Public Frustrations

I had to deal with one of the frustrations of a non squad swim session today, a congested public lane.

Always very frustrating when you just can't seem to get any clear water. To make matters worse the people I was sharing it with were swimming as a 'pseudo squad', ie they were all doing the same session. With six of seven of them in the group it meant that when I caught up to them I had no chance of getting around. It seemed that no matter how much space I gave them I just kept bumping into the back of the group. It made the session a little frustrating with the pace and the rest intervals for some of the set being thrown into a bit of disarray as I tried to work around them.

Unfortunately for my frustration the group was made up of very nice people which made it virtually impossible to stay angry. Oh well.

I have to say the session didn't go crash hot either. Just feeling a little flat today. I got through the session but I had to work hard for pace. For the session today I didn't want to do anything quite as full on the 10 x 400m Red Mist set, but also I wanted something a bit meatier than a pure technique swim, so I chose a 'Technique/Endurance' program from the Session Library in the Swim Smooth Guru. I then tweaked the session a little to make it a little longer. These Tech/Endurance sessions are some of my favourites. They are a bit easier than a proper Red Mist session, but you still come out feeling like you have done some work. The technique part also gives you a chance to work on those areas that need it. Today's session had a good mix of 200s, 100s and even a few 50s. The variety certainly kept it interesting, but it was definitely struggle street. I suspect the feeling of flatness is probably just left over from a solid weekend of training so I am not too concerned. Good night's sleep and a bit more rest and then I will see where I am at.

The other thing that may have been a factor in me feeling sluggish this morning was the temperature. Damn cold was the official measurement I think (actually it was about 0 - which I think qualifies as damn cold when you are getting in a pool). The body was not happy about being stripped virtually naked and immersed in water at that sort of temperature. I am not sure who I have annoyed, but for some reason these frigid morning's always seem to align with swim training. Somebody out there has a twisted sense of humour I think. Could be another cold one in the morning, but at least I won't be stripping virtually naked for this one (I hope).

Off to see David Bryant at Catalyst Nutrition shortly for one last check in before Iskdar Puteri. Quite happy with where I am sitting at the moment in terms of nutrition and body weight. I think my weight is right about where it should be for this stage in my preparation, just above race weight at a high 72 to low 73kg. This visit will be a good chance to have another check, and if necessary make tweaks, to the diet and race nutrition from what I was using last year. If nothing else visits to David are always very educational so that should be good.

Resting this afternoon, which I think might be a good thing.