When You Least Expect It....

.....you swim like a real swimmer. No, that's not an old and famous saying, just a good description of today's training.

With a temperature near freezing, snow and a relentless wind I decided to take my training indoors and do a 15k progressive tempo run. I can't say that it was the greatest session ever but in hindsight it wasn't the worst either. I increased the pace every 3k but got tired towards the end (that should teach me to et a proper dinner the night before...) and finished off with a moderately paced kilometre. For someone who's a bit OCD it's always disappointing not to be able to follow one's plan completely but at least I ran 15k with an average pace quicker than race pace - and that's always something, right?!

After the run I debated hitting the sauna instead of the pool, but I'm glad I didn't! I did half an hour in the pool, alternating between front crawl and back stroke (I find that back stroke helps with my front crawl) and for the first time ever I felt like a real swimmer! I wasn't the slowest person in the pool but one of the fastest, my technique was pretty good and I even managed three perfectly executed tumble turns! Getting out of the pool I was filled with confidence and eager to do more swimming. Maybe a half Iron Man in 2014 isn't a utopia after all....