Recovery Run

Did a recovery run around Canterbury today. It was pitch dark at certain stretches, could not see the path and had to walk. All went well until I exited Hort Park onto Alexandra Rd. Diarrhea struck. Argh, stopped running. Had to walk gingerly to the nearest toilet. PSA Building! Managed to return to Safra without further incidents after that. Gosh.

Recovery run but never recover....

Smashed Tuesday Class

Another make-up class tonight. It rained so heavily in the afternoon, I expected the pool to be cool. I braced myself and jumped in. But no! It was still warm, albeit slightly cooler than yesterday. Geez.

Tuesday class is minimal drills and maximum training. We did some kicking and pulling, and the real stuff began. 5x 200m at 5:30min. Last night was a comfortable 6:00min, which I cleared 5:10min on the average anyway. But tonight I could feel the tiredness. And all the swimmers in front of me were going pretty fast. I tried my best to follow. Managed to clear 2 sets in sub-5min! Yeah! Total of 25min (vs last night's 26min).

Then we did a medley of butterfly (mine looked more like caterpillar....), breaststroke, backstroke and front crawl.

And the killer sprints. 7x 100m @ 2:45min. That meant every 2:45min we start a new set. So if you were very fast, like 1:30min, you would have more than 1min of rest before the next set. On the other hand, if you were very slow like me, you would barely have a few seconds of breather before Go. Maximum I managed was 2 consecutive sets, and rested. So I completed 5 sets instead of 7.

Aching arms and shoulders. I actually felt hungry after the class!

Fabulous Monday Class

I missed so many classes I am now on a frantic make-up mode. This is the first time I am in Monday class. Another one to go tomorrow.

The pool was so so so super warm. Last Friday's as well. I think those were the only times that I did not shiver while in the pool! After a few laps, we warmed up and the water felt even hotter. Geez. The cold shower after class was such a welcome relief.

Drills we did tonight:
(With pool-buoy) Kicking, 4 strokes 1 breath, 3 strokes 1 breath
Fist swim, 10 strokes and 4-6 heads up paddling

Training:
5x 200m (6min) - decent, I kept to 5min ++, total of 26min..... on target towards my 40min
a few 100m sets
sprints of 4x 100m

Coach said I was gliding more tonight, and gave me thumbs-up. Yeah!

MF Run

It was a scorching morning. The sun was relentless as I did my 20km 2loops up MF. Humidity is the bane of trainings. I felt like I was running smack into a veil of netting holding me back. Whew. Had to run. Must run. Needed to burn some fats. Run run run. Whew. Managed a consistent timing for each loop.

Fastest 30 Laps

Went to Home Team for a swim with Alber. Crowded pool, some couples and families floating around in the lap pool and blocking the way. There were 3 girls with a waterproof camera in the middle of the lanes and obstructing the way.

Still, I managed to hit 30 laps in my best timing. 41min. 1 min short of my targeted 40min. :) Quite confident I could achieve that soon. Yeah.

Yellowfish Swim Finally!

Long-missed swimming class, finally back in class today. The pool water was incredibly warm! I used to shiver in class, but today, it felt like room temperature. Reasons:
a. it was hot the entire day and heated the pool
b. I just returned from cold/cool Scandic and it was a far far galatic cry from ice-swimming
c. I had an extra 1kg of flotation device on my sides and behind, otherwise known as fats, to insulate me

I think all the reasons apply.

We did various drills with the pool-buoy - front kicks, front pull, side kicks, sculling. Then we swam 400m, 400m, 300m, followed by 8x 50m sprints. Loved the sprints tonight, felt fresh and ready to go. Had pretty consistent timings per lap, fastest was sub-58sec, possibly my record. Ahh.... good to be back training.

Swim & Run

Diet was not working out. :(

But training was back in some order. I went to Safra after a whole day of intense brainstorming with my very delightful colleagues. Darn, the pool was crowded! It was difficult to swim in a straight line without bumping into someone. Why do some swimmers insist on splashing away in butterfly strokes in a crowded pool? Or swim breast stroke so close to you that they brush against you? I scrapped the divider rope a few times, and almost came head-on with some swimmers.

Swam 30 laps, followed by 10km MF run. Decent timing, not bad, regained 1-2min.

Came home and polished off my mum's home-cooked dinner. Ahhh.... no more bread! :)