Triathlon countdown - All going swimmingly

After a bit of a wobble last week, I'm pleased to say that my confidence has returned and I'm not panicking quite as much as I was about my triathlon debut in four weeks' time (... well maybe just a little).

Building bricks

The main reason for my confidence taking a knock was my first "brick" (i.e. bike plus run) session which was much harder than I had expected and caused panic to set in. I wrote about that here.

Not surprisingly, brick sessions have been my biggest priority this week and I've managed to build two more in to my training so far. It was a massive relief to find that the second was slightly easier than the first and the third was better still. I even felt relatively good during the run part of my third brick (there wasn't too much puffing and panting going on!) and could probably have run further. As it was, I cycled and ran the distance I will be doing in my triathlon and that has boosted my confidence enormously. I even made it to the top of two big hills on the bike without stopping, although I did have to use most of my gears! So I just need to add in the swim now!

All going swimmingly

Once again, I was pushed to my limit in last week's swimming session which felt like the hardest session in the history of mankind! The multiple, back-to-back individual medleys which just a few weeks ago were the toughest part of my training have now become the easy bit!

The hard part this week included such delights as swimming front crawl with clenched fists; swimming front crawl with my hands behind my back (is this starting to sound like some weird form of torture?); and my new personal favourite  - swimming back stroke with both arms in the air. Now, unless you've actually tried this, you'd be forgiven for assuming it would be quite easy. Well, you would be very wrong! As soon as you put your arms up the rest of you sinks, it's impossible to stay afloat and you end up swimming on your back with your face below the surface of the water so that you can't breathe properly and you feel as though half the pool is pouring up your nose. For some reason the word "waterboarding" comes to mind! Thankfully, I've been promised an easier session this week. Phew!

Anyway, despite all that, I'm actually really enjoying my swimming lessons which has a lot to do with the fantastic coaching by the guys at S4 South Staffordshire and all the positive feedback and encouragement I get from them. Thanks guys!

"Running up that hill"

This week's run was a long one (for me) - 9.25 km in about an hour. It felt good and is probably my fastest long run so far. Could this have had something to do with the fact that I was spurred on by Jason Donovan's eighties show - Irene Cara, Haircut 100, Duran Duran, Kate Bush and Billy Ocean to name a few! Hooray for eighties classics! Now I am showing my age!

So, with four weeks to go to the big event and three before "taper" week when I'm apparently supposed to take it easy, things are looking more positive. My next task is to crack the open water swim and to practise getting my wetsuit off in a hurry. I have some "suit lube" on order to help with that so it's all good!

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