Swim, run, bike – my weekend in that order

The weekend didn’t get off to a great start. I felt exhausted by Friday evening, but Stuart had booked for us to go for a swimming assessment, so I had to find some motivation. I’m glad I did as I fitted in a sort-of triathlon of swim, run, bike.

Swimming assessment

We arrived at the pool early and I got organised before heading poolside. Rachel was being filmed first, so I had time to do a warm up in one of the other lanes, then it was my turn.

I helped to set the camera in position and then was asked to do 200m at a steady pace. I had been told to swim normally, but of course, I was trying to do my best. Unfortunately, this meant that I think I may have kept my arms fairly straight throughout the stroke – oops!

The camera was then moved to the end of the pool, and I did another 50m. That was all I had to do. Darryl gave me some instant feedback, but I’ll get the video footage on Monday evening, so I’ll be able to see everything that I’ve been doing wrong then.

The main set

At that point, Stu went for his swimming assessment and I was able to join in with the main set. Unfortunately, I didn’t really understand what was going on and when I did understand I realised that it would be a very tough session for me.

We were expected to do a combination of press ups, underwater swimming, dolphin kicks on our backs and diving in. I can do press ups, but I absolutely hate being underwater, so I was terrified of doing the other parts of the set. I had a go at swimming underwater. Clearly, I was hopeless at it, as the coach asked whether I was going to make any effort at joining in with the set. I found that disheartening and would have preferred to give up at that point, but Stu was still doing his assessment. I completed the class, but don’t think I’ll go back to another Friday night training session.

Southampton parkrun

On Saturday morning, the alarm went off at 7am and I really didn’t want to get out of bed. I had a splitting headache and did not feel at all well. I turned over for another 30 minutes, but then thought I’d better get myself moving if I wanted to make it to Southampton parkrun.

The weather is particularly mild at the moment. There are roses blooming in our garden, camellias in our neighbour’s garden and cherry blossom in some of the parks! However, it was really blustery. I chose to wear some shorts and my parkrun 100 t-shirt, but I knew I would feel cold at the start.

It was great to catch up with some parkrun regulars, but I didn’t arrange to run with any friends as I wasn’t sure how well I would do. My assumption was that I would probably be able to do about 29 minutes.

Quidditch

I also had enough time to watch the local uni quidditch team training session. It seems so strange to see young adults running around with sticks between their legs. I bet this is one side effect of Harry Potter that J.K. Rowling could never have predicted!

How was my run?

I started out with Rachel from STC and near the top of the first hill, Stu ran past with John and Rob. Then I caught up with Alison, who was happy enough to run at my pace and have a chat. I was enjoying the run but realised that I hadn’t used my preventer inhaler this morning and had left my reliever inhaler in my bag, so I thought I had better be careful and not push myself too much.

Alison and I had a great chat… and for once I didn’t try to have a sprint finish, although I think we both picked up the pace slightly when we got to the final 500m.

In the finish queue, someone asked me what time I had and I glanced at my watch: 26:33. I was really surprised. I had been so busy chatting that I hadn’t looked at my watch at all when I was running and had assumed that our pace was much slower.

Later on, I received the official results email:

A second faster than I expected (I don’t think I paused my Garmin very promptly!) There are 4 parkruns left this year. I think a PB might be too much to ask for, but I think with some sensible eating and regular training then a season’s best (SB) might be a possibility.

New Team SOAS kit

Yesterday evening, I saw something very exciting on Facebook:

Oh my! I am so excited to see the 2016 SOAS Ambassador kit! I can’t wait until this stuff arrives. Fingers crossed that it’s here in time for my first tri of the season 🙂

Bike ride to Beaulieu

Today, Stu and I went out for a bike ride with Abi. We met Abi on our last Embrace Sports holiday – she was doing the running camp whilst we were there for the triathlon camp. Anyway, Abi has come over to the dark side and has bought a bike so that she can get ready for her first triathlon in 2016.

We had a lovely 35-mile ride out into the New Forest and back, with the obligatory stop at The Olde Bakehouse tearoom. I hadn’t really worked hard enough to deserve a slice of cake, but it was delicious!

Next weekend, I have my final race of the year: Heartbreaker Tailwind 10mile trail run. It’s a new race, but the course is mostly the same as the Heartbreak Half, so I know what I’m letting myself in for!

What have you been doing this weekend?

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