Freestyle skill

I've now been able to review the video of my second endless pool session. In 'catch-up' I'm managing to reach further and keep my head more stable, although I still find the snorkel oppressive. There's clearly more power to my stroke even with a habit of dropping my elbow. Observation and video are so important as I really thought that I achieved high elbow catch consistently. In a way it's a positive sign to see that I don't, as this gives me a skill to develop which once (if I can) mastered will surely result in a more efficient stroke.

Dropped elbow evident during catch-up drill

Looking back at video of swims stretching back nearly 10 years I'm saddened to see only slight improvement in technique. I appreciate that my mobility is less than optimum but I also believe, unfortunately, that I haven't always been given effective advice.

Evening swim coaching

At last I've been able to sign-up for a 10 week freestyle coaching block at the local pool. This will hopefully complement my sessions in the endless pool, some supported practice with fewer opportunities to reinforce poor technique.

I was a little nervous beforehand, fearing it would be too intense or that I'd be unable to cope with the drills. We were split into two groups, the known fast and powerful squad and 'the rest'. The latter had a  range of ability from a new freestyle swimmer through a range, perhaps with me being towards the more experienced. We did some classic drills, but not too much, and some observed swims, with individual feedback, all done in a supportive way.

This is quite a budget option, at around 2x a basic pool entry fee, and with a fairly small group size, excellent value for money. This is a far better option than the block I completed recently as we all received technique tips, which in my case, I know to be areas that I need to continue to work on.

I told you I was ill

Fortunately I wasn't as ill as Spike Milligan but I was very much out of action for exercise for almost a week. After last week's recorder lesson (maybe there should be a whole blog on that?) I faded and spent much of the weekend and beginning of this week under a blanket. I postponed Monday's circuit class until yesterday.

Swimming was also out of the question until Wednesday and I took it easy then. The common cold is a trivial illness but feels far worse than it deserves to. I'm still not 100% well but have managed some activity without falling back into bed. I've noticed that my resting heart rate (RHR) mapped my underlying lethargy remarkably well.

RHR from my Garmin's optical wrist sensor 

It's 'well known' that RHR increases by up to 10bpm in mild infections although serious evidence to support this isn't easily found. I spotted that my RHR dipped below its average on recovery and I suspect that this might be due to reduced physiological stress in the absence of medium length runs, aka sitting around at home!

I'm not going to make this into a larger analysis, but if you are thinking of doing that, this report is a great example of the "quantified self" movement (which may well be beyond its apogee).

Incidentally, I submitted heart rate data to my GP this week and the RHR of 40bpm caused some concern as it's a threshold of severe bradycardia. I'm booked in for an ECG next week, no significant NHS waiting list there! Personally I don't believe I've a sinus problem or heart block as my heart rate adapts rapidly and predictably to exertion and rest just as it should do. 

Coal Aston paths

Today has had lovely spring weather, a far cry from the months of rain that characterised the start of 2026. I took the opportunity to complete another small section of my rights of way project, focussing on some paths to the northeast of Coal Aston that I'd missed in previous visits.

A region around Birlehay is now completed

It's a mixed area, mostly arable farm land but interleaved with small woodlands, villages and paddocks. The fields around here accumulate water in wet weather and don't seem to drain at all well, so paths are often wet and muddy. Paths across fields south of Povey Farm seem to be in the process of being lost. There were historical arguments that walkers should walk around crops but nowadays the law is quite clear that cross-field paths should be cleared. In some places even the stiles are lost or the hedgerow unbroken. A wet-weather task might be write to the local highways authority.

Trees in a hedge between two recently-sown arable fields

The terrain could be described as 'rolling countryside', so there aren't any significant hills but even on today's fairly short run there was nearly 500m of ascent. Much of that was slippery mud, so not an easy circuit.

I'm currently troubled by plantar fasciitis in my left foot and the physio has speculated that it may be aggravated running in mud, where forces can be higher and unpredictable than on a well-made path. My habitually tight calf muscles probably don't help either. Some online advice promotes stretching and roller/ball exercises and like many runners I'm aware these can benefit mobility but tend to neglect them.

Endless pool #1

In my ongoing quest for freestyle coaching I'd been following up on local coaches. A personal recommendation never replied to me, a local group is full with a waiting list, and others are some distance away. I did find a fairly local coach with an endless pool who had a short notice cancellation and does one-off bookings (as well as blocks) so I drove over there is morning.

The pool was larger than I'd expected and nicely pre-heated to a pleasant 30 degrees. After a brief chat I was in and on a warm-up swim. Despite the warnings not to race the flow, I did, and ended up with a scrappy short stroke, head-up and feet banging on the bottom. The coach tried to reassure me that everyone starts off badly!

As is so often the case, my initial problem is a falling leading arm which I'm aware of and can control better at a relaxing pace in the local pool. However, this showed that it occurred when stressed, which is probably the case for many, especially in tougher open water conditions. I then did catch-up drill with a snorkel, which gradually went from tough and claustrophobic to relatively comfortable. Even with the snorkel I was nodding from side to side until I focussed on watching myself in the submerged mirror.

Despite my self-belief I was also stopping the stroke just below my waist and so losing the last bit of power that I could use. With small paddles I then had to repeat the catch-up, with a full length stroke. Without a rush! Every few strokes I was aware of a 'good' stroke where things came together and after a few minutes I was bale to manage with a faster flow rate. The flow is a hard task master, any relaxation in pace and you're pushed back, moreover there isn't the momentary rest, and big breath, that occurs at every end of the pool. 

The last drill was catch-up with fins, again, I was aware of the variable quality of strokes. I was also starting to tire. Although I was setting the pace, fins and paddles increase the physical load and in combination with the relentless flow I found that I had to pause fairly often.

We finished with a swim which felt very hard work, I was tired and in the absence of fins my legs were leaden. In the hour the coach had covered a lot of ground. Some video and commentary will be emailed to me but I'm summarising key points while I remember:

1. Focus on keeping leading arm high and forwards when breathing, don't rush;
2. Look straight, no nodding;
3. Extend the power stroke backwards as far as possible;
4. On recovery focus on reaching forwards to avoid submerging my head, actually keep reaching after each entry!;
5. High elbow is good, but not breaking the water, visualise the catch over a ball and keep the upper arm at that depth;
6. Count strokes and rest with fresh focus if it rises rather than retrospectively looking at data.

Swimming lesson #6

I've completed the block of 6 lessons that I'd booked and have mixed feelings about the time. Today I narrowly missed the 2minute/100m goal but I think it's fair to blame that on other people in the pool who I had to avoid. For some reason there wasn't a lane booked for my session, especially important as the pool was busier than usual, presumably due to half term. 

So how have I found the, rather expensive, sessions? On the positive, my sprint pace in an 18 metre pool has improved but I believe a significant proportion derives from faster and more powerful turns. My evidence for this is that my pace gain in a 22 metre (i.e. 25 yard) pool is far more modest. I have additionally noted that my arms tend to enter the water rather wide and should be streamlined better. Also to breath more promptly and not turn to the side for too long. 

However, I feel the 'intensity' of the coaching has been low. I've barely received a teaching tip per session and those I've had, I've followed-up myself on YouTube to gain more insight. In my opinion, I've spent rather too much of the time on 200 metre sets from which I've developed few insights. Overall, the sessions seem more as though I've swum with a critical friend rather than a professional coach. The former is OK, especially when I don't have an effective swim buddy, but not entirely what I had hoped to be exposed to. The coach himself was very personable and a pleasure to chat with between sets. In retirement it's helpful to meet someone early in their career and making plans for the future. I still have plans but they tend to be shorter term!

I fully appreciate that as an adult learner it's my responsibility to develop, and I have fulfilled that role. I've listened, watched videos and re-read sections of swimming books I've got. Likewise there are physical limitations in my strength and mobility, but as before, I've looked into flexibility exercises and continued with practice swims and my circuits classes.

My data shows a modest improvement in sustained pace which is great, but unfortunately it's not as marked as I'd hoped for. Perhaps it's unrealistic, but I'm still thinking there's a near magical technique tip out there that will break my plateau.

Burbage loop

This morning's weather forecast was for crisp, cool sunshine. The first dry day of 2026 perhaps? I'd planned a 20km route into the edge of the National Park with a friend. There'd be a few km at each end, to and from home. That would give me the longest run (or run/walk) I've done in many weeks. 

The forecast was spot-on and we were blessed with a fairly still day, with a little ice and even a thin layer of snow on Burbage Moor.

On Burbage Moor (with Thanks to A, I carried a camera but failed to deploy it!)

The ice caused us to be  cautious of our pace, some rocks were slippery and puddles camouflaged by a hard coating. The lovely weather had encouraged many people onto the moors so we had to pay extra attention to thread our way in places without disturbing others.

Our pace was gentle, partly because of the ice, but largely due to our shared lack of fitness. Ice and hills gave many opportunities to slow to a brisk walk but with my eye on the clock we couldn't slacked too much. I'd promised that we'd complete the 20km in 3 hours. Towards the end I was aware of light cramp in my left calf and hamstring, as tends to be the case.

The Porter Valley is fairly deep and steep-sided for an urban park

I also found that I was generally tired and found the descent and ascent across the Porter Valley on my home especially tough. Once I'd reached Greystones road it really is all downhill.