Fartleks and Swimming in Rondeau Bay

Fartleks, according to Wikipedia, is Swedish for "speed play" and a "training method that blends continuous training with interval training.“  I guess I have been doing them right along and am just now putting a word with it.

First of all I hate the word “fart.”

A Victorian thinking mother raised me and that was one of the words we were never allowed to say.  Heaven forbid if we did pass gas loudly in public.  Every time someone talks about fartleks I think I will be embarrassed beyond words.  However Tuesday I did fartleks, 3 minutes fast pace and 3 minutes walk, with a 15-minute warm up and cool down.

Well if that wasn’t emotionally stressful, I am doing some creative adjustments to my swims this week and next.  I really need open water swim practice so have been swimming in the weedy Rondeau Bay behind our cottage.  The water is refreshing and crystal clear.  Not bad for a good swim.  However, there are lots of weeds and fish also in the water.  I know, it is home to the fish, and I really don’t mind the company.  It is the weeds that make me crazy.   The various boats that go by have cut some of them and they float in near shore.  On Monday, I was able to swim for a little over a mile in 45 minutes and not freak out.   This morning part of my brick workout was a swim for 30 minutes, so in I went again.  It gets a little better every time, but I still don’t like it, and doubt that I ever will.  I couldn’t wait to get out and run for 30 minutes.

Our vacation cottage is in a very small fishing village.  The year-round population is around 650 people.  In the summer the population grows to around 1,600.  Seeing a crazy woman running in a tri kit is a bit unusual for the conservative Canadians in the Village. They just look at me and shake their heads.

My workouts are starting to change with additional hours on the bike, more open water swimming, and lots more fartleks.