Finally Swimming fast

Gold medal Day

July 23

Today was what I call a gold medal day, the kind of day that you remember when you are standing on the blocks before a paralympic final- and just thinking about it gives you an edge over the competitors because the conditions are so tough most of them probably would have stayed in bed instead of training.I like gold medal days.

Let me set the scene. It is pouring with rain and the radio is reporting this is the coldest day in Sunshine Coast history. At Nambour Aquatic Centre the heated 25m pool, enclosed in a tent, is so steamy that you cannot see a metre in front of you- let alone the clock at the other end. As I make a mad dash from the changerooms towards the pool wearing only a pair of swimmers I end up soaked with rain and covered in goosebumps thanks to a vicious wind chill factor. Then I get in and complete my 500m warm up and wait.......and wait............... for my coach mike. He works in a car stereo shop and coaches me in his 1 hour lunch break.Today he has been held up and work and I am getting cold.

Finally he arrives and we get started. I am cold and beginning to feel a bit sore from monday and tuesdays sessions, but I mentally refocuss and say to myself that this is a gold medal day.....if I am going to be swimming in this weather I may as well swim fast and make it worth my while!

I have just re-read Lance Armstrongs book "It's not about the bike" in which he details his journey from testicular cancer to a record breaking 7 wins in the Tour de France. He talks about a day much like my own 'gold medal day concept' where he goes training no matter what the weather is like. Thats what makes champions.One day he woke up to tackle the toughest mountain in the French alps- the Hautacam-only to find that it was raining. He rode it anyway, not once, but TWICE in the pouring rain. You see the first time he didnt quite get it right and there was no way he was prepared to enter the tour de france less than 100% ready.I like that attitude. Training for victory may hurt, living with defeat hurts worse.

So on my own gold medal day, I had a Lance Armstrong climbing the Hautocam day.

Every wednesday we do 12 x 100m freesyle off 3.30. This means I do 100m freestyle and leave every 3.30. The faster I swim, the more rest I get. Our goal was to get all 12 under 3 minutes by the time I leave for Beijing. In the past I have usually gone 2.55 for about the first 3, them 3.05 all the way out to 3.15. Well, this week I not only got them ALL under 3 mins, I even did some 2.45s. Infact, for the first 8 100's I improved a second or more on each one!

I added a few new things into my training this week. The first is a wheat free diet, suggested by my nutritionist to help slim down to an ideal race weight with the perfect power to weight ratio. I miss bread already ( ok I have Gluten free bread, if you can call that bread- it falls apart when you touch it!).

The other is workouts with a personal trainer. I did my first one right before heading out to the pool for my 'gold medal' session. We did some boxercise ( where i wear boxing gloves and punch boxing pads the traininer holds up) as well as some weights and resistance training with a towel. A lot of fun, and , suprisingly it actually worked up a sweat and got my heart rate racing. My next session is on Sunday and I can't wait.

By the time I got home I had done 1 hour of boxing/personal training and 2 hours of swimming flat out.I was shivering and so tired I could hardly stay awake long enought to eat some pasta (wheat free of course!) before I crawled into bed at 5pm tired but happy. This is one day I won't forget, I will remember it on the blocks in Beijing and hopefully on the medal dais too....... that would mean it really was worth it!