With my running habits firmly curtailed for the next few weeks, I have an opportunity to firmly focus on the remaining two aspects of my triathlon adventure.
I was unfortunately a bit lax last week with my training and with work taking up a staggering large amount of my time, I have been a bit drained, both physically and mentally, lately.
Swimming is still something that I both want and need to get better at before the summer. In it's own unique way, swimming is by far one of the most relaxing parts of my week despite the fact that it is rather boring!
Thursdays swimming session was the first session i have attended in just under two weeks and following the standard format.
The session itself was not particularly taxing, but the total distance involved was towards the limit of my capability within the 60 minute session time frame.
After sundays informal triathlon training session with my brother, I am feeling far more confident with my swimming endurance ability over a short to middle distance, although the longer sunday sessions will still be a challenge and I am in no doubts that I would have significant problems trying to compete a 5km set.
Thursdays set was comprised of:
Warmup: 100m swim, 100m drill (I opted for catch ups), 100m kick (no fins), 100m f/c with buoy, 100m swim
Main: 10x200m set; #1-5 at a slower than 400m PB pace (400m pace /2 +15 seconds), #6-10 getting progressively faster by 3 seconds per set.
I managed to complete 7 of the lengths, which I am pretty stoked with. I am still struggling towards the end but I put that down to my lack of forethought with regard to hydration and nutrition on thursday. I find that I don't really drink enough water on a thursday during working hours, possibly due to the increased work load as I do not work fridays and usually have a bit of a last minute rush to get things done on time.
I had cramp in my right lower leg towards the end of the session which stopped me in my tracks as I couldn't shake it off and I am still a bit wary of that area whilst I am still injured just on the off chance that I exacerbate the issue.
The total distance swum was still 1900 metres though which I really wouldn't have dreamed I would be capable of back when I started in January, and I still felt that I had energy left in the tank to keep going if the cramp subsided.
Still, room for progress next time. I am planning on getting a cheap stopwatch to help measure my lengths a bit better, or perhaps just wear my garmin and turn off the gps. I find it quite difficult to keep looking up at the wall clock to ensure that my pacing is on track both because it interrupts my swim stroke and also I sometimes have trouble focusing that far away.
Friday will be a day off as I would usually run and I have a night with some friends planned with some food indulgance and probably a few too many drinks, but not so many that i'll miss out on tomorrows bike ride.
