A lunchtime meeting to discuss cash flow for god's sake, now I know this is pretty vital to our business survival but it certainly put paid to my planned lunch time swim. Never mind I thought, I have a cunning plan which involved a very late lunch and dropping by the pool between 4 and 5 on my way to a meeting. But nope sorry pool closed to the public at 4pm for swimming lessons. So no swim, but I was given a pool timetable.
With panic setting in and the thought of an endless pool session looming, I decided that I'd try and blag my way into the session with Consett Masters. Cookie the coach was as accomodating as ever and waved me in. The kid's squad who swim alongside the masters was fairly lightly attended so he also took our lanes....and set this rather nasty little programme.
I was swimming behind Queenie Reed, another swimmer of my generation and actually sister in law of El Tel (North East swimming can be a bit incestuous)) she was doing a great job, with a nice aerobic pace in the 200's and I was trying to hang onto her feet.
I started off pretty promisingly but as fatigue set in I crashed and burned quite badly. I led off the 3rd set of 200's and promptly miscounted, I'm not sure if I was more upset by the fact that I still had another 100 metres to complete with no rest and then into the 100's or that I'd just sprinted a 100 and would never make the turn around time when I completed the 200.
266 Free warm up
3 x 200 free @ 3.30 steady short rest*
4 x 100 free @ 1.45 hard
3 x 200 free @ 3.30 as above
3 x 100 free @ 2.00 hard
3 x 200 free @ 3.30 as above
2 x 100 free @ 2.15 hard
3 x 200 free @ 3.30 as above**
1 x 100 free very hard
266 pull, 133 drill, 133 brst kick
4200 total
* which became even shorter and shorter rest
** and this wasn't as above either as it ended up a virtual continuous swim.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
How to have your cake and eat it (or Leek and Chervil soup, followed by Roast Shoulder of Lamb, Fruit and Nut Cous Cous and Lemon Salsa)
There was never going to be any serious contest was there, Tuesday night training session lining up against a Collaborative POD meeting followed by a supper at one of Durham's finest eateries Bistro 21; which describes itself on its website thus "rustic chic style, whitewashed walls, pitched pine floors Bistro 21 has classic simplicity; Classically executed bistro style dishes are served in" yada yada yada.....enough of the commercial, you get the picture.. needless to say given my newfound commitment to the pursuit of aquatic goals; the night out won.
Spurning the delightful company of the Fairy Snow Baby, Synchro Dad, Park Ranger, Bart the Shark et al I opted for the more refined and chlorine free environment of Terry Laybourne's eating establishment, and thus immediately faced the first dilemma of the month, but what about the February Fitness Challenge? Was I going to fail at the first hurdle, never get out of the starting blocks, be DQ'd for a technical infringement in marshalling?
No......problem solved with a lunchtime dip in Consett public pool, I felt a little guilty sneaking out of the office but it was a gorgeous day, the pool was quiet and the bright sunlight streaming through the windows more than made up for the fact that the pool is 33 metres long and feels really slow.
I was quite impressed I was able to swim on my own for over an hour, usually I run out of patience and motivation around the 40 minute mark but I lasted just over 65 mins with the following rather unimaginative programme. I did though feel that I had earned my dinner which was well worth the wait.
1200 Warm up swum as
200 free, 166 alt br/back, 200 free 166 alt br/back. 200 free 166 alt br/back 200 free.
6 x 100 @ 1.55 pull
6 x 100 @ 1.50 pull
6 x 100 @ 1.45 pull*
166 brst kick
233 free drill
3400 metres total
* I was quite relieved that there were only 6 of these 100's as I was seriously running out of rest on the last couple.
Spurning the delightful company of the Fairy Snow Baby, Synchro Dad, Park Ranger, Bart the Shark et al I opted for the more refined and chlorine free environment of Terry Laybourne's eating establishment, and thus immediately faced the first dilemma of the month, but what about the February Fitness Challenge? Was I going to fail at the first hurdle, never get out of the starting blocks, be DQ'd for a technical infringement in marshalling?
No......problem solved with a lunchtime dip in Consett public pool, I felt a little guilty sneaking out of the office but it was a gorgeous day, the pool was quiet and the bright sunlight streaming through the windows more than made up for the fact that the pool is 33 metres long and feels really slow.
I was quite impressed I was able to swim on my own for over an hour, usually I run out of patience and motivation around the 40 minute mark but I lasted just over 65 mins with the following rather unimaginative programme. I did though feel that I had earned my dinner which was well worth the wait.
1200 Warm up swum as
200 free, 166 alt br/back, 200 free 166 alt br/back. 200 free 166 alt br/back 200 free.
6 x 100 @ 1.55 pull
6 x 100 @ 1.50 pull
6 x 100 @ 1.45 pull*
166 brst kick
233 free drill
3400 metres total
* I was quite relieved that there were only 6 of these 100's as I was seriously running out of rest on the last couple.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
The Ultimate Binge Swim
As I mentioned yesterday after a fairly steady start to my swimming efforts in January, I'm about to step up my game to undertake the February Fitness Challenge. This is simply trying to swim everyday in the month. Why February? well firstly it's the shortest month, and usually entails only 4 complete weeks of work. It also lifts your motivation just as your New Year's resolution resolve is flagging.
There is the personal satisfaction of completing the challenge and logging your yardage, but for those of you with that ultra competitive genetic make up there actually is a great competition you could enter. Full details can be found on the Barracudas' website .
The event started in 1992 by the Crawfish Masters Swim Team of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 1999, it migrated to the soggy hills of Oregon and fell under the tender loving care of "The Tualatin Hills Barracudas Masters" where it has flourished. In 2000 the Barracudas were awarded the United States Masters Swimming Fitness Award for their development of this event.
Have a look at some of the previous year's results they are really jaw dropping and for those of you with the ultra competitive gene you can send in an entry to claim a T shirt or a frog pin and see where you place. It is not necessary to swim everyday in February to enter.
So having completed the FFC you're well on the way to being a swimming obsessive and looking to later in the year you might be ready to take on the ultimate Binge Swim. The 2swim4life challenge, this event is being held for the second time following its successful launch in 2008.
The aim of this challenge is to swim 1 mile every hour for 24 hours, it’s due to take place at Guildford Lido from the 30th April to 1st May and the web site http://www.2swim4life.co.uk/ contains all of the information you could need and some really useful advice from the hardy souls who completed this event in 2008.
The nominated charity for the event is Help for Heroes. Bearing in mind that Guildford Lido is outdoors total respect to anyone who attempts this, never mind completes it, and has to contend with darkness, distance and probably rather chilly weather particularly through the night. It is worth bearing in mind that the Lido is heated to a fairly brisk 24 degrees so it should be about perfect to swim in.
If you are interested in taking part (and obviously completely bonkers), places are understandably limited then contact Lesley Zimmerman the driving force behind this fiendish little event, via the website.
There is the personal satisfaction of completing the challenge and logging your yardage, but for those of you with that ultra competitive genetic make up there actually is a great competition you could enter. Full details can be found on the Barracudas' website .
The event started in 1992 by the Crawfish Masters Swim Team of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 1999, it migrated to the soggy hills of Oregon and fell under the tender loving care of "The Tualatin Hills Barracudas Masters" where it has flourished. In 2000 the Barracudas were awarded the United States Masters Swimming Fitness Award for their development of this event.
Have a look at some of the previous year's results they are really jaw dropping and for those of you with the ultra competitive gene you can send in an entry to claim a T shirt or a frog pin and see where you place. It is not necessary to swim everyday in February to enter.
So having completed the FFC you're well on the way to being a swimming obsessive and looking to later in the year you might be ready to take on the ultimate Binge Swim. The 2swim4life challenge, this event is being held for the second time following its successful launch in 2008.
The aim of this challenge is to swim 1 mile every hour for 24 hours, it’s due to take place at Guildford Lido from the 30th April to 1st May and the web site http://www.2swim4life.co.uk/ contains all of the information you could need and some really useful advice from the hardy souls who completed this event in 2008.
The nominated charity for the event is Help for Heroes. Bearing in mind that Guildford Lido is outdoors total respect to anyone who attempts this, never mind completes it, and has to contend with darkness, distance and probably rather chilly weather particularly through the night. It is worth bearing in mind that the Lido is heated to a fairly brisk 24 degrees so it should be about perfect to swim in.
If you are interested in taking part (and obviously completely bonkers), places are understandably limited then contact Lesley Zimmerman the driving force behind this fiendish little event, via the website.
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Can you do it for 30 minutes?.....and get 1970 metres closer to your 2011 total.
Another green week in swim log but only 2100 metres this morning because after a degree of uncertainty and a lack of enthusiasm the Fairy Snow Baby, and I eventually decided that we really should make the effort and do the ASA's T 30 challenge. Synchro Dad joined in for a laugh, (he has a seriously deficient sense of humour and a very sad life.)
For the uninitiated this is a challenge swim that you can do in your home pool and it's pretty simple you just swim as far as you can in 30 minutes, record the distance and then have that distance certified by any sensible grown up (not that easy in our case) and send it off to the ASA. The snag is that the swim has to be completed by midnight on the 31st January. You don't need to be a member of the ASA as it's a challenge open to everyone. So if you're thinking about it for this year you'd better be quick, see the link below.
T 30 entry information
Anyway after a bit of a disastrous start to the day which involved in no particular order, forgetting entry forms and sweatshirt, spilling a thermos of coffee over swimsuit and towel, and a frozen car with matching frozen solid towel and cossie left in the backseat from Thursday, I eventually arrived at Heworth only 4 minutes late.
Fairy Snow Baby and Synchro Dad went first and I recorded their splits, Fairy Snow Baby swimming pretty consistent 40's per 50 and Synchro Dad equally consistent 42's, to give them 2270 and 2170 respectively. The FSB was being too clever and watching the clock and stopped at 29 mins and 5 seconds thinking he had finished I reckon that probably cost him the extra 5 metres for 2275. I was quite chuffed with my 1970 metres that's a bit over 91 secs per hundred.
So after the first full month swim log tells me that I've swum 37,600 metres, and it is forecasting that my total for the year will be 473,242 metres. My assessment for the month is not bad and I'm currently deciding if I should do a sneaky session in the endless pool, tomorrow or Monday just to round this month off, that might just be too keen.
Alternatively I could save my energy for the February Fitness Challenge. One of my successes last year was to swim every day in February and I covered 78,250 metres... what does next month hold I wonder.
For the uninitiated this is a challenge swim that you can do in your home pool and it's pretty simple you just swim as far as you can in 30 minutes, record the distance and then have that distance certified by any sensible grown up (not that easy in our case) and send it off to the ASA. The snag is that the swim has to be completed by midnight on the 31st January. You don't need to be a member of the ASA as it's a challenge open to everyone. So if you're thinking about it for this year you'd better be quick, see the link below.
T 30 entry information
Anyway after a bit of a disastrous start to the day which involved in no particular order, forgetting entry forms and sweatshirt, spilling a thermos of coffee over swimsuit and towel, and a frozen car with matching frozen solid towel and cossie left in the backseat from Thursday, I eventually arrived at Heworth only 4 minutes late.
Fairy Snow Baby and Synchro Dad went first and I recorded their splits, Fairy Snow Baby swimming pretty consistent 40's per 50 and Synchro Dad equally consistent 42's, to give them 2270 and 2170 respectively. The FSB was being too clever and watching the clock and stopped at 29 mins and 5 seconds thinking he had finished I reckon that probably cost him the extra 5 metres for 2275. I was quite chuffed with my 1970 metres that's a bit over 91 secs per hundred.
So after the first full month swim log tells me that I've swum 37,600 metres, and it is forecasting that my total for the year will be 473,242 metres. My assessment for the month is not bad and I'm currently deciding if I should do a sneaky session in the endless pool, tomorrow or Monday just to round this month off, that might just be too keen.
Alternatively I could save my energy for the February Fitness Challenge. One of my successes last year was to swim every day in February and I covered 78,250 metres... what does next month hold I wonder.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Wearing too much underwear? .....but still reduced total to 464,200 metres
I hate going training from work, looking like a grown up and wearing too many clothes, (especially underwear) but I was forced to go via a Law Society Roadshow "defending Legal Aid" this evening. God I really live on the edge sometimes.
Anyway the doom and gloom from the government's idiotic proposals for slashing this fundamental service for the disadvantaged and marginalised was leavened somewhat by the 2nd appearance of Bart the Shark at training, we obviously didn't work him hard enough on Tuesday.
Despite his Eastern European origin he's got a fantastic Geordie accent, and I was treated to " How* man" and "yee gan furst," which made me chuckle. I spent the session trying to draft off him (unsuccessfully as he left me for dead) and I expect that it won't be long before he gives the Fairy Snow Baby a run for his money.
I hadn't much thought about the session, now there's a surprise, and Matthew (I'm too tired to think of a silly nickname for him at the moment) set the warm up and I took it over from there. We were back to 600's well sort of and the different strokes and teaching points meant that the session flew past.
4 x 3 x 100's
100 free @ 1.45
100 back @ 2.00
100 IM @ 2.00
3 x 400's swim @ 7.30, drill @ 8.00 swam as
100 free, 50 back, 100 free, 50 brst, 100 free
6 x 50 @ 60 free working on turns, dolphin kick off the wall
3 x 50 brst @ 70s trying to pick up the pace a little
6 x 50 @ 60 free adding two strokes per breath cycle
3 x 50 brst @ 70s trying to pick up the pace a little
6 x 50 @ 60 free DPS reducing strokes per length from 19 -15
200 swim down
Total 3800m
Anyway the doom and gloom from the government's idiotic proposals for slashing this fundamental service for the disadvantaged and marginalised was leavened somewhat by the 2nd appearance of Bart the Shark at training, we obviously didn't work him hard enough on Tuesday.
Despite his Eastern European origin he's got a fantastic Geordie accent, and I was treated to " How* man" and "yee gan furst," which made me chuckle. I spent the session trying to draft off him (unsuccessfully as he left me for dead) and I expect that it won't be long before he gives the Fairy Snow Baby a run for his money.
I hadn't much thought about the session, now there's a surprise, and Matthew (I'm too tired to think of a silly nickname for him at the moment) set the warm up and I took it over from there. We were back to 600's well sort of and the different strokes and teaching points meant that the session flew past.
4 x 3 x 100's
100 free @ 1.45
100 back @ 2.00
100 IM @ 2.00
3 x 400's swim @ 7.30, drill @ 8.00 swam as
100 free, 50 back, 100 free, 50 brst, 100 free
6 x 50 @ 60 free working on turns, dolphin kick off the wall
3 x 50 brst @ 70s trying to pick up the pace a little
6 x 50 @ 60 free adding two strokes per breath cycle
3 x 50 brst @ 70s trying to pick up the pace a little
6 x 50 @ 60 free DPS reducing strokes per length from 19 -15
200 swim down
Total 3800m
* "How" of course is the contraction of that more familiar term Howay ie North-Eastern, or Geordie, slang meaning 'come on', 'hurry up' and so on. Voice intonation specifies the exact definition, often not understood by anyone outside of the Newcastle area and thus causes much confusion for non-natives.
'Howay man!'
'Howay, we're gonna be late'
'Howay, we're gonna be late'
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Binge Swimmer 1 Excel Spreadsheet 0 .....with 468,300 metres to go.
Woohoo! no sooner had I posed the question and accepted the challenge as to whether or not I could outsmart my swim log, I enter tonight's session and it wimps out of the fight and tells me that my target for the year is sensible! So I reckon that's 1:0 to me, although I predict that there will be some twists and turns in this tussle before the 31st December.
We had a new guy join our squad tonight, a Polish Geordie no less, seriously out of condition but clearly a nifty swimmer, he plonked himself in the slow lane and cruised up and down well in control and sporting a mean looking tattoo of the star of the 1974 Peter Benchley novel. Anyway, somewhat predictably I immediately nicknamed him Bart the Shark and I spent the last set of 100's trying to beat him (unsuccessfully I may add)
Awesome Emma, turned up for the first time since she completed the set of 16 25's fly the other Thursday, having been struck down with a mystery illness immediately after that session, proof positive (as if you needed it) that swimming butterfly can seriously damage your health.
Turning to tonight's work out I was beginning to try and ramp up the sessions a little as we've had almost a month to try and re acclimatise ourselves to swimming again, still trying to keep each piece of work interesting by changing strokes or focusing on a different aspect or a certain pace.
12 x 75 @ 5s RI 50 free, 25 back or brst
6 x 100 breast @ 2.15
9 x 200 odd ones free @ 3.45s sharp/steady pace
even's IM order 200 fly*, 200 back, 200 breast steady/long stroke @ 4mins
4 x 50's brst @ 75 secs hard but not eyeballs out
4 x 100 pull with paddles @ 1.50
4 x 100 drill @ 2 mins
4 x 100 free @ 1.55, 1.50 1,45,
4 x 25's free @ 45s**
200 Swim down
Total 5000
* I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to swimming fly so I drilled this bit.
** for consistency's sake I should have swum this breast but by then I was caught up in the futile quest to beat Bart the Shark
Although I'm still swimming really really slowly, this evening I was beginning to get my feel for the water again and my swimming felt a litttle sharper
We had a new guy join our squad tonight, a Polish Geordie no less, seriously out of condition but clearly a nifty swimmer, he plonked himself in the slow lane and cruised up and down well in control and sporting a mean looking tattoo of the star of the 1974 Peter Benchley novel. Anyway, somewhat predictably I immediately nicknamed him Bart the Shark and I spent the last set of 100's trying to beat him (unsuccessfully I may add)
Awesome Emma, turned up for the first time since she completed the set of 16 25's fly the other Thursday, having been struck down with a mystery illness immediately after that session, proof positive (as if you needed it) that swimming butterfly can seriously damage your health.
Turning to tonight's work out I was beginning to try and ramp up the sessions a little as we've had almost a month to try and re acclimatise ourselves to swimming again, still trying to keep each piece of work interesting by changing strokes or focusing on a different aspect or a certain pace.
12 x 75 @ 5s RI 50 free, 25 back or brst
6 x 100 breast @ 2.15
9 x 200 odd ones free @ 3.45s sharp/steady pace
even's IM order 200 fly*, 200 back, 200 breast steady/long stroke @ 4mins
4 x 50's brst @ 75 secs hard but not eyeballs out
4 x 100 pull with paddles @ 1.50
4 x 100 drill @ 2 mins
4 x 100 free @ 1.55, 1.50 1,45,
4 x 25's free @ 45s**
200 Swim down
Total 5000
* I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to swimming fly so I drilled this bit.
** for consistency's sake I should have swum this breast but by then I was caught up in the futile quest to beat Bart the Shark
Although I'm still swimming really really slowly, this evening I was beginning to get my feel for the water again and my swimming felt a litttle sharper
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Can I outsmart an excel spreadsheet?..... 473,300 metres to go
I am sitting here feeling quite smug and proud of myself having managed to drag myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 7.15am this mornng (well it's ungodly for a Saturday) to make training at 8am. The first major obstacle was the lack of petrol in the car, probably not enough to get there, and then I couldn't find my wallet. My crashing around the house at this time of the day went down well with the rest of my family trying to enjoy the luxury of a Saturday morning lie in, and I ultimately had to make do with stealing back my daughter's bus fare from her blazer pocket.
One of my successes this week was to locate my swim bag with all of my toys in, you know paddles, fins, pullbuoy, kick-board etc. I don't know about you but when not in use this bag of paraphenalia usuallly lives behind the sofa and is dropped on the floor as soon as I walk into the house. At my most slothful I can't even be bothered to take my cossie out to dry it and I end up draping this fairly essential bit of swimming kit on the top of the car dashboard and driving to my next session with the heater on full blast to dry it out; mists the windscreen up a bit and gives off a bit of a chloriney pong...but hey it works for me.
Anyway I had tidied the bag away on Christmas Eve as part of my annual clean up, (the only time you can guarantee my house is tidy is Christmas Eve), and couldn't remember were I'd put it, it finally came to light in the garage under a pile of empty boxes. I haven't been completely devoid of swimming toys as my TYR kickboard managed to work its way out of the bag and has spent a month or so kicking around the back of my car and this has doubled as a pullbuoy so far this year.
Arriving at Heworth this morning there was only three of us initially so we had the luxury of a lane each, that is until Synchro Dad got in to keep the Fairy Snow Baby company. We were as organised as usual and after some discussion FSB and myself opted for a slow plod. Opening the bag I discovered that I only had one training paddle although for some reason Bob's Speedo hydrofoil paddles which are also a large size had somehow made their way in there, so I was forced to make do, it took a couple of lengths to get used to them but I was pleasantly suprised that they weren't as difficult to use as I had thought.
8 x 50's free @ 55 warm up
3 x 400's free @ 7.30 pull with paddles,
2 x 400's free @ 7.30 pull
1 x 400 swim.
8 x 75's IM Order @ 1.40swum as 25 kick, 25 drill, 25 swim
100 Swim down*
Total 3500 metres
* probably should have done some more here but thought that I'd done enough this week.
In my previous post I mentioned about Trondi's swim log spreadsheet, well I'm even more impressed with it. It cleverly calculates your target distance each week and displays this in a box next to your weekly total. I hadn't thought about it before but it displays the weekly total in red, I added today's yardage (ok I know that it's metreage but that doesn't sound so good) and having exceeded the weekly target; lo and behold the weekly total was displayed in green. I know little things.....
I had to laugh as well cos when I completed the box with my target yardage for the year, it then advised me that this was not a sensible target, so extra motivation there can I outsmart an excel spreadsheet?
One of my successes this week was to locate my swim bag with all of my toys in, you know paddles, fins, pullbuoy, kick-board etc. I don't know about you but when not in use this bag of paraphenalia usuallly lives behind the sofa and is dropped on the floor as soon as I walk into the house. At my most slothful I can't even be bothered to take my cossie out to dry it and I end up draping this fairly essential bit of swimming kit on the top of the car dashboard and driving to my next session with the heater on full blast to dry it out; mists the windscreen up a bit and gives off a bit of a chloriney pong...but hey it works for me.
Anyway I had tidied the bag away on Christmas Eve as part of my annual clean up, (the only time you can guarantee my house is tidy is Christmas Eve), and couldn't remember were I'd put it, it finally came to light in the garage under a pile of empty boxes. I haven't been completely devoid of swimming toys as my TYR kickboard managed to work its way out of the bag and has spent a month or so kicking around the back of my car and this has doubled as a pullbuoy so far this year.
Arriving at Heworth this morning there was only three of us initially so we had the luxury of a lane each, that is until Synchro Dad got in to keep the Fairy Snow Baby company. We were as organised as usual and after some discussion FSB and myself opted for a slow plod. Opening the bag I discovered that I only had one training paddle although for some reason Bob's Speedo hydrofoil paddles which are also a large size had somehow made their way in there, so I was forced to make do, it took a couple of lengths to get used to them but I was pleasantly suprised that they weren't as difficult to use as I had thought.
8 x 50's free @ 55 warm up
3 x 400's free @ 7.30 pull with paddles,
2 x 400's free @ 7.30 pull
1 x 400 swim.
8 x 75's IM Order @ 1.40swum as 25 kick, 25 drill, 25 swim
100 Swim down*
Total 3500 metres
* probably should have done some more here but thought that I'd done enough this week.
In my previous post I mentioned about Trondi's swim log spreadsheet, well I'm even more impressed with it. It cleverly calculates your target distance each week and displays this in a box next to your weekly total. I hadn't thought about it before but it displays the weekly total in red, I added today's yardage (ok I know that it's metreage but that doesn't sound so good) and having exceeded the weekly target; lo and behold the weekly total was displayed in green. I know little things.....
I had to laugh as well cos when I completed the box with my target yardage for the year, it then advised me that this was not a sensible target, so extra motivation there can I outsmart an excel spreadsheet?
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