Sunday - 2 hours (deep water running)

Two long hours treading water in a cool but stunning Manly Cove this morning, the highlight being seeing and shouting out to Ben and Justin while they were on their morning run. As usual, I managed to witness the ferries dock and leave every half an hour or so. Held a fairly consistent level of effort, pretty much identical to last Sunday. Six weeks down!

Saturday - 8 x 5 minutes (off 1 minute), 5 x 45 seconds (off 15 seconds) (deep water running)

Another Saturday, another massive session. Same as last week, with the addition of some 45 second efforts at the end. The length of the session itself makes it more akin to a threshold session - doing 44 minutes worth of efforts will do that. It’s all about pacing, making sure not to go out too hard too early on. Another absolutely stunning morning - no wind, not a cloud in the sky, although cold - both in and out of the water. My face actually felt numb once I started the 15 lengths post deep water running. Today marks exactly six weeks since my injury, and the symptoms have improved markedly since. Looking forward to an easy test run sometime in the next few days.

Thursday - 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1 (off 1 minute) (deep water running)

Once again, another glorious morning - although the water is starting to cool down after an unseasonably warm spell. Same session as the previous two Thursday’s, so I knew what I was in for. Shorter with a slightly more generous recovery between efforts allows me to push the efforts even harder. Very happy to see that I maxed out my heart rate at 174 bpm today - didn’t know that was possible when deep water running. Finished off as usual with 15 lengths. Rest day tomorrow!

Wednesday - 90 minutes steady (deep water running)

An even more stunning morning today, although due to my recent relocation from Manly Beach to Manly Cove, I’m unable to observe the sun rising over the horizon. Still not a bad backdrop looking into Sydney Harbiur though, watching The Collaroy, The Queenscliff, The Narrabeen, and then The Collaroy ferries come and go while I remained stationary deep water running 90 minutes. In other good news, I jogged about 10 strides on the firm sand (barefoot) before entering the water with no pain! The plan is to hold out until next week before a very small test jog, giving me just over six weeks. Looking forward to it!

Tuesday - 6 x 2:30 minutes (off 30”) (2 mins recovery), 5 x 2:30 minutes (off 30”) (deep water running)

Another tough session ticked off. Tuesday’s and Saturday’s are the toughest of the week, the former because of the large effort to rest ratio. Another stunning morning, although a little cold out. Luckily the water was still warm-ish (it’s all relative I guess). Was really able to push the effort today,  more so than last week, which is always a good sign. Pretty knackered by the end of, so took the 15 lengths of the sharknets really slow and easy.

Monday - 2 sets of 10 x 90 seconds (off 30”) (2 mins between sets) (deep water running)

Quite a big session this morning, I got out there on a dark and cold morning. Like always, it wasn’t too bad once I was in. 90 second efforts sure seem a lot shorter than the 5 minute efforts of Saturday, but the catch is that there was 20 of them - and only 30 seconds recovery between each one. So pacing is key. Got through it in one piece, followed by a very slow and relaxed 15 lengths of the sharknets.

Sunday - 2 hours (deep water running)

Back out there for another two hours this morning. A bit wet and cold on the ride down to Manly Cove, but all was good once I was in the water. Just like Wednesday, I gave it a bit more effort today - which reflected in the average heart rate (11 bpm higher than last Sunday). I observed the Narrabeen, Collaroy and Queenscliff docking and leaving over the duration of the session, as well as the beach being cleaned. Exciting times. Five weeks down!