I've been swimming a lot lately. Swimming mainly because my running
injury continues to keep me from doing what I really want which is
racking up miles on my feet. In the absence of that swimming has come
to fill a void. That the weather has improved and sunny afternoons in
the lido are far from unpleasant.
I don't swim with any structure, I pretty much turn up and swim. 1km
minimum and so far, 2 mile maximum. My normal swim is a kilometre as
it's less than 20 minutes and so easier to absorb into the day.
I've also been Doing yoga with 'Rosieglo Yoga'. This is something I
have been keen to do as the benefits for running and sport are
obvious. A solid core, improved stability and flexibility all help to
reduce the risk of injury and, I hope, help recovery from injury.
What I didn't expect was these two relatively new pursuits in my life
to complement each other so obviously.
My swim times for the 1km have come down steadily over the last month.
My first swim was around 19:30'ish for a kilometre. That has come down
gradually and prior to yesterday my season pb (I have no idea what my
all time pb is) was 18:13.
So how come I did 17:34 yesterday?
This was in no small part due to Wednesday nights yoga session. The
session felt harder, we held positions for longer and worked our
shoulders more. After the session I felt quite used up. I did not ache
specifically but knew I had worked my muscles, if not all of them or
at least a lot of them. I slept like a log and when I got up in the
morning felt really loose and agile through the shoulders and back.
When I got into the pool I felt that going for it rather than just
doing the swim was on the cards. I went through 500m in 8:30, the
first time under 9 minutes this year and then the kilometre 9 minutes
and a few seconds later.
I have been aiming for sub 18 for a few days and wanting to achieve
that goal. To achieve it by some margin was incredible. It really did
feel great.
This week has seen a shift to in that I have been running a little
bit. Conservative in both pace and distance going from 1.3 to 2.5
miles over the course of this week. My leg still hurts a bit but is
improving as previously I could not manage even 10 seconds before
having to stop.
Here's to improving swim times, more running and the new foundation of
it all, yoga.
Sent from my iPad
