Crushed

Very tough session in the pool this morning. It really broke me. I think a little bit of my soul was crushed. It was a set involving 100s and then some 200s and then repeated all over again, but a little bit quicker the second time. It was all done with a wetronome. For anyone who hasn't read this blog before a wetronome is a little waterproof timer that you can wear under your cap. You can use them to set a desired pace. The wetronome tells you how fast you are supposed to be going, unfortunately whether you go that fast comes down to you.

I always think that the wetronome is a great tool, very useful. However, I occasionally do wonder how far I could throw it.

This morings session was intended to be very tough, which it proved to be, but it started out okay. The first set of 100s and 200s was supposed to be quick but sustainable. Unfortunately I had one of those mornings where I got part way through the 200s and was keeping the required pace, but struggling. At that point it occured to me that I could be in trouble. I got through the 2nd set of 100s at the quicker pace, but when I got to the 2nd set of 200s, my body just said 'that's it I'm out of here'. When that happens in the pool it is very hard to find more speed. Hitting the metaphorical wall in a pool (as opposed to the real wall at the other end) is always a interesting experience. You can go from feeling okay, to losing that top gear, very quickly. When this sort of thing happens I always think it is important to work through the rest of the session, maintaining good form as much as possible. I think staying in the pool and working through is an important part of improving. I managed to finish off the session, but it really was a struggle and was pretty slow if I am honest.

Oh well. I am refusing to beat myself up to much about anything that happens in training this week. It is still very much about finding my feet again. If I have a session like this again in a couple of weeks I might be a bit annoyed, but at the moment I am willing to give myself a break.

A bit of a recovery run tonight and then finally into the weekend. At times this week has felt like it was never going to end, so I am very happy to finally walk out into the weekend. Speaking of which...