Stretch Cords and Buckets

For the first time in months, last Friday's swim workout involved stretch cords and buckets. My favourite!

There were only four of us in the pool doing that workout so we were split into groups of two. I was paired with a young swimmer that I will call Mr. Fast and Furious. I was told to watch his stroke while on the stretch cords because 'his stroke is perfect'.

How's that for an early morning ego boost?

Mr F2 and I headed to the deep end to tether ourselves to the stretch cords. We were told to swim until the cord was tight and hold it for 20 strokes, then pull harder for 20 strokes and end with 20 strokes as hard as we could. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat. Ten times.

We headed off and, by the time he had stretched his cord out he was more than half way down the pool. I was a quarter of the way down the pool so there was no way I was studying his stroke. I couldn't event study his toes. I was about 20 strokes into the first one when he came swimming back to the wall. What?!? Is his turnover rate that fast that he can get 60 strokes in before I do 20?

Nope.

He's just so strong that he broke the cord.

Nice.

He broke two of them before we finished our first session on the stretch cords.

We then headed to the shallow end to pull buckets. I was given two buckets to pull. He was given three. We had 3 x 200m to do. He lapped me within the first 100m and got his 600m done before I finished 400m.

We headed back to the stretch cords and then back to the buckets again. The second time on the buckets he pulled five.

FIVE!!

I pulled two.

He lapped me again. This time it took him 150m to do it. I offered to let him pull me too so that he had a bit of a challenge.

After all the stretching and pulling, we finished off the workout with some sprints. It's always fun sprinting after being tethered to things. It feels like we're flying through the water. We did a 100m sprint followed by two 50m ones. Lots of rest in between.

I did the 100m in 1:36 and the 50m ones in 42 seconds. Super fast!!

The take home message of workouts like stretch cords and buckets?

It's not about whether I can keep up to Mr. Five Buckets. It's about whether I can complete a tough workout and then, at the very end, pull out a fast sprint that rivals my best times.

I failed the first challenge but rocked the second one.