What a month! July 2023 might have been one of the sportiest months of my life.
Three experiences stood out.
8 July: Geneva Triathlon – Sprint Distance
I have never done a triathlon before. My last competitive swim? Around 1997. Last competitive bike ride? n/a. Last (sort of) competitive run? Color run 2015 in Lausanne.
Even though I like being in water, on a bike or going on an occasional jog, I never felt an urge to practice any of these sports competitively. Why then sign up for the triathlon? I wanted to try out a new challenge – something completely out of my normal sports routine.
The challenge: 500meter swim, 20k on the bike, 5k run. Went through a lot of up & downs during that race but ultimately, crossing the finish line felt incredible! Will make a longer post on my takeaways from triathlon #1.
14 July: Facing the barbell
I have been hitting the gym now for 20 months (usually weight training followed by a boxing workout on the heavy bag). In all this time, I have religiously avoided the squat rack out of fear of making mistakes and doing more harm than good.
Then, I found out that my gym offers four free coaching sessions alongside my annual subscription - the perfect opportunity to have someone show me how to handle a barbell. I signed up for a lesson asking specifically for help with squatting. In the end, we covered all three major compound lifts - squat, deadlift, and bench-press.
Biggest benefit of the session: I now WANT to do these lifts at the gym and get joy when I sport an empty squat rack. Btw. My legs were sore for five days.
16 July: "Spontaneous" 1000 meter swim
Family day in the public pool in Geneva. After lunch a friend of mine offered to give me some tips on how to improve my freestyle technique. Enter four different drills à 50 meters each.
Major mistakes I am making:
Crossing the arms -> Fix: Imagine a line ahead of you that extends from your head and is aligned with your body (basically your axis). Keep the arms in front and don’t cross the line.
Hands enter the water too late -> Fix: Early hand entry. Only fully extend your arms once they are in the water (not above).
These drills already got me tired but then things got serious. We were approached by a volunteer at the pool: “we have a special challenge today – swim 1000 meters (20 laps in the 50m pool) and get a medal”.
My friend did not take a lot of convincing. Now the peer pressure was on – I had to do it. The swim did not feel great, after two laps I already wanted to quit. But quitting was not an option. I switched my swimming style – 100 meters breaststroke, 50 meters freestyle - and somehow completed the 1000 meters. Ah, my friend lapped me three times…
Bonus: new hiking style unlocked. In July, I went to Chamonix for the first time and did a little hike carrying my daughter on the back. Cannot wait to do that more in the future!
It will be hard to top July's activities in August, especially because there is no race planned. However, the objectives are clear. Continue with the gym routine, focusing on the classic compound lifts, jump in the water and work on my technique and finally, what I am most excited about, get back to the lessons at Boxing Club Genevois.
And with that, happy August 1st! It's Swiss National Day and rest day for me.
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