New record today, 500m with no stopping all on front crawl.
A big muscly fast guy tried to play silly bananas with me today by over taking just before the turn and diving to the depths of the pool and swimming along the bottom before surfacing. Presumably, he assumed he would be miles ahead of me when he surfaced, but I had swum as fast as I possibly could so as he surfaced I gave him the slap of shame on the ankle. I think that 50m he did after that must have been one of the fastest I have ever seen.
Speaking of ankles, my left one is playing up. Mix of achillies tendonitis and an urge to crack the bones. Need to be careful of that and my provide the excuse to skip reps this friday.....
Showing posts with label Swim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swim. Show all posts
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Swim: The Red Rabbit Sinks, Lane Rage in the Pool
I confidently slipped into the Red Rabbit lane and went for my first set of 200m front crawl.
Not even 50m in I felt the urge to overtake and my confidence was boosted as I eased past and turned neatly. By now the next guy was within touching distance and I pulled out to over take, a little peeved with him that he had not waited for the stronger swimmer (ie me) at the turn. I caught a glimpse of him as I drew level and he was going like his life depended on not letting me past. I kicked again and was at max speed. As I turned to breath on the off side I caught a glimpse of the white water coming right at me like a tsunami as a real red rabbit powered past someone going the opposite way. There was no time to do much about it so pulled in on top of the guy racing me and I felt first his arm hit my thigh then his hand grab my foot so I kicked it away with my other foot and an realised that I was spent after 75m. But there was no way I was stopping after that so I pushed on and turned trying to put some distance between me and the guy I crashed into. Oh no, now I've caught some woman doing back crawl - so I go around get by ok and move on, into just the 4th length and yet more drama unfolds. I pull out to overtake again and Mr Tsunami is going the opposite direction on another overtake and this time it is too late, we interlock arms and I realise just in time what is happening and let my arm go limp and unravel it from his limb and gulp some air.
At the end of the 4th lap have zero confidence left and slip meekly into the yellow rabbit lane, where the pace is more sedate and the risk of lane rage and Tsunami death are much less.
Another 1km bagged.
Not even 50m in I felt the urge to overtake and my confidence was boosted as I eased past and turned neatly. By now the next guy was within touching distance and I pulled out to over take, a little peeved with him that he had not waited for the stronger swimmer (ie me) at the turn. I caught a glimpse of him as I drew level and he was going like his life depended on not letting me past. I kicked again and was at max speed. As I turned to breath on the off side I caught a glimpse of the white water coming right at me like a tsunami as a real red rabbit powered past someone going the opposite way. There was no time to do much about it so pulled in on top of the guy racing me and I felt first his arm hit my thigh then his hand grab my foot so I kicked it away with my other foot and an realised that I was spent after 75m. But there was no way I was stopping after that so I pushed on and turned trying to put some distance between me and the guy I crashed into. Oh no, now I've caught some woman doing back crawl - so I go around get by ok and move on, into just the 4th length and yet more drama unfolds. I pull out to overtake again and Mr Tsunami is going the opposite direction on another overtake and this time it is too late, we interlock arms and I realise just in time what is happening and let my arm go limp and unravel it from his limb and gulp some air.
At the end of the 4th lap have zero confidence left and slip meekly into the yellow rabbit lane, where the pace is more sedate and the risk of lane rage and Tsunami death are much less.
Another 1km bagged.
Monday, 27 December 2010
1km Swim - free for all
The only marked lane was for palmes et autre aids autorise and as I had no aids, let alone authorised ones, that eliminated one of the 6 available lanes. The big lane was full of fat ladies in formation, so that was out too.
All the remaining lanes seemed to have a mix of ability. I figured the one usually marked with the green tortoise would suit me best, so I went for it.
There were a couple of torpedoes in there, but I was pleased to find I could get my 200m sets in before they caught me if I timed my start right. In fact, on two of the sets I got stuck behind someone going just slower than I would have liked, but too fast for me to get by in the gap between the on coming torpedoes. I need to work on the short accelerations!
The 1km was over in no time and I felt fine. No problems and so now I need to think about trying not to alternate the 200m sets (between crawl and breast) and just stick to crawl the whole way.
All the remaining lanes seemed to have a mix of ability. I figured the one usually marked with the green tortoise would suit me best, so I went for it.
There were a couple of torpedoes in there, but I was pleased to find I could get my 200m sets in before they caught me if I timed my start right. In fact, on two of the sets I got stuck behind someone going just slower than I would have liked, but too fast for me to get by in the gap between the on coming torpedoes. I need to work on the short accelerations!
The 1km was over in no time and I felt fine. No problems and so now I need to think about trying not to alternate the 200m sets (between crawl and breast) and just stick to crawl the whole way.
Thursday, 9 December 2010
1km Swim - I am a yellow rabbit.
Today was a benchmark swim worthy of a blog.
I made the move from the wide lane with lots of mixed ability swimmers crashing into each other and dared to swim in the lane with the sign of a yellow rabbit. I assumed I should start off as a yellow rabbit as I figured the red rabbits would be torpedoes.
I got off to a stonking start, in the first 50m I overtook someone! There were about 8 of us in the lanes and I was going 200m sets alternating front crawl and breast stroke. One the 1st length of the crawl I forced my self to breath alternate side.
By the last 50m I was struggling, but it was ok. My fellow yellow rabbits were so fast they just accelerated around me and were gone with no dramas. The worst moment was the sprint finish I lost against the lady doing 5m back crawl 5m front crawl. But that kept the speed up right to the end. Just as I came out the pool my right calf cramped up. I was shattered.
So there we have it, after months of fafing around I finally made it into the lanes. I am now a proper swimmer. Je suis un lapin jaune!
I made the move from the wide lane with lots of mixed ability swimmers crashing into each other and dared to swim in the lane with the sign of a yellow rabbit. I assumed I should start off as a yellow rabbit as I figured the red rabbits would be torpedoes.
I got off to a stonking start, in the first 50m I overtook someone! There were about 8 of us in the lanes and I was going 200m sets alternating front crawl and breast stroke. One the 1st length of the crawl I forced my self to breath alternate side.
By the last 50m I was struggling, but it was ok. My fellow yellow rabbits were so fast they just accelerated around me and were gone with no dramas. The worst moment was the sprint finish I lost against the lady doing 5m back crawl 5m front crawl. But that kept the speed up right to the end. Just as I came out the pool my right calf cramped up. I was shattered.
So there we have it, after months of fafing around I finally made it into the lanes. I am now a proper swimmer. Je suis un lapin jaune!
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