www.tanstaafl.co.uk

A slightly different session today. I’ve decided it’s time to actually put some work into learning to breathe bilaterally. I didn’t learn to do so as a child and now find that if I try to breathe to my right I just can’t get my head to move in co-ordination with the rotation of my body. I’ve decided the first step must be to get myself used to moving my head to the right to breathe by whatever means possible and then try to work that into the full stroke.

After 1,000m of front crawl to warm up I got my float out and kicked up and down the pool with my left hand resting on top of the float, pulling with my right arm every eight to ten kicks and attempting to breathe to the right as the arm recovered. At first it was quite awkward and I was having trouble getting my mouth clear over the water, but over the course of a few lengths things improved and whilst I was still not wonderfully synchronised by the end of the session (still exhaling fairly strongly as my head came out of the water) there was a definite improvement over the course of twenty lengths or so.

My intention is to continue with this drill for a few days, then either attempt it without the float or if it’s going well switch straight to pull (with a pull-buoy) and attempt to swim lengths breathing only to the right, gradually working my way up to the full stroke.

And if all else fails, 500m or more of kick each day is hardly going to do me any harm 🙂

Going back to free swimming for 100m swim down after the kick did feel very strange. I was so much more relaxed in the shoulders. I don’t know if that’s just a side effect of working with the float, or just an indication of how hard I was concentrating on the breathing.

Total distance for the month: 34,800m
Total distance for this year: 182,200m
Distance compared to annual target: 17,800m under

[Just realised I’d understated my distance behind target by 800m since 12th May. Now corrected.]

A return, probably for the final time I think, to that same Swimfit session today:

12 lengths front crawl
8 lengths breaststroke
4 lengths backstroke
1 minute rest
2 x ( 2 lengths each of front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke ) 15 sec rest after each length
8 x ( 1 length each of front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, 30 sec rest )
10 lengths fast front crawl, 30 seconds rest every 2 lengths
8 lengths easy front crawl

I’m still finding the breaststroke and backstroke tough, but it’s time to move on now. I think I’ve done this one enough. I made the distance up to 2,400m with front crawl. I was hoping to get to 2.5km, but they kicked me out of the pool for the lessons that started afterwards which I wasn’t entirely happy about as I’d started late because I had to wait for the pool staff to find a lifeguard. Hey ho.

Total distance for the month: 33,200m
Total distance for this year: 180,600m
Distance compared to annual target: 16,600m under

Slightly late to the pool today and immediately I got in the water the nosepiece of my goggles broke. Fortunately I carry a few spare pairs including some for the children when they’re training, but it took me five minutes or so to find a pair that fitted and didn’t leak. In fact I still wasn’t that happy with them, but more on that later…

Given the late start I just cracked on with front crawl, working on keeping my elbow high during the pull and overall it went pretty well, though I lost count in the middle and may actually have done ten more lengths than the one hundred and twelve I eventually counted.

Now I just need to go and order some more goggles.

Total distance for the month: 30,800m
Total distance for this year: 178,200m
Distance compared to annual target: 17,000m under

Today I returned to that old, old Swimfit session. Actually, it didn’t go that badly. I’m really not happy that my breaststroke is genuinely improving, but I did spend a fair bit of the session working on having my arms moving continuously in the backstroke instead of having a bit of a pause when the hands reach the hips (more like “backstroke catchup” I guess). I also worked on my front crawl, trying to keep my elbows in the same plane as my shoulders and hips during the “pull” phase. This did result in a noticeable increase in speed (though nowhere near as significant as some other swimmers I’ve seen, I have had a tendency to allow my elbows to drop during the pull), so I’ll continue to work on that.

After the Swimfit work I made the session up to 2,500m with a mad dash of front crawl before the session finished.

Total distance for the month: 28,000m
Total distance for this year: 175,400m
Distance compared to annual target: 17,800m under

I really wasn’t looking forward to swimming today. On the way to the pool and even through the first 800m or so I felt very tired. It may have been down to spending much of the weekend two hours drive away in a large public sauna with uncomfortable seating, humidity at maximum and having my ears assaulted by a PA that rendered the announcer almost but not entirely utterly unintelligible. Or, as it’s often abbreviated in the swimming community, “going to regionals”.

Once I’d got over the initial horror however, I found myself quite enjoying it and swam 2,800m front crawl even getting out before the public session was finished.

Total distance for the month: 25,500m
Total distance for this year: 172,900m
Distance compared to annual target: 18,300m under

Easy day today after the exertions of yesterday and given that time was limited. Just swam 2,100m front crawl concentrating on technique, though I have to admit to feeling a little tired and my arms were objecting a little. I don’t think there were more than three people in the pool at any time during the session. It’s been very quiet all week.

Total distance for the month: 22,700m
Total distance for this year: 170,100m
Distance compared to annual target: 19,100m under

I had a “get in and swim front crawl” day today. And a worthwhile thing it was. I swam 2.5km faster than I’ve ever done before which makes me quite happy. I did another 500m swim down afterwards to make a total of 3km for the session.

What I could really do with now is to get my front crawl turns more integrated with my “normal” stroke so I can do them all the time. I might do some work on that tomorrow.

Total distance for the month: 20,600m
Total distance for this year: 168,000m
Distance compared to annual target: 20,000m under