Girls on Tour Day 2 (Oh No not Evil Mutant Swim Coach 4.0)

Swimming started with a vengeance today and as feared I was seriously outclassed by Jools and Nools, the latter has a definite animal streak in her. 

I quickly decided that my role this week is a philanthropic one, my function here is to make sure that they both get a decent amount of rest (waiting for me) and don’t seriously over do it.

Now this approach means that I am swimming a radically different session to these two. We ploughed through the session and the excessive distance was offset by swimming outdoors in the sunshine it was fantastic. 

It makes a world of difference swimming with the sun on your shoulders, and then dropping into the supermarket for breakfast supplies on the way back to the apartment, brunch being freshly baked croissants and cake….

The rest of the day was simply collapse on a sunbed around the leisure pool. You can tell that the place is full of triathletes because there was no one around the leisure pool (they’re all off doing zillion mile bike rides) which meant we had our pick of the 500 or so sun beds. Nools and Jools clearly had too many Weetabix for breakfast as they went off to endure  a pilates class. It seemed too much like hard work for me so I stuck with my Michael Connolly novel and the sun bed till it was time to hit the water again

Not sure I’m into this two sessions a day lark and I think that my new coach is trying to kill me off, there was a minor rebellion this evening as we all thought that we'd had enough and we passed on two thirds of the last set of the day but…..enter Evil Mutant Swim Coach 4.0

AM

Warm Up

5x 200 @20 s RI

as

200 easy swim

200 build to 85%

200 swim 50 drill 50

200 build to 90%

200 swim 50 kick 50

Main Set

200 @ 3:45 steady

4 x 50’s free drill @ 65s

200 @ 3:45 steady

4 x 50’s swim with paddles @ 65s

200 @ 4:30 brst steady

4 x 50’s kick  @ 10 s RI

200 @ 3:45

4 x 50’s pull with paddles @ 65s

200 @ 3:45 steady

4 x 50’s breast kick @ 10s RI

200 @ 3:45 steady

4 x 50’s swim with paddles @ 65s

200 @ 4:45 brst steady

4 x 50’s free drill @ 65s

200 free steady

8 x 50’s  free @  70 progressive 1-4 & 5_8

300 swim down

4700 metres

PM

200 free easy @ 20s RI

4 x 50 progressive to 90% @ 20s RI

300 free @ 20 s RI

6 x 50 progressive to 100%

8 x 50’s @ 25 fast kick 25 fast swim

300 free @ steady pace* 

2 x 150 @ 30s RI*

4 x 50’s free @ 10s RI*

100 swim down

2300 metres

* this should have been a set of three

Girls on Tour Day 1

Very surprisingly given the trials and tribulations of our last journey together see here everything went to plan and I successfully rendezvoued ( is that a real word?) with Jools at Newcastle airport.

We even managed to sweet talk a Jet2 employee to let us have seats on the flight next to each other (necessary cos I’d completely buggered up my online booking) without paying £5.99 each for the privilege.

Even more miraculously we arrived at Arrecife airport to find Nools at Belt 2 in the baggage reclaim. How’s that for organization and after a short(ish) taxi ride, (we did enquire about a ride on the Club La Santa bus but we were told they were waiting for 86 cyclists and their bikes) we were deposited in paradise… our home for the week.

Now I know that this concrete modernist apartment complex at first blush doesn’t seem like paradise, but I just love it, sunshine, outdoor swimming, detouring on the way home for an almond magnum, wind surfing, no telly completely chilled out not to mention Corona and Ham flavoured Ruffles what more could a girl want?.

Unpack, check out how busy the pool is for the week; very. (we’ll be fighting it out with Richard Hobson’s Triathletes and the Serpentine Swimmers !) hit the pool bar Pizza and Coke (could this morph into a foodie blog) supermarket, and finally catch a dip.

The swim was glorious as the light was fading and the sun was setting over the lagoon end of the pool, spectacular sky and soft warm coloured clouds made for a very atmospheric dip.  (Well it beats having your hairy legs ogled at in Consett Pool)

400 warm up alternate

16 x 50’s 25 kick, 25 drill, 25 drill, 25 swim

100 swim

March Madness and Minor Injuries

I missed Gateshead Masters session this morning as I ended up accompanying Teenage Triathlete for a hand x ray at our local Minor Injuries Unit.

The trauma occurred last night when TT slipped getting out of the shower and smashed her hand down on the sink.

The first trip to the MIU resulted in a crepe bandage and an appointment this morning because neither of us fancied a trip to Durham on a Friday night to spend 5 hours in A & E.

Fortunately nothing broken, except my plans.  I was keen to keep up the momentum from February and the Sunday session tomorrow was cancelled so the only option left was the Triathlon session at Blaydon this afternoon.

What is it with coaches and 100's. Mrs Fairy Snow Baby did make me laugh though as we came to the last set of 100's she bravely offered to go in front of me with the comment 1 fly, 3 die! Just about sums it up really.

400 free every 4th length add 1 stroke to breathing cycle
300 free every 4th length add 2 stroke to breathing cycle
200 free every 4th length add 3 stroke to breathing cycle
100 free every 4th length add 4 stroke to breathing cycle
4 x 100 @ 2 mins 25 sprint, 25 drill, 50 swim
4 x 100 @ 2 mins 25 sprint 75 easy
4 x 100 @ 2 mins easy swim, sprint 5m in and out of turn
4 x 100 @ 2 mins breathing add 1,2 3, and 4 to breathing cycle
4 x 100 @ 2 mins 25 fly, 75 steady
6 x 50 @ 60 add 1 stroke to breathing cycle
5 x 50 @ 60 add 2 strokes to breathing cycle
4 x 50 @ 60 add 3 strokes to breathing cycle
3 x 50 @ 60 add 4 strokes to breathing cycle
2 x 50 @ 60 add 5 strokes to breathing cycle
1 x 50 @ 60 add 6 strokes to breathing cycle
50 swim down
4,100 metres

February Fitness Finished (with more of a whimper than a bang)

Finally finished the 2013 February Fitness Challenge or about 97% of it, having missed last Thursday's dip.

I also had a bit of a fail on the distance covered managing a mere 76,733 metres.

So what's next for Binge? well there's a training trip to Lanzarote next week, in company with Noolz and Judo.

I know that I'm going to be seriously outclassed but it might make for some interesting blogs as we enter a new chapter of Binge's Adventures abroad. See here for last years.

It all starts next Thursday so tune in then. Girls week here we come.

In the meantime those nice people from Speedo invited me to take the Keep Going Swim after Swim challenge, the idea being that I swim 20 times in the next 30 days. They are (allegedly) sending me a free endurance + costume which I have to road test during the challenge. How hard can that be?

For the end of the February Fitness challenge it was another lack of imagination set driven by Proudie

400 warm up 100, swim 100 pull, 100 swim, 100 drill
6 x 100 @ 2 mins
100 steady
6 x 100 odd @ 2 mins hard, even @ 1:45 easy
100 steady
6 x 100 1 & 4 @ 2 mins, rest steady @ 1:45
2400m total

Penultimate February Swim brings Binge back on track

I'm just about back on track for my 2013 mile a day challenge and Mr David Kinson (whose somewhat delayed arrival in this world caused a significantly hectic weekend for his dad and his mum to miss our wedding (the following day)) feigned interest in how I was getting on .

So David as promised (ok a day late) here's my Slog because trying to work out a counting widget thing is way beyond my technical ability.

133 free, 66 kick
66 swim 66 pull 66 kick
8 x 100 hard @ 2:00
200 steady @ 4 mins
8 x 100 alternate odd hard @ 2 mins, even steady @ 1: 45
66 swim, 66 kick, 66 swim
8 x 100 1 & 4 @ 2:00 hard, the rest steady @ 1:45
200 stretch
100 breast @ 2:00
66 breast @ 1:30
33 breast
233 swim down
3833 metres

Notes from a far flung Newcastle Outpost

Unusually for me I had an early morning swim today. I had a meeting in Newcastle at 9am and agreed to drive Teenage Triathlete to school.

I dropped her off around 7:40 and then thought about making my way to Gosforth (where my meeting was) to swim in the local pool there.

Now I've never swum at Gosforth Pool and had only the haziest idea of where it was located. I noticed en route to school that I'd driven past Fenham Pool and fearing a Tom Tom trauma, I thought it would be easier to go for a splash there.

What a great choice, a lovely old pool, with 2 lanes roped off and about 5 other people swimming laps. The water temperature was a great 27.6 and I was helpfully warned by the receptionist that I only had 65 minutes  of swimming left before the schools programme. I assured him that would be more than ample time.

I took things fairly easy and realised pretty early on that this was a yard pool which made a nice change.

I did plan to swim twice today to try and boost my yardage but a poorly teenage triathlete made  me feel really guilty as I was leaving the house this evening.

500 warm up swim 100, pull 100, kick 100 pull 100, swim 100
12 x 100 @ 1:45
8 x 50's
200 swim down
2300 yds
2000 metres

Random Acts of Kindness (or is Evil Mutant Swim Coach Losing his Touch?)

Is there no end to the selfless dedication exhibited by Evil Mutant Swim Coach 1.0 in catering to every whim of his swimmers?

Tonight this included digging out my kick board from under a pile of swimming aids on the pool side and handing it to me just in time for me to leave the wall for my next repeat.

Not only was there this random act of kindness but on realising that everyone's kick boards were at the wrong end of the pool he quickly gathered up about 14 of them and fair legged it to the other end of the pool to hand them out.

Careful Martin or I might have to think of a new name.

200 free
133 pull
66 kick
133 free
66 pull
66 swim
400 @ 6:30
3 x 133 @ 2:40
300 @ 5:15
3 x 100 @ 2:00
200 @ 3:30
3 x 66 @ 1:20
100 @ 1:45
 3 x 33 @ 40s
200 loosen
200 mixed swim down 33 swim 33 kick
3000 metres