My relationship with Felicity the Float has been somewhat well documented on this blog. But today I have a sad announcement – we will no longer be seen together. Continue reading
Tag Archives: float
The Mass Swim Start
From my obsessive research I have learned that at most triathlon races, the event begins with the sound of a gun firing and the athletes sprinting down a beach to crashing waves, where everyone must dive in to the water and start swimming toward a buoy or some kind of marker. As a result of this mass start, you have 200-odd people pushing towards one small spot in the distant water, trying to swim in the exact same patch of water. Inevitably it seems, I will be kicked, punched, swum over.
I didn’t know I was going to get a chance to train for this, but the opportunity was thrust upon me yesterday morning.
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A Tale of Two Swims
It was the worst of times, it was the best of times. Yes in that order, sorry Charles Dickens.
Last week I did two swimming training sessions, as usual. Ideally I should probably do more because swimming is definitely my weakest link, but I also have to squeeze in running, cycling, a mash-up session (which I have brought into the training mix earlier than I originally anticipated, following the disastrous first attempt) as well as strength training. So basically I have found that for now, two swims is my limit. Maybe when I’m good enough to do more mash-ups I’ll be able to increase the swimming because I’ll get my running and cycling done in one hit – stay tuned on that I guess.
[Incidentally, I did my second ever mash-up last week and the best way I could describe it would be to say that it was like I had turned into a chicken trying to climb a tree. Leg coordination = non-existent. Approximate distance gained = negligible. Hilarity factor = medium. Oh who am I kidding, hilarity factor was high. There is muchos work to be done on this element of my triathlon training; it aint pretty. Look out for a report after next week’s attempt.]
So anyway (last week, two sessions of swimming, stay focused Lauren) my first session of swimming was – how do you say? Sh*thouse. Continue reading
Away With You, Nose Clip!
I have found it surprisingly easy to over-share personal information here on my website – for instance, just take a look at the picture of me in my tri-suit; that is not a picture any female really wants to share of herself with the world. But for some reason I have embraced the honesty of the blog and I’m trying to show my triathlon training how it really is – hard, ugly, confusing, laughable and occasionally successful.
In real life though, I am actually like most human beings and quite insecure and over-sensitive in many respects. Normally I actively avoid dragging other people into my meaningless life wherever possible because I assume (and hope) that no-one cares what I am doing.
Which means that I am not really used to my friends or acquaintances knowing every little detail of things that are happening in my world. And therefore I am not used to people being able to step in and help without me asking them. Continue reading
A Small Success
Last week marked one whole month since The Great Pool Panic. As has become my habit, on Wednesday morning I jumped into the pool for the first of my two swim sessions for the week.
I started by practicing my usual strong exhalation techniques and sinking to the bottom of the pool, but in a break from tradition, last Wednesday I decided to skip the breast stroke. I’d been starting every swimming practice with a few lengths of breast stroke, but frankly I was fed up with it. I likened it to borrowing the scooter off the kid next door, going for a scoot and calling it bike training. So I grabbed my little leg float, wedged it between my thighs and set off freestylin’ it without a care whether I was crap or drowned. Continue reading