Good Day #1

Went to the pool at lunchtime and managed to pull off 2 x 100m non-stop efforts!!! Major milestone for me, considering last week was the first time I done 50m non-stop. It wasn't exactly pretty, but I'm happy with it.

Finished out the 400m in just over 16 minutes (another PB) and then started doing 25m sprints (approx 35s per length) followed by 60s rest. In total, done 625m in the 30 mins, another PB.

Swimming update

Cracking session down at the pool at lunchtime today. Finally been able to do two lengths more or less non-stop, which I'm delighted with. It's not pretty, but it's definitely progress. Actually done a few lengths in the middle lane as well and didn't totally embarrass myself.

Going to aim for three lengths non-stop next or at least to reduce the rest time after two lengths. Another goal would be to learn how to tumble turn, but I'm probably getting ahead of myself. Pace wise, I'm not going to worry about things until I'm able to do lengths without stopping...there's people passing me doing the breaststroke at the moment :)

In the end today, done at least 600m in the 30 mins I was down at the pool. The distance is slowly creeping up :)

New Swimming PB

I also made it to the pool this lunchtime for a swim. Managed a 400m PB of 22m 45s or so and squeezed in 500m in the 30 mins I was in the pool. Not bad considering a month a go it took me the same time to do 400m.

Swimming PB

Was down at the pool at lunch today. Slow lane was mad busy for some reason but got in anyways. Done the 400m in 24m 35s or so, which I'm well chuffed at. Will probably have to do 500m from now on to make up the half hour.

Training Update (Part 2)

Forgot to mention in the previous post that although I'd done hardly any running in the last few weeks, I'd been getting down to the pool regularly enough. Just a quick update on todays effort which is worth a mention.

Done 400m in probably just under 30mins. Initial aim was 10 lengths but felt reasonably good so carried on. Played around with some breathing styles which seemed to make a bit of a difference. I seem to have settled on a system whereby I breathe out (while underwater) of which-ever side of my mouth that my arm is "recovering" on.

Seemed to be working a bit better for me today. We'll see how it goes in the future.

Swimming update

Managed to get down to the pool for the first time in a few weeks at lunch today. It was a bit overcast, so the outdoor pool was pretty quiet. Pretty cold initially, but was fine one I got into it.

Just focused on breathing and also some skulling work. The couple of attempts I made at freestyle were at least as good as the last time i was down, if not slightly better. I made it about one third of the length (100yds) in my furthest attempt today. Hopefully, I'll be able to build on that in the next few weeks.

Swimming update

Got down to the pool tonight for a lesson that never happened. Went ahead with the plan anyways and for the first time managed to do a few lengths (not back to back) which beats stopping at 20m. Still gasping for air at the end, but its still an improvement.

Swimming update

Major breakthrough tonight...actually swam a full length properly (3 arm movements per single breath). I wasn't able to do it a second time, but it happened towards the end of the session so I'm just putting that down to tiredness. Hopefully something I can build off though.

Besides that, good workout today...done a 6.8km run today where (according to Sport Tracks but not my Garmin) I finally broke the average pace of 10kmph mark! Bit of a result, but I was mainly focusing on doing intervals, so the faster paces obviously made a difference.

Swimming lesson

Had my first swimming lesson this evening with a local instructor. She's pretty old school, none of the Total Immersion stuff seemed to wash with her at all.

I forgot my goggles which wasn't exactly a great start to the session. She got me to do a length first off, which I didn't really cover myself in glory! She was saying that I seemed to be over-rotating, which doesn't really surprise me. The TI drills really encourage that, to almost over-exaggerate the moves. She seemed to also be happy enough with my stroke, apart from the fact that I was "catching up" (which basically means that I'm using one arm at a time).

First thing she gets me to do is a push and glide to see how my kick is. She seemed pretty happy with it, which is good, especially as its one of the main things I've been focusing on in TI.

Next up was basically a swim without breathing. To my surprise, I made it about 2/3's of a length. Next up was using a float and stroking with one arm. I seemed ok with that (kinda), almost being able to breath ok. Left hand stroking seemed weak.

When she asked me to put it together, it was a disaster though. Couldn't breath at all. Needs work thats for sure.

Swimming Lessons

Just booked myself in for some local swimming lessons in Cambridge. I'll give them a go for a few weeks and see how I get on. Certainly beats the traveling up to Loughborough.

Use it or lose it

After hurting my ankle the weekend before last, I've been taking it pretty easy exercise wise. At least thats my excuse. Up to today, I'd basically done one run, two cycles last week and a couple of dips in the pool, but I was probably using the ankle as an excuse. I'm not saying that it was fine, its not, but it wasn't bad enough to justify my slackness over the last ten days.

So today I go to a physio to check it out. Really should have went sooner, but thought I'd have to go see my GP to be referred so wasn't too bothered. When things weren't quite right after a week (walking was fine, but still a slight dull pain) I sorted it all out and got the physio appointment.

Thankfully nothing too serious done...no ligament damage like I had before. Probably just a slight bone bruise. He was also saying that my cartilage is probably slightly worn as well from previous injuries. Anyways, he worked his magic and it basically feels like I've got a new ankle. Honestly, the difference is amazing.

After a brief weights session, went for a brief run. Wasn't really planning on such a brief run, but I was seriously struggling. Not having done much cardio over the last week was really telling. Ankle was fine, so hopefully give it another (better) bash tomorrow. Went for a swim afterwards, slight improvement, but nothing special to report.

Training update

Tough enough session tonight. Done W4D5 of the JD red plan. Didn't quite finish it as described, but got pretty close. Done 5 out of the 6 runs, with the rest period as a slow jog instead of a walk. The sixth run I just took it easy enough and finished up with the 10 min warm-down.

Best news of the day though has got to be swimming wise...I actually done a length non-stop twice!! Was struggling a bit towards the end of the length, but still made it. Really happy about that. I've booked in for another session at swimshack on Thursday, so hopefully this little milestone is something to work off.

Besides that, I was also down at the gym for lunch with one of the guys from work. Done about 40 mins of weights, but didn't really get into a routine.

All in all, a good days work. Shame about the pack of biscuits I devoured for brekkie.

Swimming progress

I think I posted before about taking a more disciplined approach to my swimming drills. I've started to do sets of drills, focusing on one thing at a time on each length (breathing, kicking, stroke, etc). Seems to be going well so far, after 2-3 sessions. Got the furthest ever tonight in the pool, not quite completing a full length, but stopping about 2m short. That was while doing 2s/1b (2 strokes per 1 breath) where I was really focusing on light kicking just to keep my balance (I'd be almost not kicking during the stroke).

So, tonights routine as an example of what I mean was:

• 100m of 1s/2b
• 100m of 2s/2b
• 100m of 3s/2b
• 50m of 1s/1b
• 50m of 2s/1b
• 50m of 3s/1b

Now, I'm not saying I completed them all as described above, but I did try where possible to complete the length, even if it meant having to take an extra breath or two. Still, 450m isn't too bad going for me (possibly the furthest I've ever done in one session). However, at 45 mins, its still got a long way to go.

Training update

As I've mentioned before, didn't really get up to much training wise while I was at home. So started back on 2nd Jan with a walk to work in the morning, followed by a jog to the gym that evening for a quick visit. The place was absolutely jammers with new recruits, it'll be interesting to see how long that keeps up.

Thursday then involved another gym session, doing W1D3 of the JD red plan followed by a pretty tough weights session. Pool was very busy again, so when my lane got up to seven people after I'd just done 3 lengths, I gave up and went home.

Friday was similar again, where I attempted W1D5 of the JD red plan. The plan actually calls for a rest day (or an easy day) the previous day, but I wanted to try it as I knew I would struggle to get something in on Saturday. I failed miserably, but with four weeks to master the plan, hopefully next week will be better.

Then tonight, Sunday, I tried W1D7 of the JD red plan. Again, didn't go too well and a planned 40m easy run turned into a 22m easy run. Still, better than nothing. The positive thing about tonight was the swimming...I done about 225m - 250m in the pool, front crawl with a good rest between lengths. I'm still breathing at least twice on average, but hopefully I'll be able to get the distance up while working on that.

More swimming progress

Got down to the pool tonight for the first time in a few days. Started off slow enough, didn't really seem to be making much progress from previous sessions. Then decided to give three strokes with a two breath recovery a go to see how I'd get on...made it the whole length of the pool. Now, fair enough, I'd lost a bit of form towards the end of the length, but its still almost a proper length all the same. Stayed focused on that for the rest of the session and I'd guess I done somewhere between 8-12 lengths, with a nice recovery between attempts.

Swimming progress

Went down to the pool tonight for a while to do some drills. Started off well, I actually managed to make it the length of the pool doing 3 strokes/3 breaths, but still struggling towards the end of the length and also a bit breathless.

Concentrated on a few drills, mainly trying to reach as far forward as possible on inserting the hand and rotating, which seemed to feel more natural as I was doing it. Then went back to the 3 strokes/3 breaths thing. I figured that as I was breathing ok but was just breathless as I progressed I figured that it must be that I was kicking too hard and using up too much oxygen. So for the next few laps, I focused on trying not to kick while stroking (really hard, but I settled for just kicking gently) and then kicking lightly while recovering.

What a difference that made. I seemed to be doing a length at ease...no real struggling towards the end of the length. When the length was finished, I could probably have turned around straight away for another length! Unfortunately this came at the end of the session, so I'll have to wait until next time to try again. But all the same, really happy with the progress tonight.

Swimshack: Report

Had another session at swimshack on Friday. Started off working on some balance stuff, moved to some active balance (kicking on back rotating shoulders around spine), which went well enough. I'd done a fair bit of work on that over the last month or two, so was good to see that it was paying off.

Next idea was to move onto doing the same thing, this time face down, rotating up to the air. Easier said than done and my first two attempts involved drinking lots of water. I was then given a snorkel to get used to the position, which wasn't too bad, but tiresome enough.

Eventually managed to get 2/3 breaths on my right hand side but had to have a good few attempts to get it on my left. Lesson ended there, but the coach was very happy with the progress and reckons I should be ready to go back early in the new year.

Was down at the pool last night and nailed both left and right breathing straight away. Could only do about half a length, but still, not bad.

Tonights training

Thought there was some GAA training tonight, so decided to run down to the pitch like I'd done last week. Was also planning on getting to the pool afterwards, so brought my swimming gear with me.

I actually missed the turnoff for the most direct way to the pitch on my run, so continued onto the way that I normally drive. It added an extra 500m or so to the distance I'd say, but thats no big deal.

Overall the run went well, only stopped briefly to let a car pass at a junction (and took a couple of extra seconds break). Made it down to the pitch to see that there was no floodlights and hence no-training. Done the 3.6km run in 25mins.

Like my run last night, I was aiming to keep my HR below 166bpm, which I more or less did for the duration. My average HR for the run was 158bpm with a max of 168bpm.

Have to say that I'm pretty happy with two longish distance runs in two nights.

As for the pool afterwards, I'd an empty lane to myself for the guts of an hour. It went well enough, apart from the fact that my leg\calf\foot would cramp intermittently, which I assume was due to the run. Still not doing a length normally, but I've managed to do a few lengths taking three breaths every stroke. Hardly swimming, but something to build on.

Swimming update

I've been getting pretty bored with just doing drills in my swimming sessions so I've started trying to do laps. Still haven't managed to do a full lap properly (going a length taking just one breath per three strokes), but I have noticed that my balance and kicking have improved significantly over the last few weeks.

I do seem to be struggling with breathing though. I can go about 3 sets of 3 strokes with one breath between sets, but just don't seem to be able to extend that any further! To try to improve this, I've been practicing breathing every stroke, but only seem to be able to get 5-6 strokes before needing to recover (take more than one breath). Strangely enough, I seem to go the same distance in both exercises!!!

Still, work in progress and all that.

Training Update: 19 Sept 07

Had a pretty good day today. After doing nothing yesterday day, due to a pretty strenuous day the previous day, I was actually looking forward to going out for a run this evening. Its almost funny...to be perfectly honest, I dont really like running. However, its definitely growing on me, the more I do it.

I also tried a different routine tonight. I wanted to get a row in at the gym as well as doing a run outside, so I drove to the gym and set off on a run from there. W6R2 of the C25K called for the following

• 5 min brisk walk warmup
• 10 min jog
• 3 min walk
• 10 min jog

However, Ive just started to read Daniels Running Formula and I'm also considering doing his "White Plan", starting on Phase 3, which on one of the days calls for

• 5 min brisk walk warmup
• 10 min jog
• 5 min walk
• 10 min jog
• 5 min walk
• 10 min jog

So I decided to give this a go instead. Overall, I completed 4.5 miles in 51 mins, an average of 8.47kmph. The runs felt good, indeed in the second run I actually done 11 mins and the third 12 mins. All well, I got back to the gym in time to do a 4k row (in 16m 26.7s) and also do a few minutes of drills in the pool.