Category: Training
My swimming pool is growing weeds
My pool is growing weeds.
The main reason is: I’m gathering strength and money to make it actually hold water.
The secondary reason is: Swimming is over rated.
Today:
Happier days: Kudu bull watching the pool being filled from a nearby water furrow. No electricity,- so no pumps, filters etc…
Pool building makes you fitter than swimming.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
I’m a little behind with the blogging, so I’m trying to quickly squeeze a few topics into one blog.
The Good:
Long, easy mountain bike rides on the Highveld. Drinking water straight from the spring. (Fountain)
You may have to fight a frog, a tadpole and a cow pat for the freshest water,
but as long as you lock the gate, no one gets hurt…
Caveman’s semi secret swimming protocol
Thought you’d like the Captain America Speedo. It has a star on the front. ( I like to antagonize Speedophobes with my speedo collection, but so far I’ve only got smiles and comments)
Swimming is all about efficiency. Fitness and power is just a sideshow. You can quote me on that.
I’ve been swimming for 24 years now. I used to be able to knock out hard 6km sessions by myself all week long, I once swam a 10.5km session
Pre season lab testing with my coach, Ian Rodger
Filmed at the Specialized Team camp held in Stellenbosch in January 2010.
This one time, at band camp, I rode 300 Watts for 3hrs
Since I ate my helmet, (and embraced training technology when we started base training about a month ago.) I have been enjoying training with my Power Tap thoroughly. (Rent your Power Tap today from the folks at Saris/CycleOps, South Africa)
For Valentines’ Day, my coach Ian Rodger gave me 3 hrs at 300 Watts. So romantic. I rode to the top of Franschoek pass, and being new to trying to keep a constant power, I’ll tell you, trying to do 300W downhill through the road works in Pniel or down the main street of Franschoek with tourist drivers, speed bumps and couples on Valentines dates, gave a new meaning to “adrenaline”…
Also, going down the pass I tried to shape myself into a parachute, because the 53×11 was not enough. Fortunately those 28mm Specialized Armadillo tires at 60psi helped slow things down and smooth the road a bit.