The genesis of an emerging triathlete . . .
Published Wednesday, October 19 by Carolyne | E-mail this post
I dropped Bob off this morning, and then headed straight to the pool for my first swim of the season. Not that I think that swimming in a temperature controlled indoor pool has a season, but, heck I’m slack!
I arrived at a near perfect time ~ the schoolies and office workers were finishing off their early morning training and the pool was calm and light. Conscious of my being an alien in this environment, I started off with a few minutes in the hot spa to warm up eternally frigid limbs. I found a slow lane to myself, and eased myself into it with a lap (100m) with a kickboard and fins. Fun! Easy! Ditched the kickboard and swam with fins for another fun 400m. Sure, the woman in the next slow lane was faster using a combination of breaststroke and freestyle, but I was genuinely surprised that I could do it so easily. I didn’t have to remember to breathe.
Then, off with the fins for the real test. Whether it was the miles in my legs, or just general lack of swimming fitness (and skill!), it seemed that I was going backwards in the water for a long, long time once I didn’t have the benefit of my pink-and-yellow duck feet (see image above). Eventually I was 50m away and only had to turn around to come back! Whew! I kept going, and despite only having to follow the thin black line, I eventually settled into it, and was beginning to enjoy the darn thing! Probably fortunately, I ensured that I stopped after 500m free, not wanted to reproduce Bob’s too-much-swimming-too-soon shoulder injury, and conscious of number of things I needed to do this morning.
I dried off and warmed up in the steam room briefly, stretching and revelling in the warmth.
The first time is always the hardest, a little swimming, often.
Spoke to Aki on returning home and arranged to go down to the BBQ Stakes with her, even though I had to have a check-up of my orthoses with my podiatrist beforehand. It all went well, and although Aki was unable to run, instead race walking over the undulating 6km course. Once again I started very slowly, without any stiffness in my legs, however they were slower than they should have been. It was once again a matter of (not) warming up though – a massive negative split of 16:32 / 14:04 indicates that!
We then sought to hire some kayaks on the lake, although the dull conditions meant that the boat hire kiosk was closed. We moved onto Plan B, and began Aki’s first lesson on learning to ride a bike. We made substantial progress and I think that a new Triathlete is in the making! Watch out Loretta Harrop!!
A good day, feel very healthy, and only a short run and veggie swim, but heading in the right direction.
I arrived at a near perfect time ~ the schoolies and office workers were finishing off their early morning training and the pool was calm and light. Conscious of my being an alien in this environment, I started off with a few minutes in the hot spa to warm up eternally frigid limbs. I found a slow lane to myself, and eased myself into it with a lap (100m) with a kickboard and fins. Fun! Easy! Ditched the kickboard and swam with fins for another fun 400m. Sure, the woman in the next slow lane was faster using a combination of breaststroke and freestyle, but I was genuinely surprised that I could do it so easily. I didn’t have to remember to breathe.
Then, off with the fins for the real test. Whether it was the miles in my legs, or just general lack of swimming fitness (and skill!), it seemed that I was going backwards in the water for a long, long time once I didn’t have the benefit of my pink-and-yellow duck feet (see image above). Eventually I was 50m away and only had to turn around to come back! Whew! I kept going, and despite only having to follow the thin black line, I eventually settled into it, and was beginning to enjoy the darn thing! Probably fortunately, I ensured that I stopped after 500m free, not wanted to reproduce Bob’s too-much-swimming-too-soon shoulder injury, and conscious of number of things I needed to do this morning.
I dried off and warmed up in the steam room briefly, stretching and revelling in the warmth.
The first time is always the hardest, a little swimming, often.
Spoke to Aki on returning home and arranged to go down to the BBQ Stakes with her, even though I had to have a check-up of my orthoses with my podiatrist beforehand. It all went well, and although Aki was unable to run, instead race walking over the undulating 6km course. Once again I started very slowly, without any stiffness in my legs, however they were slower than they should have been. It was once again a matter of (not) warming up though – a massive negative split of 16:32 / 14:04 indicates that!
We then sought to hire some kayaks on the lake, although the dull conditions meant that the boat hire kiosk was closed. We moved onto Plan B, and began Aki’s first lesson on learning to ride a bike. We made substantial progress and I think that a new Triathlete is in the making! Watch out Loretta Harrop!!
A good day, feel very healthy, and only a short run and veggie swim, but heading in the right direction.
you have been blog tagged...
Here are the rules:
1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or the closest one to it)
4. Post the text of your sentence in your blog along with these rules.
5. Tag five other people.
from 26/7/05:
"...can't wait to charge it up and give it a go!..."
i was, of course, talking about the arrival of my Forerunner 301...my constant companion, training or otherwise, ever since...
I have tagged Flash Duck, Gronk, Aki, Ewen & Lucky Legs...