Week One

Okay not exactly.

I've been running and biking since last June. The story I told last week unfolded over the winter and early spring of 2009. But this is week one of my full tri training. I finally got up the nerve to get in the pool.

The training program I'm on is one of the free ones from Beginner Triathlete.com It says that before you start you should be able to perform all 3 disciplines for a minimum of 20 minutes without stopping.

Running - Check
Biking - Double Check
Swimming - Well....

The extent of my swimming lessons and experience begins and ends in the 26 foot diameter above ground pool we had in our back yard when I was a kid. My dad taught me one afternoon when I was 10. He took me out to the middle, away from the edges and told me to "dead man float".

The person who came up with that name was never 10 years old! You don't tell a kid that what they are terrified of has the word "dead" in it!

I leaned forward, kicked my legs up, but I refused to put my face in the water. I must have looked like a drunk swan. After two or three attempts and still refusing to put my face down my dad finally grabbed the back my head and held me down for second. I could have him up on charges of child abuse today but after the initial shock wore off I realized that my hips were floating and suddenly everything made sense.

After that it was just a matter of crawling through the water and kicking my legs. I could swim!

But here's the problem. I never learned to exhale in the water.

As I mentioned, the pool was only 26 feet in diameter. Even at 10 years old I could hold my breath and be across the entire width in 4 strokes. When I arrived at my gym today and hit the water I quickly realized that there is no way I'm going to make it 25 meters on one breath. I tried, believe me.

I can't yet comfortably exhale with my face in the water, I panic and start to inhale before I can left my head up. I've got to work on that. For now, I go 10 strokes, about half way, tread water for a second and go another 10 strokes.

Any tips on training my body to exhale without panicking will be appreciated.

Lauren