Lsst night I scared the neighbours yet again with a 1hr torture session on the bike trainer. 5 minutes warm up to 75%, then 90% at 10minutes, then hold till 50 minutes. The last 10 minutes were there to completely drain the tank.
Luckily the tank didn't drain onto the floor, because I needed a little lie down after this one. Spent, but Oh so good.
Rehydrating and refuelling after these sessions is always wonderfully satisfying - so much is burned / drained so quickly, the replenishment is just as intense. 1.5 litres of water, two cookies, peanut butter and honey sandwich and noodles.
I was inspired today to jump back in the pool, and I immediately remembered why I don't swim much.
I only made it through 400m with flippers on before the flippers began to hurt my feet and I was exhausted to the extent of sinking gently to the bottom amongst a cloud of berley.
The degree to which I'm crap at swimming is astonishing. The coach at Yeronga pool told me my technique was sound, but unpolished, so I'm not doing it completely wrong. The novel use of muscle groups and regulated breathing patterns, plus a dash of genetic disadvantage make this a real tough gig.
Previous best though is 1km, so I'll keep at it. Need to find some flippers that fit better (I'm not even going to consider going without) and gently persist. Flippers like these ones at www.shinfin.com would be great for taking any pressure off the achilles and top of foot, but they are a little expensive. (Bloody clever Aussie invention, though. Did anyone say ironman? eeek!
Tonight's run was extended to 5km since I wanted a longer period to examine technique, and no difficulty was apparent from the shorter runs. First half was in Fingens, then switched to barefoot homebound. Kept it slow, kept cadence high, with hips dropped, knees bent and pinging upwards to quickly lift the feet - aiming for the "conveyor belt" action and feeling that the purists talk of.
A good result - no pain except for a residual tug on my shins from the flippers and only very minor sensation from the blisters from earlier in the week. The blister location is right in the center of the ball of my foot. My theory thus far is that on landing, my foot is spreading and radiating outward from this point, creating a new friction to this area. This area is usually compressed and pinched upward in shoes, as the toes are enclosed, but now it is contacting and being forced to flatten. I would love to run over a glass plate to look at my sole....
Loving it.
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