Swim times
rhino2810
Posts: 5
in General Chat
Planning on entering my first tri in 5 weeks time, Derby 400m/18k/5k.
Went out for my first swim session last night. After a few lengths warm up i did 400m breast stroke in 8 mins at about 85% effort.
My question is i'm not sure whether to put this time down on my entry form or something a bit quicker as i will have done more training by then, or a bit slower so to save energy for the rest of the race.
I can't access previous years results so i'm not sure how 8 mins compares. I suspect as i can only do breast stroke this will be towards the slower end of the the field.
Anyone else entering Derby tri?
Went out for my first swim session last night. After a few lengths warm up i did 400m breast stroke in 8 mins at about 85% effort.
My question is i'm not sure whether to put this time down on my entry form or something a bit quicker as i will have done more training by then, or a bit slower so to save energy for the rest of the race.
I can't access previous years results so i'm not sure how 8 mins compares. I suspect as i can only do breast stroke this will be towards the slower end of the the field.
Anyone else entering Derby tri?
0
Comments
Needless to say I' ve never achieved my target time, and generally work on the basis that if I can get out of the water near the time I said I would then that's all well and good, and the real race can begin.
The main thing is to enjoy it. Poll based swims ae good fun, because you don't get involved in the melee you get at the start of a mas OW race.
Take the Three Spires Tri held back in May, that was a 400m pool swim. The 8:00 mark was about bang in the middle of the field - slightly above in fact. So it's a very reasonable time to do. Of course, most people do that front crawl, so you are a pretty good breast stroker!
Remember it is an estimate, to help with getting people of similar abilities in the pool together, so there is the least amount of bumping, barging and overtaking. You are not held to that time. It would have though a minute or two of leeway is fine. But getting your time wildly wrong is not an offence.
By convention, the slower ones start first (so the event organisers only have to hire the pool for the morning, not all day as would be the case if I was to start last, for example). Sometimes good swimmers put down silly times so that they can start fast, enabling them to get away early to cook the Sunday dinner or whatever it is. This is annoying though, but they do not get disqualified as a result.
If you get a lot better than 8 mins then well done you!