Super Jo

It was a sunny but windy morning. I wasn't quite feeling in a spring daisy mood but I still managed to be out the house by 8am. The roads were quiet and I did the ride to Didsbury a bit quicker than I normally would.

The group from Man Tri was a bit bigger than I expected, with fewer girls than normal. I suspected some testosterone fuelled riding would be happening. The legs were feeling good and I felt really very relaxed. Even as we went up the 1st climb close to Pott Shrigley on the edge of the Peak, I didn't expect what would happen, or not in the next 10 mins. I was dancing on the pedals feeling great.

Then we hit The Brick Works, a climb of around 3km and the pace rose....well the pace of everyone else rose. I couldn't go with it but I'm experienced enough to know that on such a ride, I would be able to catch up by going 'steady'. I started to feel wrong...was it motivation? Was I tired? The group had waited at the top, but not for very long. We descended into Kettlehume and I was dropped again. Howard waited at the right hand turn before the Windygoul climb but I decided to head off via Whaley Bridge and home. Remarkably, I did 80km with just as much climbing and faster than the group (the joys of being able to share GPS data).

After a quick lunch, I then fell sound asleep, waking with sufficient time to get to swimming. I considered missing it, but as I'll be away on Sundays for the next few weeks, I dragged myself out.

Jo the Coach will shortly be added to My Favourite Coaches page on my blog. This is her in the photo. She's simply amazing, a text book coach. But why? Well....she's nearly always smiley, she remembers everyone's names and she's one of the most creative and fun coaches I've come across. Sessions are always different, they're often physically challenging and nothing like anything I've seen delivered by another coach.

What's more, Jo has an expert knowledge of technique. Yeah, I've written and delivered uni lectures on swimming biomechanics, have worked with some top coaches and been at a few major events but I don't see things the way she does. Most coaches see "effect" and try to correct that. Jo understands "cause" and knows exactly how to correct poor technique as a result. She's only 20!

The irony is that if it wasn't for me liking the lass, I'd hate her sessions. I learnt to swim properly in my mid-late 20's and never learnt anything but freestyle. I've no kick to speak of, limited kinaesthetic perception, poor motor-control and crap flexibility. In short, I can bash up and down the pool all day at reasonable pace, but start drowning when it gets technical or involves any other stroke.