough oxygen to not have a panic attack and to just relax in the water and conserve as much energy as you can. So now as we get towards the end of the water, this is a very unique exit. So the way that they exit this water is getting out on a dock and they drill ladders into the exit. So there will be several ladders that you can choose from. A lot of people tend to go to the very first ladder because obviously it's there first. But if you get to a point where you're with a lot of swimmers, it might get bottlenecked a little bit and then you're spending unnecessary time looking up at the rear end of the person in front of you climbing out of the ladder. Just go to the next ladder. It's not a big deal. It actually gets you closer closer to the ramp that gets you out fully onto the concrete area from the, from the ramp. So don't feel bad about maybe even sighting more specifically the, the end of the dock and going for the last ladder, because nobody's probably going to be shooting for that anyway. Then you'll have a ladder to yourself. There are volunteers there to help you out. So once you hit the ground, you might notice, especially if this is your first race, you might be a little swimmy in your head after all that blood flow now is rushing to different parts of your body after being, horizontal. Now you're vertical and it might be a little disorienting, especially if the water is a little colder. So if you feel like you need to walk, certainly walk. If you can run, certainly run. But getting your wetsuit off first is higher priority. So in other words, getting it at least down to your waist. So unzipping it, taking it off from the shoulders and getting it down to your waist. There are wetsuit strippers at this race, so you can basically lie on your back, go up to a wetsuit stripper, and they will grab your wetsuit and literally strip it off of you. I have heard of one athlete who had some damage to his wetsuit in that instance, but gosh darn it, it is just a really cool sight to see, and it's a lot of fun to make sure that that wetsuit comes off really quickly because most people get tripped up when they're taking off their wetsuit, um, from the ankles and the calves, it kind of gets hung up there, which is why it's important to put some tutoms there. Um, so stepping on the wetsuit kind of helps to get it off a little quicker. I prefer to do this, um, as long as you're moved outta the way in transition, um, for this particular race when you're in the parking lot, because now you're on flat ground, um, versus going into the transition area, which is grassy, and then you get grass all over everything. Um, that's my personal opinion. If you wanna wait until you get into transition to take your wetsuit off, have at it. Um, and then just make sure to put all of your gear and equipment into your transition bag. So that pretty much covers the swim portion of race day, things to expect. And again, first and foremost, have fun, celebrate your fitness, have a lot of fun, enjoy it. This is a really fast swim and you're gonna have a blast. So stay tuned to day 3 of our podcast blitz. That is all. About the bike. And don't forget that you're invited to join us for our virtual open houses this week and next week, where we'll focus on making your triathlon dreams a reality. Visit theenduranceedge.com/2025 to secure your spot today, and I look forward to personally meeting all of you. Again, that's theenduranceedge.com/2025. Thanks for listening to the Find Your Edge podcast. If you like what you heard, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode. And if you're interested in learning more about our endurance coaching, sports and wellness nutrition, metabolic and sweat testing, triathlon training team, or our triathlon training library, be sure to check us out at theenduranceedge.com. And don't forget to follow us on social media at the Endurance Edge. Thanks again, and we'll catch you next time.