Up and down like the proverbial yo-yo.
I know that as you read my ongoing posts you must at times think I'm manic depressive. I'm really not. Just a bit moody, and yes that moodiness is often triggered by the stresses and strains of my training. I think it's totally normal to be a bit grumpy when one is tired, cold, and hungry as I often am, and as such I make no apology. And trust me, I'm a much better human being to be around than the man of 80 pounds, and 14 inches ago! That guy had a serious clinical depression!
So needless to say, today was one of my good days. I had a revelation in the pool and I don't specifically mean in relation to my swimming skills. Much better than that, I realized why I was getting stressed in the pool. It came to me that for some reason, while I'm okay with running slow and biking slow when I'm tired and when the workouts are long, and yet in the pool, it bothered me. Furthermore I think figured out why.
You see, when I'm swimming the only way I can keep track of my lap count is to watch the clock. It was very easy when I was consistently swimming one minute laps, but now that I'm closer to 1:10 it's a bit more complex. Never the less, it still works for me. The big drawback, it suddenly hit me, is that I'm constantly getting feedback that I don't want. I just want to swim without pressure, concentrating on relaxing and improving my stroke.
And you know what the beautiful thing is. I have had the answer all along. My very fancy GPS watch counts laps!! Do you believe it? Even though the satellite function will not work indoors, it also has some kind of accelerometer that counts your strokes, and can tell when you pause and push off the end of the pool. Amazing eh?! And the real bonus is that you still get all the pace data, but not until you're all done! That's how I know that the second half of my swim was faster than the first. Perfect!
I've used it before in the big outdoor pool in London, but it never occurred to me to use it in our local 25 meter pool. Primarily because I had never made the connection between the pace clock, and the stress I was feeling.
Today I swam what has to have been the most relaxed 3000 metres I have ever swam! I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I never once looked at the clock, only checking my watch occasionally for my lap count. I confirmed that I can easily swim the 3860 metres of Ironman, and I also got a nice peaceful feeling about the 5 or 6 long swims I still need to do between now and then. Wow! Life is good! Game on!
And to top off a good day I get to go to bed anticipating a delicious 90 km bike ride in the morning. Sometimes it still amazes me that 90k seems like such a cake walk, but such is the truth. I won't even bother with nutrition for the 3 hour trip. It's also supposed to be a glorious day, if perhaps a bit windy, but even the wind rarely bothers me since I got my power meter.
swim 3000 metres, 1:08:47
…and this made me smile. I wish I had said it!!
"The cuckoo who is on to himself is halfway out of the clock."---Wilson Mizner
Love
Peter
I know that as you read my ongoing posts you must at times think I'm manic depressive. I'm really not. Just a bit moody, and yes that moodiness is often triggered by the stresses and strains of my training. I think it's totally normal to be a bit grumpy when one is tired, cold, and hungry as I often am, and as such I make no apology. And trust me, I'm a much better human being to be around than the man of 80 pounds, and 14 inches ago! That guy had a serious clinical depression!
So needless to say, today was one of my good days. I had a revelation in the pool and I don't specifically mean in relation to my swimming skills. Much better than that, I realized why I was getting stressed in the pool. It came to me that for some reason, while I'm okay with running slow and biking slow when I'm tired and when the workouts are long, and yet in the pool, it bothered me. Furthermore I think figured out why.
You see, when I'm swimming the only way I can keep track of my lap count is to watch the clock. It was very easy when I was consistently swimming one minute laps, but now that I'm closer to 1:10 it's a bit more complex. Never the less, it still works for me. The big drawback, it suddenly hit me, is that I'm constantly getting feedback that I don't want. I just want to swim without pressure, concentrating on relaxing and improving my stroke.
And you know what the beautiful thing is. I have had the answer all along. My very fancy GPS watch counts laps!! Do you believe it? Even though the satellite function will not work indoors, it also has some kind of accelerometer that counts your strokes, and can tell when you pause and push off the end of the pool. Amazing eh?! And the real bonus is that you still get all the pace data, but not until you're all done! That's how I know that the second half of my swim was faster than the first. Perfect!
I've used it before in the big outdoor pool in London, but it never occurred to me to use it in our local 25 meter pool. Primarily because I had never made the connection between the pace clock, and the stress I was feeling.
Today I swam what has to have been the most relaxed 3000 metres I have ever swam! I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I never once looked at the clock, only checking my watch occasionally for my lap count. I confirmed that I can easily swim the 3860 metres of Ironman, and I also got a nice peaceful feeling about the 5 or 6 long swims I still need to do between now and then. Wow! Life is good! Game on!
And to top off a good day I get to go to bed anticipating a delicious 90 km bike ride in the morning. Sometimes it still amazes me that 90k seems like such a cake walk, but such is the truth. I won't even bother with nutrition for the 3 hour trip. It's also supposed to be a glorious day, if perhaps a bit windy, but even the wind rarely bothers me since I got my power meter.
swim 3000 metres, 1:08:47
…and this made me smile. I wish I had said it!!
"The cuckoo who is on to himself is halfway out of the clock."---Wilson Mizner
Love
Peter
Wow, awesome!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely awesome!!
ReplyDelete