How a negative result can be a positive thing.
We completed CSS testing again this week. Well done to everyone that turned up even through you knew this was the session. For some people they ignore the fact that they swim 2km each session and get quite anxious when a stop watch puts a number on them for 400m. I am proud of you all for giving it a go and embracing the challenge. The results can be found here. Have a look at the results and ask me pool side, call or e-mail if you want to discuss it:
CSS AUG 2017
CSS MAY 2017
CSS Nov 2016
CSS historical
Last time there were some major leaps for many people including some of our faster swimmers, where such gains are harder to come by. This time around those performance improvements weren’t present but it doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing.
I am going to use Sam Jansen as an example, she swam 33 seconds slower for her 400m. What this provided for Sam was a great insight into how her overall training, nutrition, recovery program, current workload and her day job impact upon her performance.
As a triathlete Sam is in the off season and when her favourite post exercise recovery fuel ran out, along with her protein supplements she didn’t panic to stock up, it didn’t seam as important in the off season. Part of her regular training and recovery involves a solid 8 hours sleep, and regular massages and stretching. Because she has been so busy at work these things haven’t made it in to the daily juggle. (Her Instagram name is @trijugglinglife Very apt!)
By swimming so much slower Sam now has a true measure of the impact all these little things have on her training and performance. In an odd way this slower swim has proven to Sam that all the juggling and effort it takes to squeeze in the extra focus on nutrition, recovery, etc. really is worth it.
In sacrificing a technique session to keep up the distance in her training her form also slipped. Fortunately it’s the off season so it hasn’t impacted her race results and this knowledge will help support her decision making as she increases her training once more.
For many of us we aren’t training for an event, although more and more are. The take home from this is that although we may not use supplements to support our diet, or train quite so often, we do all have busy lives and it can be a juggle and a struggle to fit everything it.
You don’t have to focus on just one area to obtain monumental improvements. It can be a culmination of many little things that bring about the big gains. So maybe you can stretch, or think about your posture for just a few minutes a day as you clean your teeth, maybe you can drink more water, have a little extra sleep or say no to something that gives you more time for you. It may even be as simple as washing your hands more often if you are around sick people at this time of year to help stay healthy. Or in my case…the washing, mopping and vacuuming can wait I’m off to supplement my magnesium levels and sense of belonging with a winter swim in the ocean with Swimming Women!