First swim session took place in Claremont Pool (which by the way, is superb) at 7am on Monday. Nothing too taxing with a technique session, but I guess I should be surprised that I felt a little "not 100%" after the past few weeks of travelling, which I'm still not quite used to yet. Still got through alright and enjoyed the swim, getting to meet wonderful people like Guy Crawford, Kate, and of course, Paul Newsome.
After the first session with the swim squad, I stayed back for a 121 session with Paul. Some interesting gadgets and toys were revealed from his big square on wheels, and I was put into the water again but this time only swimming 200m with a camera following me.
It was then replayed on a computer screen with Paul explaining everything going on with my swim.
As it turned out, everything I thought I was doing right or wrong actually showed the complete opposite! It all seemed so simple, yet I would never have noticed it or been able to point anything out. One of the biggest shocker was the constant feeling of always having sinking legs, only to learn the body position is actually dead-flat, and the fact that the legs are actually having the opposite problem-kicking to high up!
Things were even more exaggerated with the wetsuit on too..
A couple of drills were done to help get a better feel of what to do and to correct things, using fins and some interesting, special paddles. I also had a headset attached underneath my cap so Paul could personally communicate to me through a radio while I swam.. Nifty!
Some free afternoon meant travelling about, seeing the area, having some good coffee (which I'll miss when I go back home). It was real nice of Jane and Sam take me around town.
Day 2: More swims
T'was a 5:30am 6k swim this time and included a good amount of warm up, drills, 400TT/200TT swims, 10x100m, 2x500 etc.. Just kept focusing on the techniques pick up the day before, but I guess it's a little harder to hold on the hard swims, at least for the moment!
I went out with Sam and Matt for a motor-pacing session on the bike in the afternoon, after stopping at a cafe for The most delicious coffee I've ever had. By motor-pacing I meant hanging on for dear life for a couple of minutes, only to get thrashed with Sam's monstrous hill climb and then just getting lapped on the 5k loop, over and over again. I just felt so flat that it forced me to fall back to having a steady ride instead. I was really squeezing the last drop out of myself sitting behind the wheel of Matt's scooter, it really wasn't my day on the road.. Cheers Matt for putting up with such slow pace back!
...Well, it's still a ride done.
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