A rubbish Brick session today,

I had no idea what brick training was until I started getting interested in Triathlons but apparently it's when you train by doing 2 of the disciplines (usually the swim followed by the cycle - or the cycle followed by the run).
Today, I did it my own way and swam 1 mile followed by a 12 mile run back home. To me at least, it still a 'brick'.

Since my free sponsored membership ran out at my local gym I've had to search for another pool to use. In the meantime I've been out and about in my motorhome and been swimming at Ripon Spa Baths, which is only a 25 yard pool because it's so old. And in Bury Castle Leisure Centre where it was quite good but very crowed with children from school and staff taking life saving instruction.

Today was the first time I tried Skipton swimming baths which is around 12 miles from me so I decided to drive there with Jules so she could shop for a few hours, and I would swim 1 mile (64 lengths) then run back home.

It was pretty much a diaster from the start. The pool advertises 'lanes swims' from 11am to 4pm on a Saturday. But they had changed their minds since I called them yesterday to check on this, and instead the lanes was being used for swimming instruction. There was just one 7 year old boy and his mother in the whole 25 meter laned area !! So I had to try and get a serious swim with the main section of the pool with every Tom, Dick and Harriette swimming across the pool, with floatation aids, and kids doing 'bombs' on top of me. Not to mention 6 grannies swimming side-by-side doing breast stroke chatting as they go.

Eventually, I got into the fast lane, only to be joined by many not-so-fast 'floaters', so I lost my temper at this stage and requested they leave the fast lane and go back to join the other main group. Don't think I was very popular!

How pleased I was to get out of that pool and get my running shoes on ready to run home.
So I hit the towpath of the Leeds to Liverpool Canal, and from the start I felt quite weak. After 3 miles I would gladly have accepted a lift from a kind stranger if they'd asked me. I mean 12 miles is not an unusal distance for me, but there were two things which were different. The first is I'd never swam 1 mile first then attempted to run 12 miles, the other was an 8 day carbohydrate drought so I had very little fuel. I occassionaly do this to train my body to keep running with low fuel reserves.

Anyway, the canal itself was not making the run easy. The banks at the Skipton end are very cambered, plus tree roots and mud. So it's hard enough to stay on your feet, let alone try to run too. Then I realised the gales force winds were rushing down the canal right into my face, bringing along with it the stair-rods of rain too.

So I guess I just picked a bad day to do it.
 However, today was one of those rare days when I wondered if I would ever run again, and if someone had given me the right incentive to quit forever - I'd have taken it like a shot.

Resting now for a couple of days.
Your comments would be nice ;0)


Stephen



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