2013: Tri-ing something new

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Just back from an easy 3 lunchtime miles along the canal, in glorious sunshine. Just what the doctors ordered.

Yay!

[marathondan]

Went for my first water torture session in about 6 weeks last night. There have been a couple of bank holidays, a couple of can't be-arseds, and a couple of so-uninterested-I-completely-forgots. It was surprisingly not bad.

We didn't do all that much proper swimming, mostly float and fin work, but the variety was enjoyable and there weren't any real killer drills. I surmise that I haven't learned enough to have anything much to forget...

I was reminded how complex and subtle swimming is - the techniques can be taught, but you need to build muscle memory through drills to put it all together. It is indeed rather like a dance lesson. But you can't see anything, or breathe properly. So really it's like a dance lesson, but when the music starts you have to tie a bag over your head.

I was also reminded that there are some things that my lanky, unsupple frame doesn't seem able to do. Two last night were kicking with fins on my front with a float, with my face out of the water, and kicking on my back with fins, with a float above my head and straight arms. I'm just the wrong shape, or completely inflexible, whereas others seem to manage them OK. I guess it's never to late to start some yoga or some of that poncy stuff.

Overall though, an enjoyable hour - some endoprhins released, and good coaching is almost always a pleasant experience, whatever the subject.

[marathondan]

Wowwee, just completed my biggest running week of the year so far... 9.2 miles. Just getting back onto the swing of 3 short plods a week for pleasure, no pressure. Things are moving forward on the work front, so I may be heading for happier bunny status for a while. Plenty of bunnies in evidence at the moment up on the field where I'm running - they try to outrun the lumbering biped for a while, before scattering into the hedgerows.

Currently nursing a mild groin / hamstring strain sustained from leaping out of bed at 7.15 on Sunday after Naomi set the alarm off. Really should have stretched beforehand...

The Windsor Tri results are up - had I managed to complete it, I would have finished in the last 10 as expected (probably 1:00, 1:40, 0:55 + 10 mins transition). Maybe I should have downgraded to the sprint distance rather than pulling out, where there do seem to be a few more fun competitors, but I was just getting fed up with the whole thing at the time. Meanwhile, prospective new job will mean going back to working 5 days a week (shocking I know), which I think knocks tri training on the head for good. I'm not prepared to do long daytime sessions at the weekend, and I need some kind of basic lie-in (8am) one day a week.

Then again, if this job comes off it will be only 10 miles from home... 2 x 10 miles on the bike a couple of times a week sounds like a good routine... also last week at swimming we tried some breast stroke and it felt really strong for me - could I swim a mile of breast stroke at a credible pace? Should I nip down to the pool this week and give it a try?

[Bierzo Baggie]

Hope the new job comes off!
Swimming season starts again for me (next week?). My front crawl is only marginally faster than my breast-stroke. What sort of time would you be aiming for over a mile?

[marathondan]

Swimming season starts again for me (next week?). My front crawl is only marginally faster than my breast-stroke. What sort of time would you be aiming for over a mile?

Aim for and achieving are two different things! I'd be looking for anything under an hour. I suspect that my breast stroke is actually faster, and I may give myself a time trial. My crawl technique has undoubtedly improved no end in 6 months, but I was starting from a very low base.

It seems that regular practice is essential to improvement (no surprise there). In 10 years time I'd probably be glad if I committed to swimming once a week at this age (which I am at the moment, but I have the incentive of lessons paid up in advance). Just like I'm now eternally grateful to the 30 year old me for taking up running.

Well good luck with the new season, let us know how it goes!

  tenerife-forum-swimming-smiley.gif (Size: 6.35 KB / Downloads: 18)

[marathondan]

A pleasant lunchtime plod along the towpath today, in cloudy but humid conditions. Lovely to be down there among the greenery yet only yards from the urban landscape. Checked my cadence for the first time in ages, while running at what now feels like my natural rhythm - bang on 180, well as close as I could measure, anyway. I'm sure I'll find it hard to maintain that when distances get longer, but it seems a good habit to have acquired for now.

Plenty of walkers and cyclists out at this time of year. All quite polite, too - I got a courteous bell-ding on a blind bend, and a cheery "not far to go" from another two-wheel user. I and a group of walkers were momentarily stopped in our tracks by that Apache Gunship of the insect world, a stag beetle in full flight. It's rare to see this stretch of waterway in use, but today a chap was out in an inflatable kayak, at a pretty leisurely pace it must be said. No sign of the Russian dissidents these days.

I often find myself thinking of running as medicine these days. Often we're not keen or excited about taking our medicine, but we do so because we know it will make us feel better. And it does.