For years I have wanted to participate in a triathlon and finally this year I have taken steps to actually so that. This Sprint Triathlon consists of a 500 meter swim, 16 mile bike and a 5 kilometer run. I am a runner so I am not concerned with the run. I have a bike and can ride fairly well, so I am not worried about this either. SWIM, this is my concern. I know how to swim, I just don't swim, so this is where my training needs to focus.

Off to the local high school pool I went to get my laps in. This pool is a 25 meter pool, so I have to swim a lot of laps to get to the 500 meter distance needed. Start small and work at it.

The first lap I did went pretty well, slow of course. My breathing was good, my stroke wasn't too fast or slow. My form quickly went downhill. I was struggling to make it to the other end of the pool. What I noticed as I thought to myself while trying to make it to the wall was this:

I am now holding my breath under water. I need to blow the air out under water, so when I turn to get air I do not need to blow out and in all in one motion.

My stroke became too fast for me. I was having trouble keeping form and really needed to slow it down. Faster strokes aren't better – yet. Slow down and relax. I am used to running where you breath all the time and move your arms and legs at a fast pace. This is not true for swimming.

The second time I went to the pool was better. I focused on breathing out underwater instead of holding it in. I also slowed the pace down. My pace did start to get quicker and once again my form was bad. So I needed to tell myself to slow down. Once I slowed down everything fell into place. My breathing was good and my form was good.