Mojo

Mojo always makes me think of this - a Tenerife training camp staple.  I think somewhere this Autumn I've not had as much of this as I would have liked.  This is in part illustrated by the fact that I never got around to blogging the three half marathons I did this Autumn.  And it's also illustrated by the fact that besides one event, I haven't really made any plans for next year in terms of sporting events.

I got a little bit of that back this week.  I was in London for a conference with work (what a privilege to go; what an interesting three days) and I purposefully chose a hotel that was near a pool - and not just any pool by the London Aquatics Centre - aka the 2012 Olympic Pool.  I have had the pleasure of swimming there twice before but never for my early morning lane swimming session.  And what a treat it was.  It's the sort of pool that makes you feel like you're swimming fabulously well (even if you are not) and you can't help but feel inspired by all of the amazing swimmers that have been in the chlorine before you.  I was quite excited to spot Aimee Wilmott (London 2012, Rio 2016...) over on the far side doing her morning training set.

On Monday, halfway through my usual 4k, I looked up and saw a familiar face on poolside, coaching.  "Dan!" I exclaimed, and waved wildly.  It was Dan from Swim for Tri; the chap who is responsible for making my front crawl look respectable* on 5 consecutive trips to Tenerife (and other occasions).  It was lovely to catch up with him briefly on poolside when my swim was finished.  He invited me to all of the Swim for Tri sessions happening while I was in London, but it was only practical to attend one, the Mile End Wednesday session.

So on Wednesday morning, I checked out of the hotel at 6am, dragged my suitcase 3/4 mile to the tube and took the tube one stop along the line and then dragged the suitcase for a further 3/4 mile to the pool.  The squad was a little thin on the ground that day owing to injuries/holidays/time of year but everyone was very welcoming.  I enjoyed doing a proper swim set with some paddle work, interspersed with some fast swimming, and I was pleased to clock 1:23 for a 100m swim right at the end of the session (I think it could have been a second or so faster if the chap in front hadn't held me up on the first length!).  What a treat it was and quite a bolster for the mojo.

So time now to focus a little better on swimming.  A 1:1 with Dan is booked for January.  I need to work out what I want to achieve in Tenerife this year.  A 10k to enter perhaps.  More time on drills, more time making use of the fact that one of the pools I use is fine with fins/paddles etc.


* although on Monday morning, judging by the couple of snaps he took, it wasn't very respectable.