Friday, 26 September 2014

Goldilocks returns

Well that is training done and dusted for the day. I survived swimming this morning, and whilst it wasn't all puppy tickles it wasn't terrible either.

Once I was at the pool I found that I was carrying a bit of soreness through my shoulders from Wednesday which became a more of a factor by the end of the session. But other than that, I am still very pleasantly surprised by just how well swimming is going, given the break I have had. The sore shoulders is probably about the only sign I have had so far that I may have lost a little bit of condition, and that sort of thing comes back pretty fast.

The session this morning was the infamous Goldilocks set, which I haven't done for a while, but which still causes me to occasionally wake up screaming (okay that last bit isn't true). The Goldilocks set looks like this:

4 x 100m
200m - baby bear
4 x 100m
300m - mama bear
4 x 100m
400m - papa bear

The trick to the session is that the whole thing is done at the same pace. So the last 400m effort is swum at the same speed as the first 100m, and that speed generally isn't slow. It is a bit tricky and quite painful, requiring careful pacing at the start of the set and a screw loose by the end.
This time through it went alright for us. Our group managed to hold pace for the 12 x 100m, but we struggled on the 300m and the 400m. There are a few people missing from our squad at the moment, and for some reason it seems to be all the fast swimmers (perhaps there is a party somewhere, where all the fast swimmers go and enjoy their speediness, I imagine that is what is going on here). The missing speedy swimmers mean that the people who usually lead our lane aren't there. This has meant we have had to share lead swimmer duties amongst the rest of the group. It is a bit of a mixed blessing. Well actually it is a real blessing, it just doesn't feel like it all the time. Sharing the lead has meant we have struggled to hold the target times a bit more, but it has also meant we have all had a chance to lead and get the training benefits that go with that. It is a challenge, but in a good way.

Now that the swim session is done, I have the day to myself (and my family). I even have the day off work today, since it is my rostered day off. Actually I went into work straight after swimming to finish something off (aren't I good), but then left once it was done. So no training and no work for the rest of the day, on top of that it is a glorious day outside. Things are looking rosy, time to go and enjoy it.

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