It's been another interesting week on the swimming front...
We've been getting some lovely weather, I was swimming Friday, Saturday and Sunday last weekend in Sandycove and the water is starting to get that little bit warmer, people are reckoning that it's up at about 12 degrees C (53.6 degrees F) at this stage. And hopefully with all of the good weather we've been having that figure will keep rising!! Friday and Saturday I swam on my own as others swam around, I just stayed inside the island and swam in circles! I stayed in for 40 minutes on Saturday, so I was pretty happy then that I'd be able to go around the island sometime soon. So on Sunday when a group were swimming I decided to head out to the first corner with them and see if I keep up! They were at a nice pace so I decided to go around. So around we went...
The water was clearer than I've ever seen it, we could see the bottom all the way around...sometimes that's not such a good thing though, I still always get a fright when I see something moving that I wasn't expecting!! I need to get used to having crabs and fish and seaweed moving under me without missing a stroke each time...I'm much too used to pool swimming! It was really cool though, when we got to the third corner there was a shoal of those tiny fish that move really fast darting around the place and shimmering in the sun, all you could see was the silver glitter as they quickly swam out of our way!
The times that I've swam inside the island I've never really come out tired, I guess because I'm not swimming with someone it's easier to keep a slower pace and just wander around. But after this swim my arms were actually a little tired, I had pushed to keep up with everyone and I could feel the effects! We swam around in about 32 minutes (it's about a mile around or a little more), which is not too far off my normal pool pace (I'm a very slow swimmer!!!). So I definitely had a good group to swim with, I could do with that push more often!
I went down to Sandycove again yesterday with my sister, Sarah, who decided to try out her new wetsuit. It was a very pretty day back in the city, a little windier down west though! But the sun was still out, and you could feel its effects in the water, the top inch or so felt nice and warm as my arms plunged down into the colder water underneath!! It was nice to have the sun on my back too, I was careful to put on suncream before I went down, I don't want to get burned this early in the summer! We headed out towards the first corner and then came back in and Sarah got out to get dressed while I headed out for another while. I think it was the first day that I wasn't thinking about how cold I was as I was swimming around, I was just enjoying the swim. I swam around the inside triangle and came back in, I swam for about half an hour altogether. It was a very enjoyable swim!
And then like a fool I came home and went to a pilates class...I went to my first one last week and was stiff for three days so I'm not sure what made me go again!! It's supposed to be great for strengthening up your core muscles, and I've been having a little trouble with my lower back...nothing major thankfully, but enough to make me realise that I should get the muscles there working! It's a really enjoyable class, and I find that I come out of it and feel like I haven't really done much...until the next day!! Today wasn't as bad thankfully...last week I was worried that I'd actually managed to bruise my ribs somehow...it hurt that much!!! This week I can definitely feel that I've done it but it's easier to move today!!
And then after that I was going to go to the Master's swimming but I got up there and realised that I'd forgotten my swimsuit so I figured that it might be a good idea to head home again! But I'd probably done enough for one day at that stage anyway.
I also got my car inspected yesterday, I expected them to come back with a big list of things that were wrong with it, it's been off the road for almost a year and it's making some...let's say interesting...noises!! But they said that the engine is fine, the only thing that was wrong was some rust under one of the doors, so I need to fix that and bring it back for them to check again. But it was a much better outcome than I'd hoped for, so I'm very happy with that...I really am back on the road now :)
The plan for this evening is to head to the pool and try for maybe 4,000 metres, it does depend on how busy it is but usually Friday evenings are pretty ok. And I'm in Sandycove tomorrow and Sunday. And then next weekend is the Champion of Champions at Sandycove...where people do 9 laps over the day...5 laps beginning at 9am, then 3 laps beginning at 2pm and then one final lap at 5pm. There's a time limit for each section: 4 hours for the 5 laps, 2:30 hours for the 3 laps and 40 minutes for the final lap. It's going to be a very tough day! I was originally signed up to do it, but I have realised that I have absolutely no hope of managing that so soon! So I talked to Ned a couple of weeks back and he said to just start away and then hang around for the day afterwards. So I'm going to try to make that the first day I do a double lap, but we'll see how it goes! It will definitely be one of the events that I'll be aiming for next summer though...for now I just need to concentrate on my 8-mile Inisbofin swim in 12 weeks time!
We've been getting some lovely weather, I was swimming Friday, Saturday and Sunday last weekend in Sandycove and the water is starting to get that little bit warmer, people are reckoning that it's up at about 12 degrees C (53.6 degrees F) at this stage. And hopefully with all of the good weather we've been having that figure will keep rising!! Friday and Saturday I swam on my own as others swam around, I just stayed inside the island and swam in circles! I stayed in for 40 minutes on Saturday, so I was pretty happy then that I'd be able to go around the island sometime soon. So on Sunday when a group were swimming I decided to head out to the first corner with them and see if I keep up! They were at a nice pace so I decided to go around. So around we went...
The water was clearer than I've ever seen it, we could see the bottom all the way around...sometimes that's not such a good thing though, I still always get a fright when I see something moving that I wasn't expecting!! I need to get used to having crabs and fish and seaweed moving under me without missing a stroke each time...I'm much too used to pool swimming! It was really cool though, when we got to the third corner there was a shoal of those tiny fish that move really fast darting around the place and shimmering in the sun, all you could see was the silver glitter as they quickly swam out of our way!
The times that I've swam inside the island I've never really come out tired, I guess because I'm not swimming with someone it's easier to keep a slower pace and just wander around. But after this swim my arms were actually a little tired, I had pushed to keep up with everyone and I could feel the effects! We swam around in about 32 minutes (it's about a mile around or a little more), which is not too far off my normal pool pace (I'm a very slow swimmer!!!). So I definitely had a good group to swim with, I could do with that push more often!
I went down to Sandycove again yesterday with my sister, Sarah, who decided to try out her new wetsuit. It was a very pretty day back in the city, a little windier down west though! But the sun was still out, and you could feel its effects in the water, the top inch or so felt nice and warm as my arms plunged down into the colder water underneath!! It was nice to have the sun on my back too, I was careful to put on suncream before I went down, I don't want to get burned this early in the summer! We headed out towards the first corner and then came back in and Sarah got out to get dressed while I headed out for another while. I think it was the first day that I wasn't thinking about how cold I was as I was swimming around, I was just enjoying the swim. I swam around the inside triangle and came back in, I swam for about half an hour altogether. It was a very enjoyable swim!
And then like a fool I came home and went to a pilates class...I went to my first one last week and was stiff for three days so I'm not sure what made me go again!! It's supposed to be great for strengthening up your core muscles, and I've been having a little trouble with my lower back...nothing major thankfully, but enough to make me realise that I should get the muscles there working! It's a really enjoyable class, and I find that I come out of it and feel like I haven't really done much...until the next day!! Today wasn't as bad thankfully...last week I was worried that I'd actually managed to bruise my ribs somehow...it hurt that much!!! This week I can definitely feel that I've done it but it's easier to move today!!
And then after that I was going to go to the Master's swimming but I got up there and realised that I'd forgotten my swimsuit so I figured that it might be a good idea to head home again! But I'd probably done enough for one day at that stage anyway.
I also got my car inspected yesterday, I expected them to come back with a big list of things that were wrong with it, it's been off the road for almost a year and it's making some...let's say interesting...noises!! But they said that the engine is fine, the only thing that was wrong was some rust under one of the doors, so I need to fix that and bring it back for them to check again. But it was a much better outcome than I'd hoped for, so I'm very happy with that...I really am back on the road now :)
The plan for this evening is to head to the pool and try for maybe 4,000 metres, it does depend on how busy it is but usually Friday evenings are pretty ok. And I'm in Sandycove tomorrow and Sunday. And then next weekend is the Champion of Champions at Sandycove...where people do 9 laps over the day...5 laps beginning at 9am, then 3 laps beginning at 2pm and then one final lap at 5pm. There's a time limit for each section: 4 hours for the 5 laps, 2:30 hours for the 3 laps and 40 minutes for the final lap. It's going to be a very tough day! I was originally signed up to do it, but I have realised that I have absolutely no hope of managing that so soon! So I talked to Ned a couple of weeks back and he said to just start away and then hang around for the day afterwards. So I'm going to try to make that the first day I do a double lap, but we'll see how it goes! It will definitely be one of the events that I'll be aiming for next summer though...for now I just need to concentrate on my 8-mile Inisbofin swim in 12 weeks time!
Posts
2 comments:
Brilliant post, told me just what I needed to hear before our visit next weekend, am really looking forward to it. I know its gonna be a massive test, but one that will hopefully tell me where I am in my prep for August, Thanks again, keep it going and see you soon for a Guiness or three ! (after the swim of course....)
I saw your blog via Mark's. It's impressive that you have a goal like this. I hope the Sandycove laps race goes/went well. I wonder what you see below the water where you go?
Englishman in Taiwan
Post a Comment