Had one of those “ahah” moments a bit through my swim practice today. I’ve been focusing on tempo trainer and counting strokes, and trying not to be discouraged by the outcome. I feel like my times are slow, my stroke count is high. Times like this are when I really wish for a fellow Total Immersion coach on deck or in the pool with me to give me a couple of pointers.
I left the house without the new practice I wrote and decided to do the practice that I wrote for Monday. It was tough to get in the water to start — weather was cloudy, windy and only mid 60s. The lifeguards were wearing wool hats and gloves. The staff had told me the pool temperature was 78 — something I would normally love when swimming indoors or on a hot day.
I debated cutting it short, skipping it altogether, etc. but I do have a virtual swim team that I don’t want to let down. Went thru the tune up and the tempo trainer ladder and started to feel a bit of “discomfort” which I knew was coming from something not right with my stroke but couldn’t pinpoint it. Got through the 150s trying to decrease and increase stroke count by one per length but kept adding and subtracting 2 strokes. I’m usually able to do this pretty successfully. This was frustrating, but then I remembered I’m swimming in a 50 meter pool, something I hardly ever do! So, my changes in my stroke would have equated to adding or subtracting one in a 25 yard or meter pool. Yea, a small thing but it definitely made me feel a bit better. Started on the 300s and could really feel my shoulder starting to ache so I decided that rather than focus on stroke count I would just relax and swim with focal points. And that turned my whole swim around, so much so that my second 300 became a 500 because I just totally forgot to count. Two 300s of head position (one of which became a 500), two 300s of arms and a final 300 that I had planned to focus on kick but instead just focused on engaging my core. A 100 cool down brought me to a 3200 meter long course practice that I feel very good about. It’s the longest I’ve swum in quite a while. What did I learn? Sometimes plans just need to be readjusted, and that is absolutely okay.
Over the last few days I’ve had a nice recovery ride on local roads, in spite of a lot more traffic than my first ride here. I did come upon a beautiful sight at the end of one of the roads I ventured down.
I’ve had a long run and a short run on the jungle trail, even got to warm up with an easy one mile run / walk with my husband this morning. All good as long as I have no pain and can keep picking up my pace as my runs progress.
The jungle trail is just a beautiful spot to run, I just wish it had some hills. I’m really starting to feel in my running groove again, and I’m hoping for more bike time as the weather improves. There was an abbreviated swim practice on Monday, I thought I had to get the car back so Bryan could golf but monsoon rains cut that short!
Good dinners at home, I’ve made a couple of my favorite dinners, and a couple of new ones. One of the most delicious chicken soups I’ve ever had was based on this recipe. I had no sweet potato so I doubled up on the butternut squash, used fresh spices and added some quinoa to make it a bit more substantial for dinner.
The real highlight of my trip so far happened this morning. I looked outside and spotted my husband Bryan with his other best friend in the world (after me!) This picture just makes me so happy and so grateful and so thankful, I can’t stop looking at it.
moirahoran 