Better for the run

Friday Swim 0.8km
Met Miners at the pool at lunchtime, which was great after not catching up for ages. Just for a chat though (with good reason) and DVD drop off.
By the time I eventually got into the pool I didn’t have a great deal of time, which actually wasn’t a problem in the end. I realised after a couple of hundreds that my swim fitness had dropped off after a 10 days break that included little exercise and not feeling well. So I only ended up doing 800m (500m free and 300m breaststroke), which was plenty seeing as I was doing more drowning than swimming towards the end of it. Glad I got in there though.

Sunday Run 6km
It wasn’t much of a day today – a bit cold and wet. I managed to make it home before the rain arrived though, but only just. It was a trouble free run down to Flynns Beach and back home in just over half an hour.
I’ll aim for a couple more runs less than 10km this week then look at building up to some longer runs and incorporating some variety into the runs from there.

Monday Swim 1.2km
I was better today being one swim back from a spell. It was a much nicer day today than it has been for the last week or two and there were quite a few school groups coming and going while I was there. Happily I was insulated from them in a middle lane with a couple of others before the others left and I had the lane to myself. I was still resting between each 100 a bit more than usual, finishing with a mixed session totalling 700m freestyle and 500m breaststroke.

Couple of runs

Today’s run brings up just my third run for the month. The whole family including myself were a bit unwell towards the end of last week. I thought it was cleared up on the weekend, but after a big day on Sunday I was pretty tired and drained, which renewed some lingering symptoms. I tried to get out over the last few days, but it just hasn’t worked. The worst part is I feel like I’m wasting all this easy to get up for, early morning daylight.

All I managed since the last post were:

Sunday Run 6km
Still just a shuffle around the back of Waniora, which despite not being entirely flat, is about the flattest terrain I can get unless I want to drive somewhere.
The run was followed up with doing the lawns and running around with the kids. Later in the day we went to the supermarket with them and they both started carrying on like pork chops so I “took it outside” with them. I ended up power walking them in the pram for about half an hour while Jodie finished the shopping.

Today Run 6km
Ran a Lighthouse loop today. It had been warm all morning and I headed out at midday, but at least there was some cloud cover while I was out there. It felt tough for much of the run, although the pace was quicker than the shuffle that I should have been doing. I dangled the carrot that I would walk up the Matthew Flinders Drive hill to keep me going, whilst trying to make myself forget that walking up that hill was pretty much the same as running on the flat anyway. Still, it’s a change of pace for the legs. The final km home was really good after that. I felt strong, and was travelling at a good pace even though it’s a bit of a climb up Lighthouse Road. That was promising.

Baby Racer

So as not to stress the legs too much, Friday and Saturday were both walks of about 50 minutes each, with a small degree of difficulty added. On Friday I included the stairs from Shelly Beach up to Harry’s Lookout. On Saturday Isabel woke up before me around 5am and wouldn’t go back to sleep. So I strapped her onto my chest and she came along for a walk with my Dad down to and along Miners and Shelly Beaches. She really enjoyed it, but of course was tired and crabby later in the day!


Monday Swim 1.2km
Very average sort of a day, but I made it to the pool anyway. Mixed this one up quite a bit, and covered 800m freestyle plus 400m breaststroke.


Tuesday Run 6km
I hadn’t run for a week and a half, and on the physio’s recommendation this one was more of a shuffle. Took it really easy which made for a relaxing run to start the day. No complaints from the calf during or after the run. Now all I need to do is not trip on any of the toys sprawled all over the house and I should be right.


Wednesday Cycle 18km
I haven’t been pushing all that hard on my last few rides, and today was no exception. I went along Lighthouse Beach before heading slightly inland to make my way into town before the home run along Pacific Drive.


What a great time of year…nice moderate temperature, it’s getting light around 5am so it’s easy to get up, heaps of people are out well before 6am and daylight savings is just a couple of weeks away.


As Wobbly Man rightly pointed out I have neglected a photo of the cycle leg of the baby triathlon in my previous post. In the interests of fair and equitable coverage I give you…the baby cycle leg:


Yes, I know we didn’t get her the performance model, but the early years are more about just having fun...aren’t they? ;)

Thursday double up

Cycle 20km
I was out for an hour and I didn’t feel like I worked hard at all. It was a bit cool, especially before the sun made its presence felt but I was barely sweating at all, which is unusual for me. I just worked my way indirectly around the industrial area, through Clifton, past Settlement City and back along the beaches.


Swim 1.4km
Turned up for a lunchtime swim today, which was a good chance to work on some of the points that I picked up yesterday. It was much quieter today and it was good to have a lane to myself most of the session. A total of 800m freestyle and 600m breastroke.


Looks like the photos are working for me today :)

D'oh

Well that was a short start to the program…I have another niggle, but I can’t blame running for it. It’s the result of being a little careless whilst playing with Isabel straight after icing the calf on the weekend. It’s responding very well to stretching, massage and another physio session so I’ll give it a week off and see how it goes. Looks like another week in the pool and on the bike which isn’t so bad, but will result in more hacking and slashing of the half marathon program!

The weekend got in the way of much serious exercise anyway. Too many grand finals, plus the boat we usually ski behind has a shiny new motor so a few of us went out for a cruise around the waterways to see how it performs when full of passengers. It goes beautifully now and I’m looking forward to jumping behind it for a proper test soon.

The 1st Big Day Out announcement today is enough to get me through the gates with the guarantee of an enjoyable one. I had the possibility of heading to the Gold Coast for it but the pull of Sydney is too strong, particularly given that it’ll produce a 4 day Australia Day weekend! ;)


Sunday 1.5km swim
My plan for some laps on Saturday fell by the wayside, although I did get down there early for Isabel’s swimming. Sunday was 900m freestyle and 600m breaststroke. I mixed this one up a bit more than the usual straight free/breast/free. Threw in some alternating 100’s and a few 75m frees with 25m breaststroke finishes. This gets me through a few more laps towards the end when my freestyle gets a bit ragged.


Wednesday Stroke Correction
After a good physio session yesterday I showed up for some stroke correction today. The pool was packed, which is not surprising for school holidays.
Turns out my stroke is fairly good thanks to some of the tips I’ve picked up over the last few weeks that are moving me in the right direction. It’s my kicking that needs some work as I tend to kick more from the knee, which is dragging me back, particularly when taking a breath. Nothing that a few drills won’t fix.


I promised this way back, and finally here are a few more photos. The ones of Tyler were taken a couple of days ago, and there are a couple of Isabel for balance :)
Edit: The photos don't seem to want to upload so I'll have another shot at it tomorrow!