This morning’s lung buster

Isn’t it amazing what an early night and 8 hours of sleep can do. I woke feeling so much better this morning which was great as I had the first of 2 swim sessions for the week today. Normally I swim Monday mornings and on the weekend so showing up at the pool on Wednesday was a new experience for me. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect – whether there would be other squads training (apart from the usual swim squad that is there every day – gotta admire the commitment of those kids), whether Wednesday is a busy or quiet morning, who shows up (keeping a watchful eye out for ‘that’ woman). It looked like most of the regulars were there at least. By the end of my session I would have to say that Wednesday is a reasonably busy morning in the pool. There were about 5-6 people in our lane alone but amazingly there were never any hold ups or having to wait for someone to get part way down the pool before taking off on my next lap.

I decided to do the shorter of the 2 swims this morning so it was a 1.2km swim which included 3 x 100m hard efforts at the 300m, 600m and 900m mark. In theory there was meant to be a rest period after the harder sessions equivalent to half the time it took to swim the 100m. But that never eventuated. To go with the flow of the other swimmers I had minimal breaks at the end of each 100m, including the harder 100m efforts, but I swam a recovery lap (active recovery) after those harder efforts so I figured it would equate to the same thing as standing around (passive recovery). The session ended up being a bit of a lung buster this morning which was great because it blew away the cobwebs and it was what I needed. So while I may be dialling down the intensity in my running and cycling at the moment because they rely on my legs, which are still recovering from the weekend’s efforts, I can go gangbusters in swimming. That’s the beauty of cross training!

And I went for a short 6km run after work. It had been a lovely day and this afternoon was still warmish and made for pleasant running. A good way to end the day.

Tomorrow: the plan is to do a weights session int he morning and the second of my bike intervals session after work. I think I’m going to need it as we’re having a morning tea for a work colleague’s birthday tomorrow! As I type, there is a Stephanie Alexander lemon tart baking in the oven – all part of my…ahem…finely tuned, nutritionally balanced triathlete’s diet

“The water is your friend…..you don’t have to fight with water, just share the same spirit as the water, and it will help you move”. – Alexandr Popov

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