Ahead of Schedule

The floods, combined with the London tube strike (which was subsequently cancelled) meant that I decided to work from home this week.  Dovetail generously allow me to work flexible hours where work commitments permit, so I’ve been racking up the distance this week doing early swims. 

Some short distance (2km and 3km respectively) speed sessions at David Lloyds, and two back to back 6km sessions set the scene earlier in the week.  Today I completed my longest swim to date:  a 10km straight swim.  I took this slow and steady, with the intention of finishing it feeling fresh enough to do much more.  My time was just under four hours.

This has positive and negative points to consider:

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Positives:

• When I first took up the challenge, I had never swum any further than 2km – so this is a massive improvement
• I certainly felt like I could have done more – I simply ran out of time today
  
• Now I know for certain I can swim 10km, the next major milestone will be 13km

Negatives (or rather, things I still have to bear in mind)

• The pool was warm – much, much warmer than the sea will be
• There were no waves, sea vessels, sharks, sewerage, or jellyfish (much to the delight of all David Lloyd customers!)
• I will have to do this distance more than four times

My actual training is currently far in excess of my training plan (see the image).  The week is not yet over, and I expect to have achieved around 35km by the time Monday comes.

In just a few weeks time, this distance will have to become standard.  At that point I will need to be doing much of my training outdoors.

For now, I will just have to make the most of the luxury of a warm indoor pool.