2 up, 2 down.

Back to the pool for a late night swim. It’s nice swimming at 20:30, there’s no-one in the fast lane, and I can drill, swim, drill-swim, and not get in anyone’s way.

Beginners’ Session 3 again. It went well yesterday, so a second go at it today.

Easy 50 to loosen up.
2 x SGF – still bunged up with snot, so no 2 breath lengths today.
2 x Easy swimming with plenty of glide
2 x sweetspot – at this point, Mrs Coach wanders past waving wildly. Hopefully my form was tip top.
4 x Core Balance Position – this exercise must look completely ridiculous to the casual observer, but it’s a great exercise.
6 x Skating (2 x Laser Beam, 2 x Wide Track, 2 x Rotation). Snorkel.
4 x skating-swimming – alternating skating positions, lengthening the stroke, taking it easy.
10 x spearswitch (2 x best skating position, 2 x trip wire, 2x hip drive, 2 hand race, 2 x smooth strokes). Snorkel useful here again.
4 x single lenghts, trip wire focus.
Easy 50: SPL 14, 51 seconds, EFF 33

Then I did 4 x 100 again, just to see if I could maintain consistency, like yesterday.

1. SPL 18, Speed 101, EFF 34
2. SPL 18, Speed 100, EFF 34
3. SPL 18, Speed 99, EFF 34
4. SPL 18, Speed 100, EFF 34

So yesterday I had consistent EFF 34, but with a SPL of 16, and 3 or 4 seconds slower per 100. Today I have a consistent EFF of 34, but with higher SPL and quicker. Interesting. My focus during the swim today was the trip wire today, I think it might have sped me up a wee bit, tomorrow I will focus on marionette hand, I think, try to slow it down a bit, but keep the speed.

When I rowed we had a concept I really liked, and used to coach later on: “Easy Speed”. The kind of speed that comes with minimal effort, maximal efficiency, relaxed and, well, “easy”. I am trying to find a similar way of swimming – easy speed. I think currently I find it easier to swim a bit more quickly, at a slightly higher SPL, and keep “tapping it on”. Terry Laughlin talks about maximising the speed “below the curve”: when I drop my SPL to 14, which I can do, I slow down a wee bit too much, and lose momentum. Anyway.

After the 100s I did another few lengths trying to sort out this 2 beat kick thing. I can do the right leg going in both directions, but the left leg only when breathing to the right. Grrr. So snorkel, concentrate on the legs, and try to embed the left foot kick. After 8 or so lengths with the snorkel, I could do 8 without, and it was definitely better. More progress!

Swimming smart, if not massive distances at the moment. But certainly swimming smart.

When is enough too much?

I felt a bit run down today. A bit of a sore throat through the morning, and still dehydrated. Drank 3 litres of water through the day, and a felt well enough by the afternoon to hit the pool.

After getting the intervals wrong last night, I took coach’s advice and went for just a swim; just swimming, no drills, no intervals, just swimming.

PW along for the day, obviously.

The watch says:

61 lengths.
Average SPL 16
Metres 1525
Speed 106 (That’s 1 min 46 per 100 metres, apparently)
Efficiency 36 (I think this is the Swim Golf Score)

I did it in an interval-like kind of way. 100m swim, 30 seconds rest, another 100.

A bit disappointed initially with SPL – couldn’t seem to get it below 18 for the first 500 metres. Stopped the watch, did some zen switch, some marionette hand delay strokes, and started again – SPL down to 16, and then to 14 for a wee bit. The average for the whole session was 16, so a good result overall.

PW says the watch is dangerous for me, but if I didn’t have the watch to do the counting, I’d be obsessing about the counting in my own head!

Other positives:

1) Two beat kicking. I’m doing this al the time now. I think my SPL has come up a bit whilst doing it – the temptation is to increase the rate to compensate for the lack of kicking, not for speed, but for *balance*. More balance drills to really be happier with the balance point, I think. But I will keep on with the TBK, I’m sure it’s the way forward.

2) With the 30 second breaks between 100s, even with feeling a bit off colour, I was able keep going, and it was eventually time constraint that stopped me swimming, not breathlessness! This is a massive step up for me from “B.TI”: 6 weeks ago, the breathlessness would have done me in.

Lessons learnt

1) felt tired today. Pecs and shoulders were really quite sore by the end of the “mile”. I think I have to take a couple of days off, recover, and then swim smart at the weekend.

2) I think I probably have a bit of a viral throat infection, so having a wee break is a good idea.

3) I’m still lifting my head when I get tired, so that’s a focus point for the next swim.

4) Swimming smart beats swimming hard.

I’m off to drink another litre of water!

Dolphins Don’t Do Interval Sets

A tired, stressed out dolphin today.

I had a really shitty day at work. I don’t usually get stressed out at work, I find it easy to leave it at work, go home and do other things, and keep chillaxed. But I had a hard day today – too much work, and only one of me. But an offer of a swim with PW perked me up, and we went to do session 2 of the training program.

A session of two halves, I think.

The good stuff:
Easy 50 – SPL 14, 58 secs
Superman Glides x2 – improved after yesterday’s focus on hand position
Superman Glides with Flutter x2- again, improved over yesterday. 2 breaths per length in both directions today, despite current.
Sweetspot practice x2 – I’ve not done a lot of sweetspot for about a week, so nice to do it again. Remember how much coughing and spluttering there was the first time I tried it?
Skate into sweetspot x2 – Roll like a log. Roll like a log.
Skating practice x12 – essentially the same as yesterday. Not so much revelation, but bedding in for me today.
Swimming! 8 lengths. I’m jumping ahead of the programme a bit, but I use this time to alternate focus between the catch, and two beat kicking.
Easy 50 – SPL 12 (!!!!!), 56 secs.

So at this point, all good. Felt really happy with it, and had actually relaxed a fair bit.

Intervals. First interval going great, interrupted by some kids mucking about in the lane. Shouty DundeeChest, kids scarper, rhythm totally gone. PW did his intervals (45, 48, 56), then I had a second go. 38 (!), 41, 43, 46, 50. Disappointed. Very disappointed, actually. So PW and I had a chat about getting some positives out of it.

1) I was shattered by the end of the 4th one, and PW suggested I finish off there: I finished off all 5. This is a good thing.

2) On the 3rd interval PW told me I was lifting my head, rather than half goggling – 4th and 5th lengths much better focus on breathing.

3) That first set was really nice, SPL 17, 38 secs, and felt great.

4) Doing intervals like this one two days running is probably daft.

5) PW says that I lost time on the turns as much as anything, and the form on the 4th and 5th was still nice.

So what have I learnt? Doing intervals on consecutive days might not be the best course of action. Stressful days cannot be entirely cured by swimming, and are likely to impinge on training. My arms hurt.

After the disappointment of the Intervals I did 2 x 100m, steady swimming, concentrating alternative lengths on catch, and two beat kick, only to discover that eagle-eyed PW had been spying on my kicking throughout – “You’ve done 2 beat kick all session”. I still think I can do the right foot much better than the left, but it’s certainly coming along!

Questions for Coach (Who’s poncing about in Covent Garden this week, by all accounts) – should we alternate the training sessions in the plan with just some swimming, or stick with the plan as written? Should I do the intervals every session, even if it’s two in two days, or should I aim for 3 a week? I don’t want to stuff myself up, get injured, etc. Cheers mate!

EDIT: I’ve had time to think about things now (Trip to TESCO to buy petrol and some more clear zipper bags for the training plan).

I was really dehydrated earlier. I noticed how concentrated certain bodily fluids were before I left. And 2 % dehydration affects performance by 10 to 20 %, they say. So that’s something to think about.

I went off too fast, didn’t I? Tomorrow I’m going to aim for 5 sets all at 45 seconds, and aim for some *consistency*, not blistering speed. I’m such a dufus.

I would like to go and just swim at some point, though, no drills, no intervals, just swim. If it’s sunny at the weekend, outdoor pool, just swim….

Beginners’ Freestyle Training Session #1

Today, the first day of the 12 week training plan. It might go quicker than 12 weeks, as it assumes 3 sessions per week, and I’m currently a wee bit keener than that…

Swim an easy 50 – SPL 16, took 54 seconds.

4 x superman glides
2 x superman glides with flutter
2 x full stroke (I worked on the catch, which I know is ahead of all this, but I have been called a little impatient…)

Skating. Lots of skating. 24 lengths of skating. Different focus for each pair. I’m about to digress. I’ve totally accepted what coach says about the drills, because they clearly work for him, so why should I doubt them, or him. But this beginners guide has gone through the skating process in individual stages, focusing on a different bit every time. Hand too high – hips drop. Head forward – hips drop. Cross hands in front – sink. Over-rotated – sink. Point fingers up – back arches.

Everything coach said was totally right, but doing it wrong now, on purpose, helped cement the ideas. Great stuff.

Anyway, then:

2x lengths skate-swimming. I can do a length in 10 strokes by doing ‘prolonged skates’. if you get my drift.

4 x lengths easy swimming. SPL down to 14, reaching out more. Nice.

Easy 50, like the first easy 50 – SPL 14, took 52 seconds.

Then some fitness training, as instructed.

5 x 50, 1 minute fixed intervals: fast, not flat out, but quick. SPL was 18 for all the lengths (Amazingly), and the times were: 40s, 42s, 42s, 42s, and, would you believe it, 42s. I could have done more…

After that? About 12 lengths of easy swimming, 25 at a time, trying to work on my Two Beat Kick. I am getting it with my right leg, but it’s harder with my left leg. I think I need to get out the snorkel, to focus more on the kicks. I think I was getting it more than not by the end of the 12 lengths.

Wee bit of fun at the end. There was one of the triathlon club guys there towards the end, doing thrashy lengths. I gave him a 1/3 of a length start – 14 SPL (on the watch, so it must be true), two beat kick, and beat him to the end. Did that for 4 lengths, and he got really frustrated, and got out. I know it’s not a race, and I know it’s a bit childish, but you’d have done it too…

Sauna, Steam, Shower, Home.

Should get to the pool again tomorrow, so it’s session #2.

Fixed Interval Training, The Catch, and Two Beat Kicking

Today, a dolphin.

10:30 session in the pool with PW and coach. Outdoor pool rammed, indoor pool lanes free, so indoor swimming on this lovely day.

Began with a wee warm up, then a new drill – of unknown name – working at making a positive catch at the front end. This is much like the rowing catch, making a positive action to lock on to the water, then lever past the water, rather than moving the water ineffectively past the arm. The drill feels weird, but putting it into the swim felt great, when it catches (!) right. Of course I need to drill some more, to get the muscle memory sorted, but I now get what all the on line chat about the catch is on about.

After that, some time on two beat kicks. I spent two lengths *really* not getting it at all. But then I worked out which leg goes with which arm, and suddenly, got it every 4 or 5 strokes. Arms went to cack, of course. And forget breathing! I suspect the snorkel will be the tool of choice here for a while.

Then, some fixed intervals. 50m, 1 minute starts. I flew off, of course, and managed to do the first 50 in 35 seconds. Not entirely sure how fast I was doing the next 5, but I was pleased with the speed – not worked on speed at all, just the technique, but the speed seems to have appeared. 4 weeks ago I did some timed 25s with Fiona, and managed to do a best of 19 seconds. So that tells it’s own story really.

100m warm down, felt nice, trying to incorporate the 2 beat kick: more like a 2, then 4, then 2 again kick, but I definitely feel when it’s right now, so there’s hope.

We have our training plan. It’s half a ream. I’ll be photocopying, then.

After was caffeine, chat, talk of sponsored swims, half iron man’s in Switzerland, and fitting shoes properly. So off to SweatShop.

Fiona analysed my gait to discover I have a wobbly left ankle. I think this is a consequence of all the rowing on Stroke side. Whatever, it means I need more support in a running shoe, so it’s Asics Gel 1150 for me.

The new running shoe - mild support for my floppy left ankle

And I might have bought a Pool Mate too.

Feel great. Bring on the week of swimming.