Storm Clouds

Perth is doing that strange thing at the moment where it has forgotten that it is Spring and decided instead to go back to Winter. Wind, rain, cold, you name it, Perth is doing it. Unpleasant.

Being unpleasant I am getting to enjoy the less fun side of coaching at the moment, which is standing around in the wind and the rain getting cold, while watching others do exercise. Funnily enough it is more fun that it sounds. Such was the case this morning.

Before the rain

This morning was always going to be a bit dicey, the forecast was for horrible and the weather was faithfully doing what it was told. Surprisingly, when the pool opened at 5:30 it wasn't as bad as expected, with lots of wind etc, but not actually much rain. That didn't last, by halfway through the 6:30 session it was raining with the vengeance of a scorned waterfall. Oh well, I guess that is what waterproof jackets are for.

Still, it was funny to see that despite the weather not being as bad as expected, the squad numbers were still down. The 5:30 Friday Swim Smooth session often will pull in a good 45 people, usually there are a few no-shows, but typically only a handful. This morning though there were 9 no-shows. Hard to know exactly why people didn't come down, but these quieter mornings typically coincide with the unpleasant mornings. Funny that.

On paper it can seem a little illogical to stay in bed when it is raining on a swim morning. I mean, what is the worst that happens if you go down to the pool in the rain? You get wet? In reality though we all know exactly what it is like. When it is raining and howling, sometimes it can be very hard to get yourself moving to deliberately go outside into it, no matter where you are going. However, often the difference between the people at the front of a race and everybody else is exactly that, they are the ones who got themselves out of bed and down the pool. Even in the rain. It may seem a like a bit of a cliche, but often the key to improvement is as simply as that.

Performance through consistent and intelligent training.

Simple.