After this I had arranged to meet my buddy Leo down the pool for a bit of a swim sesh. Now, even though one of my five goals at the moment is to get to a good 400m swimming standard, I have been particularly slack in this department. Quite frankly, I'm a rubbish swimmer and I can't do it and it makes me grumpy. Leo is a good motivator though and quite rightly suggested that I break it down and just try to work on one thing at a time.
After watching me splash and splutter over two lengths he said I should try a drill which I definitely had not expected. Doggy paddle. Apparently this is a really effective way of getting the underwater bit of your stroke right. What it also does is make everybody, including the lifeguards, keep glancing over to check that yes, somebody is in fact doggy paddling up and down the pool.
I must say though that it did work and I realised where I had been going wrong. Not only that but it was a fantastic workout for the arms! Of course it's going to take much more practise and everything else about my swimming technique is utterly wrong but I am filled with a sense of hope!
Tuesday I played badminton with my Dad, it's a regular social thing we've started doing and as well as being a good bit of exercise, it also provides us with a healthy dose of laughter as inevitably one of us will get hit in the forehead or trip over our own feet or perform some bizarre dance/lunge style manoeuvre that has us both cracking up. I followed this with a game of squash and guess what? I lost. 6 - 0! The day will come.. in fact this month there are six people in my division so statisically (as opposed to realistically) there is more chance of me actually winning a match!
And on to today. I had agreed on Monday that I would give the Wednesday running group a shot. I have been avoiding it up until now because the Wednesday group are a bit hardcore and scary. I often see them on the way out as I'm heading to the gym. A fierce torrent of determined flourescence pounding the pavement.
I tentatively found where they met and headed straight for a friendly face, one of the ladies from the Monday group - phew! It's a really big group and they meet in quite a small room where you can feel the slightly clammy pre-run excitement and smell the testosterone. I was told when the man in charge shouts "Go!" everyone heads for the (one, small) door, trampling over the weak as they rush to get in the lead..
Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit but they all did look mega fit. However, I'm pleased to say I made it through the first run. Sweaty and knackered yes, but in tact.
I then came home and became a culinary genius, whipping up a chicken and spinach carbonara with fresh-from-the-garden spinach - yum. I didn't even have seconds either!
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