Experiments

Wednesday Morning Swim Smooth squad this morning. Yep that is right, I survived a full Red Mist session down at Claremont today. Look at me go.

It probably doesn't need to be said that I was a little hesitant about going down to the Red Mist session today. I have been struggling with swimming for a while anyway, and then since this heart issue has raised it head I simply wasn't sure if I would get through a session. In the end if I can't do the swim session properly, what is the point? If I am having to stop every few hundred metres and if I can't hold onto the paces then is there any real point swimming with the squad. I might just be better off doing a solo swim that is within my limits. In that regard, today's swim was a bit of an experiment, a test to see whether attending a Red Mist session is a good idea.

Turns out it isn't not a good idea.

What I mean by that is that the session wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to make me glad that I went.

I had to sit out a hundred metres here and there and I struggled with pace in some areas. With the pace I think that is more due to a loss of swim conditioning rather than the heart. But having to stop now and then, that was just a couple of times where I was getting a bit uncomfortable heart wise. On the whole though I think the session was as success. I got through nearly 5000m of swimming and mostly felt okay doing it.

Given how this morning went I will definitely be continuing to attend the Wednesday morning session. I have always viewed it as an important session for Ironman training and it still can be for me, even if I am slightly restricted. The fitness benefits are without a doubt and I am hoping that as the fitness improves some of those pace restrictions will reduce and I am better able to hold pace.

That is the plan anyway.

On the trainer again for a bit of spinning, trying to get a feel for what the right amount of volume is at the moment. Let the experimenting continue.