More inventiveness

Chilly morning this morning, as it always seems to be when swim training is on the program. I am sure whoever controls these things delight in sending 4 degree mornings our way when they know at least part of the morning will be spent standing semi-naked on the pool deck and the rest will be spent being immersed in water. Still, complaining about the cold is possibly not the most productive use of time during Winter. What does one expect...

Session went well again. Coach Paul is on a bit of a 'no repeat' push at the moment, ie every program is a new one. Whilst not ignoring the value of tried and true Swim Smooth classic sessions like 'Red Mist' and 'Goldilocks', it nice to be doing new stuff. An added benefit is that the new stuff is often a bit of fun, or in the very least, quite interesting. Oh yeah and painful, but that was sort of a given.

Today's new bit, was a kind of limit tester. It started with all the swimmers in each lane swimming as a single group, no different groups to allow for different paces. In these mega groups we then swam through five 'phases'.

Phase 1 one was slow and short: 50m, 100m, 150m.
Phase 2 was longer and a bit quicker (but still quite slow): 100m, 300m, 500m
Phase 3 things got longer again but still steady: 200m, 400m, 600m
Phase 4 things got dicey: 300m, 500m, 700m
Phase 5 was pretty much whatever you had left: 1000m

The trick to the session came because around Phase 4 the pinch came and you started to struggle. When that happened, we all had three lifelines. Getting strange for a swim session right? These lifelines were, draft for one effort, short turn (not turn at the wall) once, or use pullbuoy and paddles for one effort. You could use these lifelines during any effort you liked other than the final 1000m. Unusual but quite cool. Certainly added another dimension to the session. Holding onto your lifelines until you absolutely needed them, not wanting to waste them, but also not using them too early. Inventive sessions like this are what make Paul and his squad so good. Certainly why I keep on coming back.

 For the record I used my short turn during the Phase 4 500m and my pullbuoy and paddles during the Phase 4 700m.

Some running on the program for this afternoon. For the last few weeks I have been doing this run in King's Park, but given the issues I have had with my calf, I think it would be wise to stay off the hills for now. As such I will be heading back home and doing the run on my usual (flat) stomping ground by the river. I may also spend a bit of time of one of the ovals, but it will depend on how dry it is and how much light there is. My mission for this run will be holding myself back a little bit. Running is going well at the moment and that is all this session needs to be. The point of this session isn't to bury myself and it certainly isn't to flare up my calf. Strong but controlled will be the mantra for the session. Will see how it goes.