Florida 70.3 in CayCompass

Fellow triathlete and friend Marius Acker is interviewed in todays CayCompass, where he gives an account of the 70.3 race in Florida. Click here to read the article. I am briefly mentioned. His experience is similar to mine (see post below). A major difference between Marius and I is running ability. Even though he was slow relative to his own ambitions he still posted for me a quick run split.

I was disappointed with my run split in Florida and have devised a training plan for the next 3 months that is concentrated on running. The focus of the plan is speed work with one long run (>20 km) per week. Marius was kind enough to provide input to the plan and has also offered to include me in some of the speed sessions he has with the fastest runners on island. There is a saying that goes something like this: to become the best, you have to train with the best. We’ll see how it goes.

Swimming at the Lions Pool with Tobias

Today I took Tobias with me to the Lions Pool for some morning swim training. We had agreed the day before that he was willing to give it a try.

For his age Tobias is an excellent swimmer and has always had a natural way with water. Already at the age of 2 he was jumping off the 1 meter diving board and swimming to the edge. This was back in 2004 at the Whitehorse Aquatic Centre, while we were living in Melbourne. Nowadays he is in the water nearly every afternoon, playing with Christoffer (whose swimming is also coming along well) and the other kids in our complex. Miss Rosy, his swimming teacher, has recommended we enroll Tobias in a class for older children to take advantage of his potential.

Anyway, when Tobias and I arrived at the pool at 6 am he didn't want to jump in. He is careful by nature, so this was expected and after 30 min of watching me and others swimming he decided it was time to join in. He did the first 25 m breaststroke and then proceeded to do freestyle breathing on both sides, as he has been taught. I swam with him, taking a small break every 25 m, doing about 200 m in total.

He manages a 40 second 25 m which I think is excellent considering his age. For comparison I can swim a 33 second 50 m which is a lot faster than him, but ridiculously slow compared to the world record. I am sure Tobias will be able to shave at least 10 seconds of his time before his 6th birthday if he keeps practicing.

UPDATE: Today Tobias managed to swim 25 m in 34 seconds - an improvement of 6 seconds. I think he will soon break the 30 second barrier. With a bit more stamina, he will be able to keep a good position in the water all the way. Currently he loses speed during the final 10 m, which would appear to be lack of good form in the water causing excessive drag.