This has been the first week since February last year that has had me feeling the joy of being back to proper triathlon training in that we are at last able to work on all three disciplines again.
Oh joy, oh rapture! Plenty of nice weather about too, and it was warm enough to get out on our bikes. The only discipline that has been a constant has been the running and in that we are blessed in that we live so close to the South Downs National Park and the Angmering Park Estate attached to the wonderful Arundel Castle. Views to die for in every direction just ten minutes away from our home.
Being able to get back in our local swimming pool, Littlehampton Wave, that was closed by Covid just one year after its original opening day, is open again now, a blessing indeed. There is a big BUT to that in that there are still restrictions for its use. Where we used to have lane swimming right across the whole width and length of the new pool, there are now double width lanes so that means four-lanes instead of eight which makes its use 50% less with maximum use of about forty people of mixed ability. The sessions are separated by a time break of 15 minutes so swimmers may only get a 45-minute swim and there are fast, medium and slow swimmers’ lanes. It is a bit of a free for all and users are so far being very calm about all the rules.
Swimmers must arrive with their swimsuits on under their clothes.That is not unusual except that there not any lockers or changing cubicles, before the swim.
After the swim, one can take a shower and there are only a small number of cubicles to get dressed in, so queues do form. Shoes are thankfully not allowed in the changing area at all which is a rule that I would be happy to see kept permanently. There is a one-way system which roughly works.
The
staff have done a great job and are still cheerful even with all the difficulties
and extra work involved with keep the public safe. One
benefit has been that the swimmers are mainly older people who have had both
jabs, and so feel a bit more safe. Downside
is that there are not any club swimming sessions yet since the pool is not
fully functioning.
We have not been swimming since February last year and we expected to be terribly rusty but we have taken our first few swims carefully. With that in mind we are not too unhappy with the level of swim fitness we find ourselves with. A little achy maybe but nothing lasting past getting out of the water. We did very few seas swims last summer, thinking that the restrictions would not last very long! Ha!
Still all in all both my coach/husband Steve and I are feeling confident about our first event which is coming up fast now. All our other training has been going well.Eton Sprints Weekend at Eton Dorney Lake, near Windsor. We are entered for an event on Sunday May 16th. This is a qualifying event for the ITU World Triathlon Sprint Distance Championships in Bermuda the following year 2022.
This morning we had a lovely jog-walk in Angmering Park early this morning with a friend recovering from an injury and so slowed for a while to about our pace.
The sunshine this week has been wonderful and has lifted everybody’s spirits.
Thankfully we were out early for our run which was as well, since there was the well know local Bluebell Run taking place today and it was great to see so many people enjoying an event. The race is one of the local Raw Energy Pursuits events and was being enjoyed by all.
At home later we had lunch in the garden for the first time this year which was marvellous. Steve had set up a mouth-watering array of sauces and other additions to go with the raclette grill.
Absolutely divine.
I can understand that everybody so desperately wants to get back to normal, it has been a dreadfully lonely time.
I have found it almost unbearable without my family and friends.
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