Sunday, April 25, 2010

Great week.....

Have had a great training week this week. Am finally getting a bit faster, and feeling much stronger than last week. The reward at the end of the week was a fantastic double lap of Sandycove Island in Kinsale, Cork. I was joined by Gabor Molnar, Sylvain Estadieu, Ned Denison, Mike Harriss, Liz Buckley and John Conroy. I was a bit nervous about the cold as it wasn't as sunny as it has been for the last couple of weeks, but Gabor gave me the push I needed, and I really enjoyed the swim. Another boost for the confidence.
Mick and Derek also got in for their first open water swim of the season, both got on great and enjoyed themselves. Last but not least, my daughter Niamh got in for a fantastic effort so early in the season. Great to have so much company!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

And more swimming......

The week started well, felt strong and felt I was getting faster. Had a bit of a slump mid week, but managed an hour in the river which was a great for the confidence. Was comfortable for the first 30minutes, but started to lose heat after that. Was determined to stay in for the hour and made it. Took less time than normal to heat up afterwards which was good too. One of the warmest days of the year and I greeted our neighbour dropping off his son to play with Caelan wearing a woolly jumper, hat and uggboots, shivering. A source of much amusement I'm sure as everyone else in shorts and t-shirts, sweltering.
Had our first team meeting yesterday with myself, John Conroy, and Mick and Derek Hurley. It went well and I seem to have delegated as many tasks as possible so far! Was good to get all the 'to do's' down on paper. It is all of the sudden starting to feel close and I can sense the brain starting to focus...
Planning to go to Sandycove next weekend and am really looking forward to getting back into the sea.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

A great week's training...

Had a good training week and managed to catch up on some rest. Took a few days off work while the kids are on holidays and have really enjoyed having some extra time to catch my breath! Finished with a barbeque last night, couldn't resist, the weather is so nice! Managed 32 minutes in the river today. Hard to tell if the temperature had risen, or if I'm acclimatising quickly. Really looking forward to getting back into the sea. More bbq's for the rest of the weekend.....

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Back into routine.....

So I'm back in Cork since the second week of March, but it's taken me a while to get back into the swing of things. Back to work and kids back to school was relatively easy, but made the mistake of assuming that I would treat Rottnest as a training swim and just keep on swimming afterwards. It took the body a bit of time to recover, and of course we were on holidays, so sticking to the training schedule didn't happen. We had another long session in the pool on the 26th of March where I really paid for my time off. Just over 6 hours in the pool and then into the sea for a quick dip. I must admit I was paranoid about getting into the sea after being in the lovely warm Indian Ocean, however I was pleasantly surprised and it was just the kick start I needed to get the head sorted. Since then I have managed two 10 minute sessions in the river which has been freezing, but has the same effect on my aching muscles as an ice cold bath. A few more dips and I should be ready for longer stints. Looking forward to it!