Definition of frustrating...

The definition of frustrating is getting out of bed at 4:30am to get to the pool to perform a 3.4km swim set to discover that the pool is cut into 25mtr's and there are 4 lanes available to the public.  At one point in my 25mtr lane there were 8 people and one of them was water running...

The sad part is I had to choose a slow lane as the set that I was doing had quite a lot of VERY EASY/NO EFFORT laps in it, so I could hardly go in the faster lanes.  Then there were sections where I was attempting to do a 200mtr TT and I was dodging everyone and getting caught up - it was hopeless.  I was either in someone elses way or someone was in my way!

200mtr TT times were 3:37 and 3:33, however both times I was interrupted by other swimmers.  I did this set a week or so ago in the Valley pool with no interruptions and I got 3:19 and 3:24 so it was all a bit hopeless.

To top it off I was fighting cramps in my feet the whole way.  I used the pool buoy for the last 1km of the set and I ended up ditching the last 150m of the cool down as the cramps were getting more frequent and harder to shake.

All in all it was not a great session.  I will look at going to the Jindalee pool next week instead and hopefully this will help.  I taped my feet up prior to this session which I have been doing for the swim sessions as the balls of my feet are getting cut up from kicking off at the ends (I am sensitive!).  So, I will try and put the tape on relatively loosely as I'm not sure if that attributed to the cramping or not.

Ride Inside Spin

Today was a hard session... Unlike the others! It was more of a cardio session than a strength session. We did 4minutes with a high cadence of 110 or more @ 95%, then a break and we would do it all again. I think we did this 4 or 5 times. This was the main set, there was warmup and cooldown, etc also. I found it really difficult to keep on the 110 cadence, I tried an easier gear but then I didn't feel as though I was working hard enough. I did the set in my big gear ring and about the 3rd easiest on the rear. We would progressively go into a harder gear during the set which made it even harder to keep on the cadence of 110.

We did a run off the bike at the end of the last set and I flew off the bike and tried to hang onto Jacquie Elliot, but she was getting away from me. I passed Chris and he made encouraging comments, although I couldn't respond (can't talk - breathing!!!). However, I was pulled up pretty quickly as my left calf was threatening to cramp, so I eased back and Chris passed me by and I lost Jacqui... Never mind, I will get there one day!

Had coffee with the guys afterwards and then flew home to pack and catch a plane to Melbourne to support Craig's Geelong 70.3 Half Ironman quest! How exciting!