Last week I thoroughly enjoyed doing my ASA Level 1 swim coaching course. Passed all the practical stuff just awaiting the written exam results. It was great that the course was taken by Diane Jameson who’s an ex national coach and renowned for her ability to sort out peoples strokes. She was excellent at teaching us how to spot and correct stroke faults as well as how to demonstrate them on dry land. She said that I was ready to take the Level 2 course and should do so as soon as possible. Thats the plan though I can’t find the course on in London at all.

We had to practise analysing and correcting stroke faults so some of us acted as guinea pigs for this. I got to do fly and something was pointed out that has never been said to me before. When I did this not only did I feel better but everyone on the course commented to me after how much better it looked. Diane said it was “poetry in motion” !! Hoping I can remember and practise that ready for the 400IM at Epic Camp.

I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed coaching kids. As part of the course you get to help out coaching a squad. This was set up so that we each had a lane to coach for a couple of hours the last two days. There was a huge amount of satisfaction when I managed to improve something – everything from getting a couple of girls to freestyle kick correctly to fixing a tumble turn. It’s made me start to think about perhaps looking to help coaching a competitive swim squad rather than just triathletes.

It’s left me feeling massively more confident about identifying and helping correct technique issues. Now I’ve just got to get my hands on some willing pupils.

On the training front it’s really taken a back seat. I did the club swim Monday morning before heading up to Manchester and managed a swim in the beautiful 50m pool in Manchester. Yesterday I did a long ride and felt on fire. I was worried about the speed of my bike fitness returning and for some reason getting disheartened. Yesterday there was no evidence of it. 110 miles in 6.5 hours which included riding from south London to north London and back isnt too bad. There’s a real dilemma in this returning to fitness. Do I just hammer back in …. well I’ve decided not to and took it easy today. No bike ride but about to head for a swim. Tomorrow I see the physio again and yet again I’m building my hopes up that she’ll let me run !