Back In the Water

I admit, it's always been a struggle for me to get in the pool, that isn't a secret but when I do swim consistently I absolutely love the feeling. Swimming is an incredible way to feel weightless and free to fly through the water. However it's much nicer when you've been swimming for a while and your muscles have adapted to the training stress. I've been trying to get back that feeling and I know it's going to take some time but I am enjoying swimming again. After an open water fiasico when I went to Musearu Lake with Robert and couldn't even hold on to his feet I decided I needed to concentrate more on my swimming. I know Robert is preparing for IMC but he hasn't been swimming that much more that I have and there was no reason we shouldn't have been swimming at least the same pace. I was in the pool three times the following week and I've been trying to get in as much as possible this week. It seems like three times a week is a lot for me, mainly because the running and biking don't leave me with enough energy to swim more. I know I could scale back on the other two and for the most part I have but swimming is such an effort some days; 1. you can only go to the pool at desiginated lane swim times, 2. it takes a while to get to and from the pool, and 3. sometimes finding lane space is next to impossible if you don't go at 'off-peak' times.

I left for Whitecourt yesterday and they have such a beautiful facility that I really look forward to swimming when I'm here. The new Allan and Jean Miller Centre is fantastic and going during lane swim times always means you will have a lane all to yourself. Yesterday I was done work a little early so I headed to the pool and spent an hour working on technique and some speed work. I was surprised how slow I am but I know it'll just take a couple of weeks of dedicated time in the water to come right back. I finished with some 200's unable to hit the 3:00 mark I was aiming for but I was close, some 100's not quite hitting the 1:30 mark, and some 50's where I was able to at least maintain 45sec for four of them. I'm really looking forward to racing again in Peace River, it's just a little sprint but the distances are correct and I'm hoping to have a sub-hr race. The plan is to try to be under 12mins swimming, under 30mins biking, and under 18mins running, doable but very, very tough. I've never done this race and I'm not sure how difficult it will be but it will be a nice tune-up before the final tri of the year, and a race I would like to perform very well at, Banff.