Thursday, June 24, 2010

The numbers keep rising.

Last night I went through alot of my Triathlon magazines to try and get some fresh ideas for my swim sessions. Turns out some of what I am doing is pretty much what is written, apart from the fact that I haven't done any open water swimming. I need to invest in a wetsuit for one, and gain a little courage to get out into the ocean. As I child I would, but age has made me very cautious about what is lurking below when I am the only one in the water. I also need to for the time being maybe do a couple of long distance interval type stuff - just to increase cardiovascular fitness. Doing the shorter interval stuff helps, but I need to be spitting out longer distances.

During my search I also wrote up two more sessions, one for Sharon who session is now on the 2km mark and also one for Natalie. My swim group is getting bigger - word of mouth is a wonderful thing. I had met Natalie a couple of times through bootcamp and am delighted that she is joining this group of fine swimmers. Natalie also surprised me with another welcome addition, her friend Tracy (green cap) below.
(Mel, Tracy, Tracy, Natalie, Susan [purple cap], Sharon and Me)

Michelle turned up later in the session and I will be posting another photo in the not too distant future. Everyone is finishing every session really happy, they each have their own session which I make up depending on their swimming ability and how they finish. If they finish feeling really good and not at all too tired then I up their session ever so slightly and vary it up as well. However if they are feeling that they are slightly pushing to complete then they stay on it till it becomes a easier. Finishing on a high note makes you want to come back and keep giving it a go, and so far so good. Everyone is going ahead in leaps and bounds.

Funny thing is I get so caught up with writing everyone else's session I turned up to the pool without one written up for me. So I altered last week's one a bit and did a 2.8km session.
  • 500m Fr/s warm.
  • 10 x 50m kick with flippers. Fr/s up, Bk/s back.
  • 2 x 400m Br/s up, Fr/s back.
  • 8 x 50m lateral kick.
  • 4 x 100 Bk/s.
  • 200m cooldown.
I came out of the water feeling energised and not sore in my legs. My hip/groin today feels really good and my ischial/gluteal tenderness is settling. Finally, I was starting to think I had done something really bad in my past life for which I needed to pay penance. I am still doing my regular stretching and strengthening exercises and have added some added upper body strengthening activities. I am starting to feel a move in the right direction again.

Your hard work will be rewarded.

"The path to a dream is paved with sacrifices and lined with determination. And though it has many stumbling blocks along the way, and may go in more than one direction, it is travelled by belief and courage and conquered with a willingness to face challenges and take chances" Barbara Cage