Old and New

Down the pool for a wee bit of coaching this morning. Coaching and freezing.

As is becoming the norm at the moment the session down at the pool this morning was many different types of cold. Almost literally freezing. I checked the forecast before heading down to the pool and it was predicting a rather balmy 10 degrees or so. However, once I was down at the pool it became very obvious that the forecast was rather wrong. About 9 degrees wrong in fact.

I am having lots of new experiences down on the pool deck at SwimSmooth. Lots of experiences and learning lots of things. One of those things is that if you stand around on the pool deck for two hours when it is 1 degree you get really pretty cold. Perhaps not so surprising, particularly given it is winter, but there you go. I think I am going to need more clothes, perhaps a beanie... or two.

The session down the pool this morning was a nice mix of old school and new.

The new bit came in the form of 100s and 200s done using the tempo timer set to beep every 25m, helping the swimmers train at their threshold CSS paces. Using the tempo timer to assist the squad members achieve their desired pacing is very much part of the modern approach that SwimSmooth brings to the pool.

The old school part of the session came in the form of 100s and 200s done using nothing but the clock, just like we all used to and as lots of squads still do.

The two parts of the session were both targeted at achieving CSS pace, but they went about achieving this in quite different ways.

The tempo timer part of the session gave people that constant reminder of pace, pushing them to work harder when they were behind the desired pace, but also reminding them to slow down if they were going too quick. Working hard, but with an element of control.

The clock part of the session took away that control and gave people the freedom to slow down and swim slower than the target pace if they wanted. On the flip side, not having the constant reminder of the tempo timer gave people the freedom to push harder than the desired pace if they were feeling good. Across the squad we saw a mix of both. Some people were feeling the mojo and pushed on once the restrictions of the tempo timer were removed and others had started to feel the pinch and so needed to slow down.

Whether people were able to push on once the tempo timer was removed, or whether they struggled, I think everyone agreed that it was indeed a tough session. A classic fresh and fruity SwimSmooth threshold session.

Out on the bike tomorrow with the speedy juniors from BYL and I suspect it will be another chilly one. Still, it will be good to be out on the road again, even if I am wearing every item of clothing that I own.