odd and end

I’m travelling, so a long post is difficult.  Still, two newspaper articles caught my attention.

The Korea Times is telling us that astrologers don’t expect to find alien life in the next twenty years.  Really?  Astrologers?

The second article is from the Herald and describes Park Tae-hwan’s swimming results.  The article seems concerned that he is not winning golds in every event he swims in.  I understand that all involved want him to win gold every time but at his level the Olympic winner is often the one who seriously competes least.

By this I mean every time a swimmer completely prepares for a competition, he loses two or more months of endurance training.  I was never at his level, but in resting up for the meets my coach and I felt were important I reduced meters and intensity to the extent that after the meet, I was at the same fitness level I had been a month before the meet.  One month of high intensity work gone.

There were plenty of meets I swam tired at.  In early January, just before resting up for the provincial or national championships, I would attend up to three swim meets in a single weekend; each time swimming the gruelling two hundred breaststroke.  I practiced starts in a competitive setting, but the total meters made the weekend a swim practice, not a racing event.  My times were much slower than my best.

I don’t know what Mr Park”s plans are, but too much rest now might interfere with his Olympic training.