There was a triathlete who swallowed a fly

I don't know why he swallowed a fly. Perhaps he'll die.

Well I hope not, but I did swallow a fly on my run this afternoon. Always an unpleasant experience. One minute running nicely, the next minute coughing madly. Oh well, it could have been worse, I could have been the fly.

Day off work today, not of the sickie kind, but of the rostered day off kind, which I get once a month if I am good. So that was nice. I spent a decent chuck of the day taking my annual trip to Ikea, which I like to do once a year just to remind myself why I don't do it twice a year. This trip didn't disappoint with a bout of carpark rage coming from a random lady pretty much right on cue to remind me why I dislike the place. Well at least it should be 12 months before I am due to go again.

Tough but good swim this morning with the Swim Smooth folk. Great to have coach Paul Newsome back on the pool deck after his win in the Manhattan Island Marathon and extended stay in the US.

Two weeks ago I had my first tough swim back after Cairns which I really struggled with and which nearly broke me. In the blog for that day I said that I wasn't getting to beat up about it since it was the first week back after Cairns, but if it happened again in a couple of weeks time I would be annoyed. When I got to the pool this morning, my heart sunk a little to see it was the same set again. Once again when I got into the set I had the familiar feeling of, I am not going to be able to manage these times. But to my surprise when the pace increased, rather than smashing into the wall like last time, I managed to go with it and was able to hold the times for the rest of the session. It was tough work but I managed it which I was very happy about. Things are starting to feel a little bit more like normal again.

Nice run this afternoon as well. I was feeling a little flat heading out the door after a day of Ikea and moving pot plants for my mother in law who is moving house. But I got out the door and once I was running it felt very very good. Running actually felt... nice. Is that the correct term. Not sure, I don't think I have ever used it in that context before. Not fast but messy, not nice but slow, just plain nice. It was a great feeling and I really hope I get to feel it again, I could get used to it.

Back on the bike tomorrow for the usual long Saturday ride. According to the forecast it should be dry, so I am looking forward to being on the bike and not being rained on. Other than the bike I will be taking part in the great Australian Saturday tradition, which is of course a trip to Bunnings. Hopefully it is not a repeat of the trip to Ikea. Wish me luck.