Another bit of tennis today. 1/2 hours lesson with Jenny Tennis, and some practice with Emma first.
More improvement – but my backhand could still do with some work!
A swim in the indoor, then outdoor pool with the kids afterwards. Not a lot of training involved, but nice to be swimming outside!
Just enough time to get to the pool today and have the first crack at intermediate session 2. Not a physically demanding session, a far more technical session, working on flow, streamlining. So lots of skating, then.
SG x2
SGF x2
Swim x2
Sweetspot x2
Skate to sweetspot:
Hands down x2
Laser beam x2
Hand depth x2
Wide track x2
Shoulder just out x2
Bullseye x2
Swim x2
Swim with bullseye focus x16
Easy swim x2
And one length of butterfly!
I swam in the outside pool, as it has been a lovely day out today. The sun was dropping down behind the fence by the end of the swim, but the water was lovely throughout. Bits of twig and leaf in the water to look at. Great stuff. I certainly felt far more relaxed, more streamlined, and more efficient after the drills – much better head position, better breathing position. The drills really do work.
In other news, I *will* cycle to work tomorrow.
I have left my name with at Sweatshop to be contacted next time there’s a 5 mile run organised of an evening. I need the motivation of running with others. They seem to be 8 to 9 minute milers, so I should be fine. I might even wear the five fingers and see how I get on with them in anger.
The Stirling Triathlon is about 6 weeks away. I think I should enter, and give myself something to aim for… Really need to get out on the bike….
And hopefully I’ll be swimming in Loch Katrine/Venecher on Friday with P-Dub. And it’s the Pitcur swim on Saturday evening too. Perhaps something on Monday too….
Tuesday is Arbroath clinic day, so on the way back from clinic I was able to pop into the gym for a wee swim. I forgot my poolmate, so I have no idea how many actual lengths I actually did. I just swam in the outdoor pool for 45 minutes. 11 strokes per length throughout, and I’m guessing about a 28 minute mile, or so. It doesn’t really matter; it was a lovely swim in the outdoor pool, I felt some glide, some catch and if it hadn’t been for a bit of cramp at 45 minutes, I’d have carried on for longer.
Drills are so important, but it’s nice to get a longer swim done every so often.
Two more outdoor swims with the OSS lined up – Kinghorn and, erm, somewhere else….
Tennis lesson tomorrow!
Day off today. Had to stay in for the morning to wait for postie. So, my thumbs got a bit of exercise.
In the afternoon, back to the pool. The outdoor pool is open now, so all drills from now on in the outdoor pool. The pool is shorter, so distances are less, but not by much. And it gives me time to do some more distance later on in each session. Today, Intermediate Freestyle programme session 1. 10 minute warm-up, it said. Then a 300 metre time trial. The pool isn’t 25 metres, so I did 14 lengths instead (that’s 280 metres, I reckon): 4:40. I suppose the absolute speed isn’t that important, more that there’s improvement over time. After the 280m time trial:
4 SG
2x SGF
2x SGF with switches
12x Skating, with hand down/head down/hand depth/hand width/shoulder rotation/bullseye focuses
14x single lengths, with bullseye focus throughout
4x easy swimming
I really started to find more glide as the session went on, which was nice. No-one else in the outdoor pool for the full 40 minutes, either, which was also nice. I should be able to fit in the same session tomorrow, after tennis with Jenny Tennis.
In other news – Lorna from Sweatshop has loaned me a Nike+ GPS watch. It turns out I’ve registered with Nike+ before, and by trying to upload a run from a watch with someone else’s log on in it, basically screwed things up; but I did get to see the output data, which is pretty cool. It tracks very accurately speed, route, distance, the whole 9 yards. It might just be the trigger I need to actually get out and do some running.
And I will cycle to work next week.
Yes.
Today, after babysitting organisation, Dr and Dr Dundeechest *both* made it to a swim session. P-Dub, Coach, and Paul all there too, so we took over the outdoor pool, and ran the ‘real’ TI club. All 5 of us drilling up and down, helping each other out with tweaks and nudges, advice and encouragement.
Mrs Dundeechest has come on a huge amount in the last 3 weeks – from struggling to do more than a length, and reverting to breaststroke, to doing 50 great lengths today. And clearly TI.
My swimming went well. Of particular note today was an increased feeling of breathing in the air pocket behind the head, pushing the water aside, and breathing in the gap. I know that’s the whole idea, but a great deal of small, and not so small, steps go into getting the wave right, the head position right, and sufficient speed to breathe in the pocket.
We swam some more in synchrony tonight. Sometimes me and P-Dub, sometimes me and Mrs Dundeechest, and for a bit, with Coach as well. All 4 of us swimming TI together. It’s very educational: seeing how others swim in close quarters, and keeping in time, and in line, with them is difficult, but very rewarding, in a weird sort of way. I’m really looking forward to all 4 of us swimming in our first Loch together….
When I used to row, and coach rowing, I was keen on the concept of “Easy Speed”. We focused a great deal on speed without effort, keeping things flowing, spinning along, without making a meal of things. I think we can translate this to swimming. Keep the stroke moving at the back end, concentrate on smoothness in the recovery, keep it dynamic, but keep it relaxed. Ultimately, let the speed come; don’t chase it. So it’s very much like rowing.
And Coach asked for some critique. It’s an intimidating thing, critiquing the man who taught me EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT SWIMMING. But, I did my best. Suggesting a couple of alterations is the least I can do! Kaisan, baby!
Straight off the plane, and Mrs DundeeChest is on the phone to ask if I want to head down to the pool for a practice session. It’s surprisingly warm when we get down to the gym, so it’s outside into the outdoor pool for a gentle session, mainly to see how Mrs DundeeChest is getting on. She’s doing marvellously, in short. A nice long glide, and a natural float. Head needs to be a wee bit further down, and the arms could be more dynamic, but she’s definitely a TI swimmer.
I manage to fit in half a session of the over-switch drill sheet, before it’s time to get home and snaffle a giant meal.
Just got in, and swam. The outdoor pool was pretty much empty, and those who did get in lasted about 15 lengths before getting out. I managed 150 lengths, then got out.
150 lengths, 20 metre pool, 3K, 45 mins. Seems reasonable.
Session 10 of the beginners training plan. The title is Over-switch, but there’s no real description of what Over-switch actually is. The drill sheet goes through the usual drills, then has a section of emphasis at the end on swimming full stroke, but with elbows circling nice and slow. Perhaps that’s the main gist of it.
Anyway, the session went pretty uneventfully. Breathing seems OK, not getting as much length of each stroke as I really want at the moment, but it’s coming. I wonder if a small break from the drills might do me some good.
Do you remember the bit in Forrest Gump where he starts running, and just keeps on going? It was kind of like that.
Practice 9 – Overswitch.
I did all this in the outside pool at the gym, so the lengths are all a bit squiffy, but I just did it length for length – the outdoor pool is 20m, not 25, but who’s counting?
Swim an easy 2 lengths. SPL is 11.
(Fist gloves on) – all the breathing done in sweetspot for the drills.
2x skating; relaxed hands
2x skating; laser beam
2x skating; wide track
2x skating; bullseye
2x lengths; wide track focus
2x spearswitch; best skate position
2x spearswitch; trip wire
2x spearswitch; hip drive
2x spearswitch; race timing
2x lengths; smooth focus
4x Zenswitch; elbow crook
4x Zenswitch; mid forearm
4x Zenswitch; wrist
4x Zenswitch; fingers
(Fist gloves off)
2x lengths; circle the elbows
2x lengths;relaxed neck
2x lengths; wide recovery
2x lengths; early entry
2x lengths; patient lead hand
2x lengths; weight shift
At this point I was meant to do the easy, faster, even faster 50s, but when I set off on the easy 50, if felt very nice. The sun in the sky, few clouds, no wind, and the water a very comfortable 26 degrees. I just started swimming, and carried on, Gump-like.
I swam for 90 minutes. I didn’t have my pool-mate on, so I don’t have an accurate lap count, but I averaged a very consistent 38 to 40 seconds for every 2 lengths, so some quick maths leads me to, vaguely: 5,400 seconds, 40 seconds per lap, 135 laps, 40m per lap = 5.4K.
I was aware for the last 15 minutes that my form was falling off. Mainly I wasn’t able to maintain my best skating position – this was due to arm muscle fatigue, I think, but reassuringly I was able to concentrate on it for the last 15 minutes without everything else falling apart.
80 days ago I started this journey of learning to swim. And I’ve gone from 2 lengths of struggle, to 5.4K of fishlike-like swimming.
If only I’d put on some sunscreen – my back looks like a lobster…
Much less grump today. After the disappointment of yesterday, as detailed in the last post, I swithered about going to swim at all today. But I had the morning free, the outdoor pool opened today, and, who am I kidding? Of course I swam today.
Met coach as he was finishing his 250 lengths, and had a wee chat about focus, keeping it simple, that sort of thing. No drills today, no slogging, no pyramids, just swimming, keeping it simple, and trying to be streamlined.
Interestingly, coach says it takes him 750m to get into a rhythm, and today I certainly felt what he means. I swam a good 30 lengths before I started to really reach out, glide a bit more, and ‘get it’.
Swam about 20 lengths before I got hold of the latest toy (Pool-mate) and then did an indicated 58 lengths of the outdoor pool. Very nice to be outdoors, sun on the back, that sort of thing. On a very “metro” note – the swimming is really helping my skin…
The outdoor pool is 11 strokes long, not 16, so I have smacked my hand into the wall enough times for me to be officially a numpty.
Tomorrow is a coaching session, PW is coming up to try to sort out his over-rotation/sinking situation.
Ominous mentions of wetsuits today…
And Edinburgh now has a dedicated triathlon store on Clarke Street. Might be worth a trip….
