With thanks to Lana, "Practice makes improvement..."

Thanks Lana for the post title I'm shamelessly ripping off!

I went along to my second ever Masters (second ever any sort of squad..) swim tonight.

Coach: So you're the one who should be in the fast lane?
Me: Uh.. no. I swam with Barry on Weds, it was about right
Coach: You do 1k in 20 mins?
Me: Well, I can. I mean, 20-21, thereabouts, but...
Coach: That's my race pace, jump in.

Unsurprisingly, I soon proved the coach wrong. I started off second from the back, and got passed at 150m in the 500 w/up. By the time we'd finished, I think the coach had lapped me, and I'm sure everyone else hated my guts. Fortunately, I was demoted after that set!

I don't quite know how "can swim 1k in 20 min" equates to "can swim easy-paced 100m drills on the 1:45"?

Anyway, I didn't mind getting dropped. I was at about the right pace for the lane I was in, and I kept to the back where I belonged! I got some really good pointers on my catch, and am going to work on that. I also have a strokes per length target to aim for (it's embarrassing... 19), and have been promised some paddle work next time. I can see the effects that this will have on my swim already.

One of our last sets was 4 x 25m, at 80%, 100%, 110%, 80%. Now, you may remember that on 6 Jan I was excited to knock another second off my 25m, taking it down to 22s. First 25m? 20s. Second was 21 (yuck- I obviously don't *get* 100%). Third- 19s. And last? an 80% effort and under 19s. Woo!

My run and swim are coming together nicely, and I'm feeling like me again. I am slacking on the bike because of marathon training and I'm good with that. Once April 28 has passed, I am going to start applying the "practice makes improvement" theory to my cycling. My summer 70.3 is looking like an achievable goal. Knock wood.

Rest of the weekend was good- we enjoyed a picnic with C and F on Friday, before watching the kiwi classic "The Dog's Tale" outside in the velodrome. Beautiful night, yummy food, toasty hot chocolate- perfect! Saturday was my long run, in completely average weather, then we had brunch with P's friends, and went shopping. My middle sister J was staying with us, and we went out for dinner with the whole family to celebrate my forthcoming move into the 25-29 AG (yuck! that spoils any hope of me EVER placing). I love turkish food! Today was beautiful, and J and I did some shopping before I trotted off to work and she headed home. Now we're chilling out, P watching the cricket (more wood-knocking..don't let us down boys!), me eating cookies. Tuesday is a public holiday, so although we're working tomorrow, we're planning to drive up to the Wairarapa for the night and then spending the day riding, eating good food and going out for a romantic dinner. Can't wait!

Hope everyone's weekends are going well.