It’s been a little while since I did anything as far as the training is concerned, wedding anniversary and my ongoing struggle with painful shins has had me sitting on the sidelines a little bit. However I planned a weekend of effort to get me back on course.
Friday night I kicked off with a run around and up the Wrekin. From the gate, climbing slowly around the back of the Wrekin followed by the brutal uphill section that I attacked with gusto but soon reduced me to a walk, then to the top for 30 seconds to take the view in before a casual run to the bottom. All in, was 43 minutes and some seconds.
With my swim across Windermere looming large on the calendar I thought I should prepare for this a little bit for it. I’m a good swimmer, certainly I am a much better swimmer than runner. When I first signed up for the Great North Swim I could cover the total distance pretty easily in the pool and since my first initial swims I decided to focus on my weak event of running.
I did have a nagging concern that I haven’t yet swum outdoors, nor have I really swum in a wetsuit as I will be on the day.
So after some initial research into where I could swim outdoors I found Hanmer Mere. A beautiful lake about twenty miles away from home. The Outdoor Swimming Society said that the water was clean and free from boats and fishing. Sounded ideal.
We arrived at the sleepy village of Hanmer at about 7am, and after initially chickening out of the whole thing because I didn’t want to stroll around the village looking like a penguin sponsored by RipCurl, I did in the end step into the water.
Wading in there was some horrible weeds just under the water which tangled my legs to start with and that pretty much set me up for some paranoid swimming, I kept checking my legs hadn’t tangled some unknown object, and kept peering into the dark water to try and identify what unseen creatures were lurking below the water level.
The water was cold but the wetsuit took the chill out of it and I didn’t really notice the temperature while I was encased in neoprene (getting changed back into clothes on the bank was a shivery affair despite the sun though).
In the pool I have perfected quite an aggressive swimming technique plunging underwater and using every last muscle to whip my speed up. Outdoors, in a wetsuit, stalked by unknown aquatic predators, I lost some of my confidence and nothing above my chin went under water. Strange underwater currents sometimes took some of the power from my stroke (giving a feeling not unlike slipping off a kerb) and wind blown waves would slap me in the face, all of which made me a bit pensive.
By the time I was back on shore I was exhausted, the combination of physical exertion and adrenaline really wore me out. I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to the great north swim, though I am hoping the proximity of the other swimmers will alleviate my worries. I don’t think I am cut out for outdoor swimming as a rule though.
But wait, that’s not all. There was still Sunday. Keen to keep building on the weekends efforts I unloaded the bike and set off for a good solid ride.
I headed off to see the sights of Shropshire. I didn’t really have any idea where I was going, I just went where I fancied. I took in some of the most beautiful bits of this county and at some point dropped onto a section of the National Cycle Network route 81. I had no idea until now that this existed but it was great. Really nice roads, mostly free from traffic, the signs were easy to follow, and looking at the website there are loads of these routes all over the place. I covered 19.4 miles in an hour and a half and had one of the best outings for a while.
And finally, I was watching the World Athletics championships last night and noticed that one of the athletes had quite heavy strapping on their legs and wondered if strapping could help my shin splints problem that takes me out of training every couple of weeks. So as always I turn to Dr. Internet to see what I can find, and I discovered Kinesio Taping and also a strapping technique for Shin Splints. This tape is designed to breath and move and act like skin while at the same time supporting the muscle structure. It is designed to stay on for days at a time to aid in recovery as well as supporting during exercise. This shin pain is really annoying me, and if Kinesio taping is good enough for world athletes, I’m game to give it a go.
Friday night I kicked off with a run around and up the Wrekin. From the gate, climbing slowly around the back of the Wrekin followed by the brutal uphill section that I attacked with gusto but soon reduced me to a walk, then to the top for 30 seconds to take the view in before a casual run to the bottom. All in, was 43 minutes and some seconds.
With my swim across Windermere looming large on the calendar I thought I should prepare for this a little bit for it. I’m a good swimmer, certainly I am a much better swimmer than runner. When I first signed up for the Great North Swim I could cover the total distance pretty easily in the pool and since my first initial swims I decided to focus on my weak event of running.
I did have a nagging concern that I haven’t yet swum outdoors, nor have I really swum in a wetsuit as I will be on the day.
So after some initial research into where I could swim outdoors I found Hanmer Mere. A beautiful lake about twenty miles away from home. The Outdoor Swimming Society said that the water was clean and free from boats and fishing. Sounded ideal.
We arrived at the sleepy village of Hanmer at about 7am, and after initially chickening out of the whole thing because I didn’t want to stroll around the village looking like a penguin sponsored by RipCurl, I did in the end step into the water.
Wading in there was some horrible weeds just under the water which tangled my legs to start with and that pretty much set me up for some paranoid swimming, I kept checking my legs hadn’t tangled some unknown object, and kept peering into the dark water to try and identify what unseen creatures were lurking below the water level.
The water was cold but the wetsuit took the chill out of it and I didn’t really notice the temperature while I was encased in neoprene (getting changed back into clothes on the bank was a shivery affair despite the sun though).
In the pool I have perfected quite an aggressive swimming technique plunging underwater and using every last muscle to whip my speed up. Outdoors, in a wetsuit, stalked by unknown aquatic predators, I lost some of my confidence and nothing above my chin went under water. Strange underwater currents sometimes took some of the power from my stroke (giving a feeling not unlike slipping off a kerb) and wind blown waves would slap me in the face, all of which made me a bit pensive.
By the time I was back on shore I was exhausted, the combination of physical exertion and adrenaline really wore me out. I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to the great north swim, though I am hoping the proximity of the other swimmers will alleviate my worries. I don’t think I am cut out for outdoor swimming as a rule though.
But wait, that’s not all. There was still Sunday. Keen to keep building on the weekends efforts I unloaded the bike and set off for a good solid ride.
I headed off to see the sights of Shropshire. I didn’t really have any idea where I was going, I just went where I fancied. I took in some of the most beautiful bits of this county and at some point dropped onto a section of the National Cycle Network route 81. I had no idea until now that this existed but it was great. Really nice roads, mostly free from traffic, the signs were easy to follow, and looking at the website there are loads of these routes all over the place. I covered 19.4 miles in an hour and a half and had one of the best outings for a while.
And finally, I was watching the World Athletics championships last night and noticed that one of the athletes had quite heavy strapping on their legs and wondered if strapping could help my shin splints problem that takes me out of training every couple of weeks. So as always I turn to Dr. Internet to see what I can find, and I discovered Kinesio Taping and also a strapping technique for Shin Splints. This tape is designed to breath and move and act like skin while at the same time supporting the muscle structure. It is designed to stay on for days at a time to aid in recovery as well as supporting during exercise. This shin pain is really annoying me, and if Kinesio taping is good enough for world athletes, I’m game to give it a go.
1 comment:
Strongly encourage you to get some coaching on your technique in and out of the pool. The way your stroke sounds, with a couple of adjustments you could swim faster with less effort.
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