Ahhhh….recovery week!

I have to say that I’m enjoying this week with my foot halfway off the gas pedal. It’s given me a chance to rediscover my bike (hi, bike!), do a few more yoga classes, and gear up for the next 5 weeks of intensifying training.

I have several swims planned for this summer and fall.

1. VOWSA Canada Day Challenge: 4 km
2. Across the Lake Swim: 2.1 km
3. Kootenay Lake Sunshine Bay to Nelson: 24 km (3 x 8 km over 3 days)
4. Skaha Lake Ultra Swim: 11.8 km
5. Lake Chelan Swim: 2.4 km
6. Swim Serpentine: 3.2 km

This will be my 5th time swimming Kelowna’s Across the Lake Swim, and my second time swimming Lake Chelan. The other swims are brand new to me, and have required me to focus my training on longer distances. This involves following an actual PLAN plan, which I haven’t really done before. I have to say that I’m really enjoying it.  I started the new year with a 5 km plan offered through Prairie Girls Swim Squad and found it to be well-designed, motivating, and focused on results. I really liked the variety of the workouts and have adapted several of them as I build up my weekly kms.But since this is recovery week, it’s also given me some time to reflect on why I swim. Right now swimming is really working for me. I feel pretty good, I have enough time to train, and the motivation to head down the hill for pool sets is quite strong. With our huge snowpack this winter, I’m expecting that it’ll be a few more weeks until I’m brave enough to venture into any nearby lakes.  Pool training definitely has its challenges, but I find that varied workouts and my trusty Finis Duo help to stave off the boredom.

It’s a total 180 from last year, when I was sick, unmotivated, and going through a bunch of work and relationship shit. I showed up very poorly in the one event I managed to slog through. But – that’s another blog post entirely. It isn’t all sunshine and roses. Let’s go back to my blissful recovery week, shall we?

I am very lucky that my local pool in Trail, BC is typically very empty in the evenings, when I prefer to train. I’ll often have 3 or 4 lanes to myself (switching lanes is another great way to break up the monotony). I travel often for work and always try to squeeze in training, but sometimes my host pool is much more popular than my home pool, and I end up sharing lanes. It’s not so bad. Recently I’ve been able to swim at the Cottonwood Heights facility in Salt Lake City, and the Comox Valley Aquatic Centre.

My goal for this week is 9 km, focusing on good body position, pull, and proper high elbow recovery. I’m splitting this into 4 workouts, and I’ll enjoy every one.