Morning carols and more water action

Had a stressful few days at work with a couple of big reports to be finalised and so have been in work stupidly early and finishing late too, which has meant little time for training...

I was also in early again yesterday but for the more enjoyable reason of playing carols at Martin Place station with a sextet from WCB. I hadn't seen these guys since the Town Hall concert as work had been so manic, and so I was determined to play for this one. Plus, I hadn't actually played any carols yet this year so was keen to inject some Christmas spirit into proceedings!

It was great to catch up with some of the band after such a long time having not played. We were also well recieved by the punters passing through the station. Not sure how much we made, but for me it wasn't really the point, it was just good to play some carols. The only down side, being having to stand up for 1.5 hours in the heat and with a santa hat on. But still great fun.

Due to the early start, I knocked off a bit early, as did Catherine, and we decided to go for a swim in Queenscliff pool as it had been such a warm day.

Catherine had been swimming yesterday and so she just pottered up and down to cool down, whereas I was keen to crank out a few laps and get into some sort of training routine for the months ahead...

I ended up warming up for 300m and then did 2 x 500m sets with a 2 minute break in between.

Again, it wasn't about the times, more about getting into a rhythmn and the distance and not feeling tired at the end, so at least I know I can do the distance. The pool is actually great as it doesn't have set lanes and so I also got to practice my spotting technique.

For what it's worth, each 500m set took about 13 minutes...which I know is very slow, but at least gives me something to aim for and improve on. Still, I really enjoyed swimming again, and the location, being 2 mins from our flat is just ideal for more training. I am determined to aim for at least 2 swim sessions a week from now on.

I also recieved my new 310xt watch in the post yesterday, and so I spent the rest of the night hanging off the balcony trying to find satellite reception! It looks like a nice toy though.