2024 Chicago Triathlon FTP Clinic #2 - The Swim

all right everyone um pi01 so we will go ahead and get started um with our second Clinic um so welcome to the first timers program and Welcome to our second Clinic already uh second of six um this one is going to be all focused on the swim but if you have questions outside of that throw them in the chat um so real quick for anyone who didn't uh wasn't here or hasn't watched the first Clinic my name is Gillian failey and um I am the founder of an organization called Liv grit uh and at this time what Liv grit does is we use the sport of triathlon to empower uh youth here in Chicago um I started the first timers program with the Chicago Triathlon uh eight nine years ago uh when I also owned a triathlon store um with the whole idea of doing exactly what we do with the kids now with the kids through our kids program which is I think triathlons are can be and are incredibly empowering uh it's an amazing experience it's an amazing Community um you're doing something that is just you know you're swimming biking and running all in one day um so it's just a it's uh yeah something that's just amazing and empowering so um that was the goal with the first- timers program we've carried it on and my whole goal here today uh and throughout this summer is to make sure that on race day you feel as comfortable as possible um you know what to expect what's going to happen so that you can just go out there and enjoy the day do something something epic and uh and feel amazing um after you cross that finish line so that's who I am um with that being said I am not uh I I do not work for the Chicago Triathlon I am very closely related to them so any logistical questions about registration and things like that um I will probably direct you towards somebody at the Chicago Triathlon but I can certainly make that connection um I'm here to answer the questions about you know what to wear what's the course like um big question of the night do I need a wet suit those kinds of things um so at the end of the presentation um my email address feel free to email me anytime with any specific questions for you uh that you have um I'm happy to answer uh anything um but today in every Clinic it's really about uh what all of you the athletes want to know so as we go along just pop your questions into the chat um and I'll try to kind of monitor those as we go along um and if I don't know the answer tonight I will get the answer for the next Clinic um this is being recorded presumably you've uh joined the Facebook group which is where I will post it if you don't have Facebook it's just the easiest way we've found to have kind of a community but if you don't have Facebook feel free to email me and I will send you directly to the YouTube link or you can also look on YouTube and Liv grit has a whole Channel with all of these uh clinics from the past and the ones we post for this year so with that we are going to kick things off uh talking about the swim so I'm going to go back to the beginning a little bit here um and if you were here last go so this is going to be a little bit of a refresher but uh here are the race distances again hopefully you may be looked at them before you signed up for whatever race um you're taking on this year um but here are the here are the dist es um the swim for the Super Sprint which is the Saturday race that takes place up at Foster Beach um is 023 of a mile uh the Sprint which is the is on Sunday is just a little bit shy of half of a mile and then we have the international or Olympic distance so International and Olympic used interchangeably uh is 0.93 of a mile um so if we take a look at the map here so this is the map specifically for the Super Sprint on Saturday um doing the Super Sprint the diff one of the big differences between this race and the Sunday race is that this is a beach start so you're going to start on the beach run into the water um and as you see this blue arrow up here is the course um so you're going to go out into the water then you're going to take a turn around a buoy uh and then take another turn and come back in so there will be a portion of it that you can touch the ground um depending on water conditions they set this course so I can't tell you exactly how far um each piece how far out you're going to go or across you're going to go because they they set that based on um just the waves and the current and things like that but it's going to be a u um most likely there will be a portion where you can't touch anymore um it's not going to be obviously as deep as swimming in the harbor on Sunday but you still aren't going to be able to touch so I just want you to have that in your mind now and so the theme of tonight and the theme of the rest of the you know 14 weeks until the triathlon or whatever it is um is get in the open water that is the most important thing about doing your first triathlon is getting for 99% of us is to get in the open water as much as possible um so um so this is the swim course for the super spring then if we head back over to the Sunday races which is um starting off with the internet so backing it up a little bit um for anybody not here last week uh this transition area is this orange are area right here and there was also an orange area on the Super Sprint uh just south of the swim um this is your transition area this is your home base this is where you going go before the race during the race and after the race to get your stuff um so note that if you've been down by the lake it's right by the yacht club a big grassy area that they set up a bunch of racks and everything um right there so uh the swim start though is down here at Balo Avenue uh so about halfway down the slide and that's where both the international and the Sprint uh athletes are going to get into the water um if you're doing the inter internal distance you are the the darker blue here so this is um you're going to get in the water and then head south towards the Shed Aquarium do 180 degree turn and then head back north um it's about 380 meters South before you make aund that 180 degree turn to go back north um if you're doing this if you're a Sprint athlete you're going to get the wa get in the water and go directly north so you're this lighter blue um Arrow uh same course same place um it's just a matter of whether you go south first or you're just going to head north now one thing we'll talk about a little bit but I'll talk about it now is the good thing to know about this is um some triathlons you know much like the Super Sprint might have multiple turns that you have to make um if you're doing the Sprint the wall of the uh you know the water is always going to be on your uh left side um so this is good to know when you're out practicing for the next again 15 weeks um of knowing of being able to of knowing that the wall is going to be on the left and this is important because the wall is one thing that can really help you uh sight and stay in a straight line as I talked about last time if you start getting closer to the wall you know you're swimming at a diagonal if you're getting away from the wall you know you're swimming at a diagonal um you're never going to be able to swim that far out into Lake Michigan before one of the boats which I'll show you in a few minutes and have pictures of stops you and says turn the other way so don't worry about you know getting lost out the Lake Michigan now if you're doing the international distance part of your swim you're going to be the wall is going to be on your right and part of it's going to be on the left um so just something good to know um one big question a lot of of people often ask is you know should I you know uh when I'm swimming should I breathe on both sides the reality you know and what we're going to talk about is um a lot about the swim 100% depends on where you're coming into this if you're only comfortable breathing on one side that's fine and and I would not you know try to force to bilateral Breathe by the time you get to race day it is no big deal but just knowing you know being able to practice how are you going to site and see where you're going um and I'll talk a little bit more more about sighting and staying in a straight line a little bit later on in the presentation but this is the course you're then going to get out of the water up uh between Monroe and Adam Street um and then go back into transition um still I think we've covered the course pretty extensively over these last uh two weeks so let we'll move on from here um so how does the day work again a little bit of a recap but I'm going to go through this quickly first thing um everybody is going to be assigned to a wave um if you are in the first timer's wave um and you can check this on your Athleta links uh the or the link they gave you when you registered it will say I'm registered it should say what I was told is it should say I am registered for the first timer wave if you are actually registered for the first timers wave um you are going to be in a wave with all of the first timers so age across the board male female nonbinary everybody's going to be in the same wave um and I'll talk a little bit about the reason why that it works that way is now the uh to start the swim is a time trial start it used to be that uh they would start like 50 athletes at a time so then they broke them down in age group and things like that um but now that it's time trial start all the first timers are going to be um in the same wave now if you are not in the first if you are not officially in the first timers wave um and you want to be um you can either change that in the a in your registration link link to the you know Registration site that they gave you or email me and I can give you the right contact to switch into that wave alternatively if uh you are here getting the information but want to be in the kind of General wave um then uh then those are broken down by um male female non-binary and then by age um and so there'll be smaller wave groups um in the general kind of uh race the difference between the first timr program and the general uh race program is as a firsttimer because of some of the you know extra support like people in transition like the um officials so there are officials or uh referees I guess I don't know what they I always forget what they called them um but they will know that you're a firsttimer you know by your swim cap color by where your W and oftentimes there's you know there's uh there's a little more leeway on things um so so because of that if you're in the first time this program you can you are not eligible for um the age group Awards um you will still get a time and you will still get a rank um but if you anticipate to win the triathlon and and want that prize then you might want to switch over to the general um the general race category there's any questions about that let me know um but you can also you don't have to do that today you know I do it be you know middle of the summer um you can make that decision and uh and and we can talk more about it but wanted to say that about how the waves are set up um this is a schedule this is the schedule I think from last year you can kind of generally see I'm not going to go through as in depth as I did the clinic before but basically International and Olympic go first and then the Sprint athletes go um Sprint athletes don't have to come rack their bikes and put their stuff in at 4:00 am there's another time that the late Sprint check-in opens which is 6:30 a.m. um I know the biggest question and I said this last time and I really hope people trust me um you we'll see down at like 9:45 last athlete enters water last athlete exit exits water um first thing you all will not be if you're in the first- timers program you're not going to be the last wave uh or at least that has never been the case um so you will not be the last athletes to enter the water um so you will have significantly more than that 30 minutes and like I said last time according to the head official who we asked this question question to about swim cut offs last year as long as you are moving forward in some kind of you know manner um you are not going to be pulled out of the water and uh and and they have not done that the only time athletes don't quite finish the swim is um and if you were here last time and heard my first triathlon story because I had never been in Open Water I had a panic attack and I was like I I'm done for today um but I'm here talking about this so obviously I came back for another um but as long as you're moving forward you're going to be great so really try not to focus on swim cut offs um but there are here you know they do put them here because they have to so hopefully that that helps um so how does this all work you're G to have your time that the transition is open so like we saw before International 4 to 5:30 if you want to come rack your bike and put your stuff down as a Sprint uh athlete you're more than welcome to during that time and then um for Sprint athletes it reopens at 6:30 until you know close to8 or whatever it is so you're going to come the morning of uh you're G to have a bag whether it's a backpack or one of the plastic bags they're going to give you many plastic bags um and I'll explain what they're all for but you're going to have all of your stuff for the swim for the bike and the Run uh in that in in your bag um you are going to go into transition uh with your bike unless you racked your bike the night before and we'll talk about that um during the bike Clinic um you're going to go into transition uh only athletes can go into transition you're going to find your rack number um so like this W is 42 um that's going to correspond one it's going to have been on your packet that says I'm wave 42 and then there's going to be a number on your bib that corresponds to the numbers on on uh on these racks um and then you're going to set up your stuff for the rest of the day um so given that the the order is Swim Bike Run your bike stuff and your run stuff is going to stay in transition while you go to do the swim now in about a month or six weeks or so we'll do a transition uh do a transition clinic so we will only talk about Transitions and how you set up your stuff so I'm not going to go into that today um but the important thing to know is okay so you put your stuff at transition what do I need to take with me down to the swim start um because you're go down to the swim start and you're going to wait for a minute uh or a few minutes um so what you're going to want to take with you at that point is you're going to want uh you're going to be wearing something so it could be a triathlon suit um if you're deciding to go the bathing suit way whatever it is you're wearing you're going to be wearing that you're gonna have if you're going to wear a wet suit you're going to take that with you you're gonna have your goggles um you're G to have your swim cap you're going to have your timing chip which is going to be a uh you know a little um a little chip that's on kind of an ankle band um that's going to go on your ankle um you're going to have any pre-ra food that you might want so again knowing if you are in transition if you're leaving transition at 500 am but say your wave's not going off until 7 AM um what is it that you're going to want to eat or drink in between there so uh water banana whatever ever it might be um talk about Nutrition near the end and what to think about there but um but whatever you're going to want to eat before you get into the water um you're also going to want you may want uh as you can see you may want to take with you flipflops or a long sleeve t-shirt or whatever it might be um to walk down to the swim start it's also it's concrete it's fine most people walk in bare feet but if you don't want to um then you'd want to wear flipflops again or if it's cold I think this day actually might have been kind of a colder day you may need a sweatshirt sweatshirt or something you also see I remember this this year um that's one of the pluses if you're wearing a wet suit and it's a colder day you can put it on to keep you warm um now you also see here on the ground there's people with these plastic bags that's a gear chip bag so there is the option to put some stuff in in one of these clear plastic bags it'll you'll have your it'll have your number on it and then there'll be a gear drop right by the swim start and then that bag will make its way down to the Finish Line um so inevitably the question is like can I put my phone and wallet and keys in there um there's no rules about what you can and cannot put in there I have never heard of anybody getting anything lost but just know it's not you know it's um volunteer run like you know they put all the bags in a big bag and take it down to the end so it's kind of you know weighing the pros and cons of what you really need or not need um but uh but that just so you know that is an option um and then let's see okay let me stop for a couple questions um so uh real quick here how many people will compete in Sunday's race so I I um used to be and it may still be I don't know the world's largest Triathlon um I think years ago it topped out at like 8,000 people um from what I last heard I think they're anticipating around 5,000 this year um across the three races so it is a big race and there uh which is also why you know it takes so long to get everybody in the water but I promise you it does not feel like it takes long um but like I said last time it's a big race but you're not going to feel like you are on top of people there's always enough room um the way that they time it is really well done um so you're not going to feel it's not going to be like Mass you know people everywhere in the water um it's very well timed um and then uh one other uh question is there um a shuttle bus or anything from the swim or from transition to the swim start and there is not you you do have to walk um it's probably you know like four I mean I'd have to look like four blocks or so um the other thing I would say is that you are going to have time between when transition closes and when uh your wave is the first ERS will not be the first wave um you know they always enough there's the triple challenge there's like the you know Pro Race um there's charity waves things like that so you will not be the first wave um so you have more than enough time to kind of take your time um and uh make your way down there um and along the way there's like halfway down at Queen's Landing um are the bathrooms they have a few stop or at least one stop for water and bananas um so things like that so it it won't uh you can kind of take your time to get down there um see so one uh the next question is about um the timing so when you get your race results you are going to have five times you are going to have a swim time um a T1 which is transition one that's the swim to the bike time uh a bike time a transition two times so T2 time and then a bike time so five different times be in this race um T1 does start when you get out of the water so once you get up the staircase which I'm going to show in a minute there's a timing chip on the ground and that's when your transition one time starts so that's going to include the 450 yard uh run walk uh that comes after it again I'm going to show in a minute what I'm talking about there um but yes it does right when you get out of the water up the stairs that's when that time starts and then a great question that I knew was gonna come what about when they cancel the swim portion do they typically do that the day of uh the answer yes unless I mean the two times that I that they have cancelled the swim portion think it's only to in the 10 plus years that I've done uh this um uh both were the morning of and both were because of uh the waves which is very strange because the other eight years the harbor is pretty calm um so it's kind of like lives in the extremes but they have canceled it you know two times in in you know over the years um and it was done the morning of they try to do it pretty early uh you know around the like 3:30 uh 4 4:30 time so that people know what to expect um when you get there so last year was one of the years they did cancel the swim because of the Waves um so hopefully that is not the case this year but that is what happens okay I think I answered them all all right um so this is a picture of the waiting uh for the W to go so you this we will have a dedicated area if you want to come for just you know for first timers and families and friends and and really you know anybody that just wants like a supportive environment as they embark on their first amazing Triathlon uh race um so you're gonna wait and then at some point um it's gonna get called or it's going to get close to called so because of how many people and um and just uh the way that it goes you're actually going to line up as you're seeing in these pictures about you know 30 35 minutes before you're going to get to the water again it might seem like a long time but once you get in that line between the energy between getting your goggles ready between just moving forward and watching the other waves go so during this time you'll have a front you know row view to the other uh athletes swimming so you can kind of see how it works Works um but they're going to hold up signs let's see I thought I had one the sign but I don't think I do okay well there'll be a sign that says like wave 42 so that's also one of the benefits if you come down to the first- timer's area we will all you know when it's time walk down so you know when to go but really you're just waiting till you see the first timer's wave sign and then you go and get in line behind it um and you look for everybody that has the same color swim cap as you have um you're going to wait mine to get ready um this is a good opportunity depending on if it's hot if it's hot you don't want to put your wet suit on too early do you get in line and then finish putting on your wet suit as uh Jacob here is zipping up somebody's wet suit getting ready to go um and then you're going to work your way up to the front now because the swim was C canceled last year and the year before was the first time uh that they did a time trial start I don't have a lot of pict pictures of it so um I apologize for the graininess of it but it's it's all I could come up with um so the swim for Sunday is a uh time trial start meaning you're G to go five six seven athletes at a time um and basically you're line up on a line and they actually they have con so you'll be behind kind of a tall cone and there will be somebody there that is telling you to go when you go you're going to cross over a timing chip M chip mat that's when the time is your time is going to start um and then you're going to go down a set of stairs and get into the water um you can dive in you can go feet first in whatever it is that you're comfortable with whatever way you want to go you can go and there's not going to be somebody they wait like 30 seconds or so behind you so it's not like there's going to be people right on top of you um so most of my tips are going to be uh directed towards people who like myself you know swim as a kid but didn't have a super strong swimming background um if you you know are a super strong comfortable swimmer you know um then you may not need to you know fully take in what I'm saying on some of these tips like for example when I get into the water um I don't just all of a sudden start swimming as fast as I can I take take a moment to get uh acclimated comfortable start off slow get into a rhythm before I I kind of take off um and that's what I've learned over the years helps me from avoiding a this that I have a little minor Panic ack every time I get into the water but I've learned to kind of overcome that by just taking my time um the swim is the shortest part of the triathlon and uh really the goal here is to go at a pace and in a way that you get out of the water um feeling good um having a lot lot more gas in the tank um feeling you know confident so whatever you need to do to do that is what I would recommend uh you do so the swim here's I I think a great picture that shows what the swim is going to look like so this is all the athletes here are swimming north um so you can see kind of the aquarium down on the south end um as you can also see it is a very spectator friendly swim which is one of the really cool things so you'll see lots of people cheering you on your family friends you know you'll have lots of random people cheering you on uh I'll be there cheering you on um so that's one positive so you can tell anybody um you know that you're telling about the triathlon that they'll be able to see you on the swim um one of the other things I want to note here is uh you can see the boats kind of lining the swim um so there are boats all along the way also looking at this picture I think it's uh kind of um reiterates that the swim though there are a lot of people in this Triathlon gets very spread out you know there's a lot of distance between all of these people um which is a really you know makes for a nice swim um we've talked about the boats we talked about them last time there's going to be boats kayaks uh people on surfboards the good thing is is you can grab on to any of the boats any of the kayakers um the wall I think is my next picture of the wall any of these things you can use to take a break if you need um the only thing is is you cannot move forward with them so they obviously can't Road you to the finish line or to the swim exit you can't go on the wall and kind of climb your way down you can take a break um and then let go and uh and then start swimming again you can do that all the way down if you need to um whatever it is uh that is totally allowed now the one thing I do want to caution is the wall um it can seem very appealing to C to swim as close to the wall as possible um it can make it feel feel more comfortable um but two things one depending on uh the time of year and such it can be covered in Barnacles um so just being really careful uh if you do grab on where you grab um or put your feet um two one of the mistakes I made the first time I ever did the Chicago Triathlon is I was like oh nobody's swimming next to the wall I'm going to go over there and swim next to the wall um but what I didn't realize is because it was a there was a little bit of a wave not big waves but they would crash into the wall and then uh come back and kind of create a washing machine kind of situation um that was very difficult to swim through so I quickly turned back more out to Lake Michigan so two things to think about um as the last of door go for it but I wouldn't necessarily recommend unless it's a crystal clear like glass day swimming super close to the wall um there are no style points there are no rules about what stroke you can do you can flip on your back you can do backstroke um flipping on your back is a great way to catch your breath get your bearings um whatever it is just taking a little break um so you can do it you can do breast stroke you can do whatever it is that you need to do to get to the end now um if you are wearing a wet suit uh the most efficient and easiest stroke is going to be freestyle um so because the way a wet suit is designed it's not really great with the breast work you can do it but you're you know it's it's not the most ideal um if you're not wearing a wet Su there have been plenty of people that I know that feel more comfortable doing like breast stroke or or whatever than the um than free style and again this really you know the swim is really about where everybody is coming from I there have been many many first timers who learned to swim the first year they did the Chicago Triathlon and did amazing um and and conquered the swim um you know and then like we've talked about there's people that swim in high school or college um so the swim is really about where you are coming from and doing what you need to do based on that to get to the end so I I you know I'm not going to talk a lot about like uh you know really intricate details of strokes and things like that it's more about anything you need to do it's allowed and uh and you're probably going to piece together some things um you might do freestyle for a little bit and then need to flip on your back whatever it is uh that is more than great okay um and then you're going to see this big orange buoy and the swim is going to be over um and for most most of us it is this like adrenaline I did that that was awesome but I'm glad it's over uh kind of feeling and um the way you got into the water you're going to get out of the water uh there's going to be a staircase coming out of the water you're going to go um there'll be people there helping pulling you out um and uh and then yeah I think uh this is kind of just yeah um and then you're going to go on that um 450 yard uh walk run whatever it is back to transition so if you weren't here didn't haven't watched the first uh Clinic um this is one you know one of the things of the Chicago Triathlon is where you get out of the water and then where transition is for the swim T1 um is about 450 yards so if you see these buildings down here that's basically where transition is you kind of have to go up and around um to get there again my recommendation is um first bit of it and just get your sea legs under control um I like to take down my wet suit halfway um and then when I get to transition take the rest of it off um but there is no need to come out of the water and take off sprinting that being said also this is a good thing um to practice over the summer when you're out in the open water going for a swim coming out instead of going straight to the lockers you know kind of get a feel for what your legs feel like uh you know after a long swim um so that is so you're G to go on this this was an old this is a much I mean this picture is pretty old so now they have it uh it's fully carpeted um even though this was carpeted then the carpet now is much nicer um so you don't need anything on your feet um and uh as you can see this um this athlete is wearing neoprene booties um I guess this might be a good time to talk about this but um they are not allowed unless the water temperature is below 65 degrees um this was a very strange year that the water temperature dropped overnight by like 20 degrees and it was it was pretty cold I mean it's probably the coldest one I've ever you know been at um but that's why usually you are not allowed to wear neoprene booties so I just wanted to cave out that because um in piure all right so that is it on the what to expect In The Swim course uh what it looks like things like that so I'm going to go through gear um some brief kind of uh training tips um um so if anybody has any questions about the course or anything like that Now's the Time to pop them in there um and then we'll move on so um great first question is do we record these and send them out yes I do record them and I post them um both uh in the Facebook group and then uh there is actually a first Tim page that is run off of our uh youth organizations page so there is a firsttimer page that I will um put into the chat here in a minute um where they're all posted and also posted on that page are some recommendations of just places to shop um I'm going to show or show a quick video on how to put a wet suit on those kinds of things but yes and if you can't find them there just email me um which that I will put in right now because I know my email address okay there's my email add um and then um the other question is is lak Shore Drive The Run bike path closed to the public so no they can't close it uh for the bike lak Shore Drive is closed from cars but the path is not closed um they do a much better that uh that picture like I said is pretty old um and so now it it's much more uh kind of uh f off so that if anybody is just is going out for their Sunday run or whatever um they aren't right on the path and the majority of people stay away from the lakefront path on Chicago triath on weekend or go down there and say never mind and turn around because there are a lot of people but it is not and you will occasionally get your um Runner not biker um but not so much biker but um but it is not actually technically closed off so um gear so what do you need for the swim and I showed this at the last Clinic um first thing is you need whatever you're going to wear for the whole triath line so remember we talked about you want to wear something or pieces of something that's uh you're not going to be going and changing your clothes for the race um so it might be adding some things but what you don't really want to have to do is like go to have a bathing suit on and you're going to want to you want to wear a whole like bik kit so you take your bathing suit off put on the bitee kit you want to be able to quickly uh kind of get to the next um discipline of the triathlon so easiest most thing is a triathlon suit so that is made to swim bike and run in um in a minute here I'll have some like Brands um you can also Google Triathlon suits and there'll be a ton of them um the benefits of of wearing a triathlon suit is that it is you don't have to change anything um like I said last time my biggest if you're going to invest in something it's the shorts um you can swim in them they have a small pad for biking um but they're easy to run in um and oftentimes in a triathlon I will swim and try shorts a sports braw and put my wet suit on um and then when I get to my bike take the wet suit off and just put a t-shirt or a tank path or whatever it is on but they but they come in two pieces or one piece um you will see so the one piece triathon suit a lot of people will wear and the benefit of that is um you don't get any of the moving around you know I mean like your shirt's not riding up or anything like that so some people do like the one piece kind of uh Triathlon suit that being said you can totally swim in a swimsuit and put bike shorts on or if you don't feel like you need bike shorts shorts on over it um when you get to the to the run but um whatever it is that's uh you just need something to wear um and then your Triathlon issued swim cap so you're going to get a swim cap in your packet on the day uh the weekend of so there's going to be a packet pickup you have to go to either on Friday or Saturday um if you're doing the Super Sprint it is all you can go Friday or Saturday morning you can pick it up at at Foster Beach there'll be a swim cap in there um on here is not the timing chip uh but you will need your timing chip do not forget that and then uh goggles and as we talked I talked about a little bit last time on here it says Open Water goggles uh really all that means is we don't re I don't recommend like the ones that sit right in your eye socket that you'll see like professional swimmers wearing um you know one with a little bit of suction uh often times they you know wrap around a little bit on the sides you better view um and uh you may want them you know to be uh polarized or something like that but really just not the tiny ones because Lees anything like that you want something that's you know nicely snug uh on your face and really goggles suits really all of it it's about trying it on and and finding something that's comfortable for you um if you don't swim in a swim cap usually I would recommend getting one um just to practice in and just to understand like how it goes on and everything you know go to any like local you know Sporting Goods store or uh obviously uh online or whatever it is um so that is what you need for this swim so I am going to go into um and the question is are nose plugs allowed yes nose plugs are allowed um I know this is going to be a weird comment but uh just in case anybody has heard anything about in the past snorkel are not allowed unless you if you have some kind of medical reason for a snorkel then you just need to tell them that you're going to use a snorkel um but there were the time that that snorkel were allowed but they are not unless you have a medical reason and then it's easy enough um but nose plugs are totally fine so wet suits oh did I skip over ah let's go this way okay the wet suit 101 do I need a wet suit or do I not need a wet suit it is wet suits are not required so it's really going to be about whether you want to wear wet suits or not um and the things that uh that a wet suit actually do do um one they keep you warm um and they do that by the water comes into wet suit so you get wet even though you're wearing the wet suit um and then your body heats up that water and that's what keeps you warm um now especially swimming early in the year A lot of times the warmth piece is actually more about the training side of of triathlons than race day but you did see the picture of the very cold day so it can get cold but um but that is one thing what suit does do um it does make you float um they are made of a neoprene rubber um that's is flexible but it also has a lot of buoyancy and wet suits especially uh when I talk about wet suits and if you're like online looking or you want to look for Open Water Swim wet suits um they should have they will have a neoprene you want to look for that rubber um on the outside and then a lining on the inside and it's the Neo rubber on the outside that keeps you that makes you buoyant um they can only be 5 mm thick uh that is the thickest it can be um but what you'll see if you look at a wet suit and so let me go back to this is um the wet Su company will tell you you know it's 5 millimeters here 3 millimeters here 2 millimeters here five if you look around like the hips and the um thighs that's always going to be where it's the thickest because that is the part of us that usually drops into the water so that's where our 5mm wet suits uh of the neoprene rubber is going to be up around the arms um that's where it's going to be three or four millimeter something less um and uh because you don't need your arms to float quite the way you want your hips to float but it's good to sometimes if you go to a Open Water Swim Triathlon company so here's some Brands orca blue7 Roa 2xu tier Zoot Synergy um if you go to Tri sports.com or uh swim Outlets um and search wet suits those are almost 99% going to be what you're looking for if you go to like a dive diving website or a surf website that is probably not what you're looking for so you really want to make sure you look at Open Water Swim wet suits um and I talked about this last time but there is one store left in the Chicago land area that sells wet suits and it's Urban TR gear in Westmont um so I I think that's out near neille and um and they are if you can make the trip I would highly highly make the trip out there to see them they will also be down at the uh swim Clinic that I'm going to talk about in a little bit um and you can talk to them there they do rent them for race day in a very limited uh capacity so would recommend if you're thinking of renting a wet suit for race day talk to them at the clinic this weekend call them um ask them when they open their list um because uh everybody's a lot of people try to rent from them so but great people go out them so um I feel like uh wet suits make you warm and they make you float and like I talked about um the rubber makes you float and the reason behind that is and the reason behind a wet suit is most of us when we swim our hips drop a wet suit is designed to keep you on top of the water um and that makes swimming easier um sure does it also might make you a little faster but I think the more important thing is it makes it easier um and you're expending uh especially if you are not again in that small portion of people who has a very strong swimming background um the wet suit is going to make you uh sit on top of the water so you don't have as much drag and you don't have to work as hard to get move yourself through the water um now another truth that is not so positive is that putting on a wet suit should be considered a sport in of itself it is not easy to get a wet suit on you'll get the hang of it but I I have had so many people especially when I had our store um that you know would get frustrated the first time and be like this isn't for me um but I would say you know again one of the big benefits of going to Urban Tri gear or the swim clinics I'll talk about in a few minutes um is to have somebody there to help you put on your wet suit um because once you get the hang of it it's easy uh or easier um but it can be frustrating at first um and then last is you know because often times one of the barriers to what suits uh especially early on is you you know like I'm going to invest in this thing that might be you know uh invest in I mean it's an investment um you know it can seem crazy well good thing is is that they do last um I have had a wet suit since 2014 that is perfectly fine if you take care of it and you clean it and dry it right um it will last for a long time so you are not going to have to re you know buy a wet suit every year or anything like that and um and I would say you know uh my non-official data is that the majority of people who do the first- timers program do the triathlon do triathlons you'll come back to do more so um so hopefully that's you know can make you feel a little bit better if you decide to invest in it um myths about wet suits that you might have heard um I'm a bad swimmer so I need the most expensive suit no actually that it's kind of it's 100% the opposite uh the most expensive suits have the thinnest rubber um and because like I just talked about most of us want uh more buoyancy it's more the entry level suits are are actually usually better for us ENT level swimmers um so kind of you know yeah um I can't move my arms with sleeves so let me go back there are all kinds of wet suits and I only have two here here so we have a sleeve wet suit and sleeveless wet suits um whether to get sleeved or sleeveless is a total personal preference obviously sleeved wet suits and colder water is going to be better because uh water is not coming in the sides like the sleev less um some people really just prefer not to have the rubber um around the arms and such um cost sleeveless wet suits tend to be less expensive than sleeve suits um you know uh but if you want a sleeved suit you should not feel restricted in the shoulders 99% of the time if you put on a sleeved wet suit and you feel like you can't move your shoulders it's actually because you just didn't get it on all the way up these things can stretch to like two SI two times the size that they are so you might look at this suit and be like not a chance um but they are very flexible um it's just about kind of almost rolling it on um so usually the first thing I'd say is you know make sure it's on all the way up um but wet suit should not be restrictive of the shoulders that's usually a uh putting it on or a fit problem um the other myth is this suit was super easy to put on so it might must be the right size if you can just slide into your wet suit it is probably too big and the issue with a wet suit being too big though it might be really like you you know you might appreciate that you didn't just sweat for 10 minutes um is that when you get to the water it will actually balloon out and so then uh it just it will it will fill up with water all that excess neoprene Rubber and make it difficult to swim um one thing about the wet suits uh that I was when we were talking about flotation a wet suit literally if you try to dive under the water it will pop you back out they are very buoyant um and that's actually the first thing I usually do with athletes who are getting used to a wet suit to feel more comfortable is as they try to swim down to the bottom and they you do and it pulls you right back out so um yeah so I guess I say that to say if swimming is a place of you know if there's some anxiety around swimming I would recommend if you can get your hands on a wet suit to try it but not the end of the world if if you're like no I don't want to make that investment or uh you know for or whatever or you just you can't whatever you can't find one or the rentals are out or whatever it's not the lots of people swim without wet suits um but that is yeah so and back here so a couple of questions how do you clean a wet suit um the biggest thing about cleaning a wet suit is one you want to hose after you swim whether it's in Lake Michigan or wherever take it home put it in the shower or take it out to a hose and hose it down with clean water the inside and the out and get all the sand off um and then you're going to what you're going to do is uh turn it inside out so that the inside um lining is on the outside and that's the part that is the hardest to dry and that gets uh moldy the quickest so you let it dry that way I would lay it you know lay it out um you can hang it if you're going to hang it much like uh you know shirts and things like that try to get a thicker hanger so that it doesn't poke through uh the shoulders once the inside is dry which can take 24 hours then flip it the other way and uh and let it um and let it dry uh the outside Dry the rest of the way if you're storing it for a long period of time fold it uh we always say fold it like a hamburger not a hot dog um so like the uh top over the B you know hopefully that makes sense um and and uh and store it folded not hanging um so that's it just making sure you rinse it and dry it after every use um and then um of what they're made out of when you're putting on your wet suit inevitably you're going to get a mark in it because of your uh when you're trying to pull it on it just happens over time um they make wet suit glue um that you just want to fill in those little Nicks with if they especially if it's bigger um so that's what you kind of just on your own repair those wet suits and I Happ you to give some more guidance on that or you can always take it again if you happen to live in Westmont you can take it to Urban triar and they can do it um if you happen to get a big tear there are companies online that will sew them back up um we used to use them a lot so again happy to answer those questions question about chlorine um chlorine does eat away at the neoprene rubber it's no big deal swiming it a couple times in in the pool but I wouldn't do it like every day and again really make sure you wash it and rinse it afterwards um but overtime chlorine is not the best thing for it um but the pool is also a great place to try it for the first time so don't be afraid to try it a couple times there um uh let's see so the question there's a question about swimming um training in Lake Michigan uh is there a recommendation for a wet suit or a dry suit um especially with the colder water temperature and and such so like I said right now you know I mean the you you can swim you don't have to swim in a wet suit is the water going to be cold right now yeah it is um and it is for you know a while like usually later into June you start to get warmer and who knows depending on the weather um so really that's if it's the cold water uh that you're kind of debating um whether to get a wet suit or not I guess that really depends on your tolerance um for the cold water but right now you know if you are going to the swim clinic on next Tuesday it's probably going to be a little chilly but you know you can try to uh last as long as you can um but hopefully we get some warm temperature here and the water warms up um um so I think this is a great time to uh talk about let's see um so I keep mentioning these I want to make sure I skipped to them real quick um open water swim clinics do them 100% if you can do them do them um what are they they are on Tuesdays and a couple Saturdays a couple Tuesdays and a couple Saturdays the dates are here um so there's six of them um and oh Street beach um which is down by Navy Pier they're put on by a company called Open Water Swim Chicago but uh this company also is the one who they they used to run the Chicago Triathlon and they did they started these amazing swim clinics the swim clinics are broken up when you register like beginner intermediate or uh aquathon um and they they list out what exactly that means so you choose which group you want to be in um and uh and they do these great you know I think they're like an hourong clinics so the more you can do the better how to register go on to the Chicago Triathlon under programs it'll be the first one it says swim clinics and it will direct you to Open Water Swim Chicago um and that's where you register first one is next week um I would again it might be cold but I would highly recommend you going out at least um so a big portion is like a portion I want to say a big portion portion of it is on the beach with the coaches so there's a bunch of coaches from the Chicago land area who come in and Coach them um just giving you tips and talking through different things um and the good thing is throughout the summer if you want to progress through the levels that's exactly what they're there for but um definitely sign up for those um other than that the uh on there starting in June there are going to be so many people there are always people out Ohio Street swimming and a lot of them are training for the Chicago Triathlon so like Saturday mornings are a big time so there might not be uh organized events but there are certainly um people you know training and you'll meet people down there that'll be like oh you're doing the Chicago track so good place to swim Ohio Street beach um there's a great question about um last Clinic um August 20th uh is an aquathon and I they may do the aquathon every time or a couple more than that I'm blanking right now on that but I 100% if you feel like you you were you know you've gotten the information from the um the other clinics or if you know or you're coming into it uh feeling like you don't you're comfortable in open water and at that point I would 100% do the aquathon as a way to practice that's you know it'll be as close as you can probably get um so the aquathon uh is going to be you would swim and then run um and so you get out swim at the Ohio street they have it marked off um how far and you can kind of choose your distance um and then you run uh Lakefront again they have signs and markings and the great thing about these clinics is one they rent WB suits there Urban Tri gear does um and um again if you're going to rent a wed suit get there early because there's not a ton of them and then two is they they have Gear Watch which is amazing so bright side which is a charity that raises money for I think uh pediatric cancer research um they run a the gear check there um and uh and so you you don't have to worry about your bag or anything like that uh down there so it's a really it makes it really easy to to do um I got everything okay I want to show that I keep skipping over this so um we made a video years ago this is ran he's an amazing uh individual who fortunately left us from Washington but um and uh we made a video on how to put on a wet suit uh this is on the the Liv grit uh first timers page I also post it on um the uh I'll also post it on the Facebook but it's a good like little Prim careful not to use our fingers just using the flat part of our I just wanted to show everybody that that is uh that is available if you want a little primer before you go down and take it on down at the beach or whatever um okay let's see one question can you practice swimming at other beaches yes yes you absolutely can um there's 31st Street beach um I think last time I talked about my find last year which is the beach behind the uh planetarium uh which was a really cool place that was very quiet um so yes you can 100% practice anywhere the only place that I know of but I could totally be wrong that so at Ohio street they put buoys in the water after Memorial Day and there'll be two buoys in the water um there'll be one uh the first one and then there'll be the second one the first one is a quarter of a mile the second one is a half of a mile um so that can kind of be a good goal for you if uh if you're doing the Sprint you know by the end of the summer you want to be able to get to the buoy and back then you're done you got your swim and if you're doing the international or Olympic you'd go to the second buoy and back the other good thing about Ohio Street and and many of these places are are good um is that uh you also if you're just getting comfortable with swimming you don't have to swim out into the deeper water you can actually swim parallel to the shore so you can get that comfort of being able to put your feet down you know at the beginning while you're getting comfortable so um but yeah lots of great beaches which we lucky to have uh here in Chicago so um let's the so kind of to wrap things up is uh you know I think what we talked about from I said early on you know the biggest thing is what's your goal you know what's your goal for the swim and like I said in talking to probably most of us you know the goal is to get through the swim in a way that we feel uh confident um that we're proud of um without using all of our energy and being exhausted uh so when we go get on the bike and the run it's like I use used it all up there um so that's where we want to get you know again Swim's the shortest piece it's the first piece you don't want to use everything up there um and uh the other thing is yeah endurance versus speed um you know the swim is not a place certainly and again given a triathlon uh it's a long distance um no matter whether we're talking about the Super Sprint Sprint international I mean that you are doing three Sports it is a long distance at the swim you want to try to minimize the amount that you are in uh kind of that anobi like phase um and uh and so focusing more on kind of building that endurance first and then as you build that endurance you can you know add on the speed um but step one should be feeling comfortable with the distance uh more than kind of the speed um I said it before and I will say it again number one tip of this whole program uh it's uh pretty straightforward is get in the open water as much as possible um because again that that's the one I I think swimming is such it is obviously a physical uh sport but is very much mental for a lot of us and uh and having gone out into Ohio Street a day that it's choppy I'm not I don't I wouldn't say like go all the way out to the buoy but getting in the Water swimming parallel having gone through some big waves so that when there's a little Chop on race day you're like I got this um you know so the more you can and if you don't live in downtown Chicago you know wherever open water is like M you know other parts of Lake Michigan the Corey whatever it is as much much as possible um and then going on so then training so here in the next week or so we will be putting out you know I think I said this at the last Clinic a very basic but per you know but solid training plan um for 12 weeks for both the Super Sprint Sprint and international distance so this is just kind of a a example of it so what might that look like and and some of this you know you can it's meant to be tailored to whatever you want um we have the Open Water when you see open water that means out in the open water but if you can't get in the open water then this is more about pool and just doing uh a more endurance distance when we have like the swim here where you see on I guess presumably Wednesday um this is designed more for like a a pool workout um so if you're newer to training for the swim um H so you're going to have a warm up so like a 50 meter kick that might might mean if you're swimming in a 25 meter pool it means you're going to grab the kickboard that they might have that they should a lot of pools have um and you are going to kick for down and back um and get 50 met of kick just to warm up and then the main set is 6 by 50 MERS uh with 15 seconds rest in between so what that means is you're going to swim down and back stop wait 15 seconds and the goal here is that this rest uh is let your heart rate come down so if you feel like you need more than 15 seconds take it let your heart rate come back down and then you're going to go again and you'll do that six times um so again this basic we didn't we're not we're not getting really fancy here but this is like a solid um Direction uh that will build up to where you'll be at the distance that you need to be uh for race day um couple quick things on training just as a like heads up I guess um in the training plan you'll see oh it's on here uh week three this brick workout so in triathlon training when we talk about a brick workout most of the time what we're talking about is going from the bike to the Run um and there's lots of different like thoughts about it but the reason why they call it a brick is because when you get off your bike after a longer R bike uh and go straight to a run your legs feel like brick bricks uh they're very heavy it takes a little while for you to flush out everything that you um you know kind of built up on the bike um not to mention you're kind of you're going to a whole different movement pattern um so it takes some time so you actually want to train that transition um throughout the summer and you're not going to do this every time but once a week starting after I think week two you'll see these brick workouts and those are really important um to not skip over and the idea is that you bike and then you go straight to the run like you would in the triathlon so you don't stop for 20 minutes you know and get a drink you know like have a snack or whatever you just go straight to the to the Run um and when you get to that run um you know over time your body will adapt quicker and quicker um and it will feel it will always feel heavy and uh but you'll start to get a hang a bit and um and I will also say when you do this you know for the first time you're going to feel like you're going at like slow motion and I promise you you are not it's just this kind of weird feeling um that's the most important brick swim to bike it's great to do those like back to back sometimes but not as important as like actually training this brick um as far as you know we often get the question will I do at any point the whole Triathlon not unless there's a reason that you really want to do the whole Triathlon um as you'll see these will increase and you'll start to get more days where you have like two sports on on the same day but um you know it's great to do like a mock Triathlon ahead of time we'll talk about this where you practice Transitions and things like that um but you don't need to do the whole distance and you probably don't want to um because you know just given you don't want to exert that much uh like right before the triathon so we'll talk more about the training plan at the next one because I think it will be that week that it comes out um and on that note let me see let's see if I can copy and paste this IA I can but um I'm GNA put so have questions email me uh if you haven't signed up for the first timers group do that I'm GNA put the link to the first timr page in here right now um so again this is a page where there's just some all the clinics are on there and um and uh and just um the oh the training plans will be on there as well so um we will get those up in the next week or so just making some tweaks um but yeah I think for the swim um that is about it unless there's any other questions or anything I missed go ahead and shout it out or pop it in the chat um but if not the next Clinic is three weeks from today and the bike we will be talking about the bike um and then transition then run because run is always the shortest one so um yeah well thank you everybody for coming and hopefully we will I will see some of you um down at the beach over the next couple of weeks um and if anybody has any questions in the meantime reach on out or post them in the Facebook group we'll start getting that chat going here um for everybody so have a good night