See what I’ve done there? Sure, I’ve run dry on creation for the last few weeks. I don’t want to fill this blog with mindless updates that tune people out, so it’s been tough to write anything that hooks and appeals.
After getting back in the saddle I’ve ramped up the training and got myself almost back to a decent level of volume. The final challenge of the last few weeks has been getting back in the lake. Jesus….Ganesh…Cthulu, whoever your god is, it was cold. That first toe in sent shivers but I had a march on, got up to waist deep then dropped, shoulders under.
That’s the easy bit. After letting the water seep into the zip I shoved off and stuck my face in, ice cream headache would have been a pleasant relief to the zap of cold that struck. Imagine being kissed by Elsa from Frozen. It was nothing like that, it was more of a punch in the face from a frozen bag of nuts and bolts. Once the shock subsides the distraction of cold means your focus remains tight and the meters drift away. Before I knew it the target session was done.
Imagine being kissed by Elsa from Frozen. It was nothing like that, it was more of a punch in the face from a frozen bag of nuts and bolts. It’s at this point I started to believe in Cthulu. Surely swimming shouldn’t hurt! Once the shock subsides the distraction of cold means your focus remains tight and the meters drift away. Before I knew it the target session was done.
Once the shock subsides the distraction of cold means your focus remains tight and the meters drift away. Before I knew it the target session was done.
What I did find this week from inadequate preparation was water pooling in the legs of my wetsuit, giving me the ankles of a water retentive balloon. Having to get out half distance to squeegee yourself down is not ideal race day etiquette so another lesson learned!
I’ve been twice since and am now starting to mix up the pace. I read a great article somewhere (220 Spring Issue) that struck a chord. Hundreds of distance athletes turn up every week and drill out 3 or 4 big laps at a single pace, stagger out of the depths ticking off the mileage. You might be better served doing more shorter laps, mixing up race pace, recovery and technique sections. I tried it last night, one lap warm up, one lap technique, one lap all out. Did it work? Did it hell, all three laps were within 30 seconds of each other but….I did get a good feel for the water, so it felt more progressive.
If you’re in the water this week, mix it up, see what happens, the same way you do on the bike and the runs.
Fubar@Forty 