Tan lines and a really poor 10km swim
Well, I am trying to think what is worse ... the horrible tan lines I have from my weekend's swim ... or my poor performance in the same swim. Neither of them signal the end of the world (we'll have to wait till December for that); and one will have to have much more drastic changes ...
I did a fresh water dam 10km swim on Saturday ... in 22 degree water and over thirty degree summer weather. At my pace that results in a nice swim cap tan, goggle tan and the HUGE numbers they ink onto our arms and back result in horrid number tans when we wash off the black ink from our pink-red skin several hours later.
Basically I should just swim quicker and I would not have this problem ...
That gets me to my next problem ... the swim just didn't go well ... and I was just unable to swim fast. "Grumpy"! I was sore and stiff from the 3km stage onwards, slow, tired and just didn't get a rhythm. My right shoulder was sore, my arms were tired and my tanks felt empty ... either a nice little wake-up call or a reminder that one simply can have a slow day now and then.
Up front I must say that a bottle and a half of good white wine the night before probably did not help at all. But I do believe a slight re-evaluation of my training has to be done ... and some self recommended changes need to be put in place soonest to get through my 20km swim in 3 weeks; and more later this year ...
So here goes ... in no specific order of importance ...
- Weekly massages for the next three weeks; and then religiously every two to three weeks
- Cut out the coffee and the booze
- More squad training sessions to work on the speed training (already on the training plan after the last three months of base training)
- More longer swims - 10km sessions every two weeks
- More/better sleep
- Eat healthier - loose four kilograms now, and put on weight again closer to the Channel Swim
Lets see what I can get right in the short term (massage booked for Thursday already, and no alcohol today) ... in my last three weeks before Rottnest.
Lets give it horns ...
