Sunday, August 29, 2010

I'm out of the funk.

Thankyou all so much for your kind words of wisdom and I especially like the 'suck it up' one. I can get down pretty quickly when my back is involved. But after 2 days of sulking and alot of thinking I am back to my old self and have enjoyed this weekend. I have accomplished alot over the last 2 days both in the water and on land. And the fact that my back has not gotten any worse due to the activities has given me some much needed relief. I wonder if it's the effects of the oral anti-inflammatory's I am taking - I have a sneaky suspicion it just may be. Either way I did heaps this weekend.

Top Notch Performance and Health and Panthers Tri Club had their last free swim session yesterday and I wanted to make the most of it and learn some more skills in the water that would help me gain strength and speed. Wow, this session was hard - I know this because I haven't actually felt this spewy for a while. I think the last time I felt it was when I was training for the World Masters Championships last year. We did so many challenging drills but they were so much fun. Here's what we did:
  • 400m Fr/s warm up
  • 100m Rock n' Roll breathing every 10 kicks
  • 100m one armed R n' R breathing every 10 kicks
  • 100m R n' R breathing every 3 strokes
  • 100m sculling with arms out front for 25, Fr/s for 25
  • 100m sculling with arms below shoulders for 25, Fr/s for 25
  • 100m stroke tap. Have board between legs do a Fr/s stroke then as hand exits water it taps the board behind you.
  • 7 x 100m on 1:40
  • 4 x 25m deep water starts into a full sprint.
  • Then a relay race.
Now can you see why I felt like bringing up the sausage sandwich I ate after the swim. Probably not a wise idea consuming food so close to finishing a hard session. Lesson learnt.

Then this morning I decided to go for a spin with Aliyah along the M7 bike track. I went out with all intentions to stay connected to the saddle for 2 hours. I lasted 1hr 40min and cycled approximately 35kms. Felt like I had gone further than that, my legs were knackered by the end of it. But, in my journey's I survived my first magpie attack. The little critter dive bombed my head about 4 times, and if it hadn't of been for the sun being behind me and it casting a shadow in front of me I would have only heard the flapping of it's wings and not known its angle of attack.

I also have to take the bike back to get the gears checked or tightened. Sometimes they were going in and other times they weren't in the small chain ring so I had to do the majority of the ride in the big chain ring. Maybe that's why my legs feel so caned. Anyway, I had a great time and glad I got out into the glorious Australian sun.

Your hard work will be rewarded.

"The path to a dream is paved with sacrifices and lined with determination. And though it has many stumbling blocks along the way, and may go in more than one direction, it is travelled by belief and courage and conquered with a willingness to face challenges and take chances" Barbara Cage