Back in a routine for 2021

I've settled into planning 2 swims a week although I've missed the odd one and occasionally done 3 sessions. Last week was a one session week and I felt I noticed the lack of practice yesterday. I'd hoped to fell refreshed but actually felt tired and the timings reflected that.

Today I changed the rhythm by doing a straight 1000m. I kept thinking about technique, especially a roll, and low head and tried to put more effort in as I mentally counted through sets of 10 lengths. I didn't manage negative splits but the pace was generally uniform. I was very pleased to do the 1000m in under 25 minutes (24:42) at 2:28min/100m. Looking back at PB data:

It seems that I've largely returned to where I was 2+ years ago which is good after a 14 month break! I know that improving the pace by a few seconds is hard work but it feels achievable. My current main set of 1000m with every third length a bit faster does seem effective. Those lengths are commonly 2:25min/100m or better so I am able to generate that pace even after 20 minutes.

I finished the day with a handful of lengths of bilateral breathing. These were individual lengths at around 2:20min/100m. MY goal was to breathe out only gently as I wonder if I've been making too many bubbles and thus increasing the need to breathe in! I paused 10 to 15 seconds between each length so clearly not a sustainable endurance pace but perhaps also indicative of progress.

Not quite a 1000m personal best

This evening I set out to do a well paced 1000m set. Initially I set a SPM at 61 and after 200m moved up to 62SPM. This was hard work and my pace showed a decline from under 2:20min/100m to approaching 2:30min/100m. I'm sad to say that at 900m I stopped for a break as my chest felt as though it was going to explode! After 20seconds or so I put the final effort in and finished the set.

Excitingly even WITH the pause the time is a PB of 24:13minutes, ahead by 9 seconds. If I could have completed the set in one go it would have been a stunning 30 seconds taken off. No wonder I was finding it hard work. I'm fairly happy with 9:24minutes for the first 400m with RHS only breathing. This isn't a PB but I know that I lost a few seconds in the lane and it wasn't a 400m CSS set but the start of a longer set.

Bilateral with ToyBuoy

Although my elbow is not deteriorating I have got into a routine of short sets. As Julian said years ago, if you can't practice long swims due to problems breathing you can't train endurance. Today therefore I took the ToyBuoy along and did 100m at 2:13min/100m pace which isn't too bad as a continuous set with bilateral breathing. A few lengths were below 2:10min/100m as I ha to accelerate to pass other swimmers. This set felt fairly comfortable and the breathing generally controlled with sensible roll. I don't think it has hurt my neck either.

Steady working

Over the weekend I'd been working under the floor so started the week feeling worked-out. I committed to a 1000m set at a 'steady' pace using 60SPM set on TempoTrainer to keep my mind on the process. It gradually became hard work and I felt my stroke failing. The pace data shows an overall fading.

The SPL increased gradually too from 21 to 24. Nonetheless I kept focus as much as possible and completed in 24:22min a pace of 2:26min/100m. This is equal to my PB and barely a percent improvement on where I was last year:

04/02/19 2:26min/100m
02/07/18 2:26min/100m

02/02/18 2:28min/100m

18/01/18 2:32 min/100m
05/03/17 2:42 min/100m
04/01/16 3:02 min/100m
26/02/15 3:40 min/100m

That's a success seeing that I had a few months break after this peak in July 2018 and then had to work my way back. Last year I did say that "I wasn't really trying", this time I was making an effort.

After this main set I experimented with bilateral breathing for jus 2 length sets. Taking a steady 59SPM I was slow and struggled to breath, almost with a dead spot. A higher cadence of 66SPM felt more balanced although the effort felt considerable. 63 to 64 seems best and with less leading-arm droop.

Snow Week

The Goodwin pool has been closed for some of this week due to bad weather and actually I've simply wanted to get home on those evenings. This morning therefore I went to nearby Heeley pool which was clearly stating that it was open. As it's a mere 25 yard pool I planned to do 2000 yards as this week's long swim. I forgot to start my watch and so lost data for the first 20 lengths. Then, as the lane swimming session was coming to an end I lost count and cut short by 2 lengths.

Overall I swam 1950 yards which is only 1783 metres. The pace was practically 2:30min/100m which is OK, although I'd have hoped for better in a short pool.

The first (recorded) 1000m (43.7) lengths took 24:35 which is a PB but I'm reluctant to highlight a drop of 4 seconds (a fraction of a percent!) when it was achieved in a short pool. The 1500m pace is also a PB, but the same caveat about pool length applies although, the pace was around 1% better.

Yet another PB

Around 3 weeks ago I achieved a PB for 1000m by focussing on CoachMorg's high elbow advice. Today I knocked another 40 seconds off to record 24:39 minutes for the first 1000m of my set without really trying. That's a pace of 2:28min/100m, nice to get below 2:30!

02/02/18 2:28min/100m
18/01/18 2:32 min/100m
05/03/17 2:42 min/100m
04/01/16 3:02 min/100m
26/02/15 3:40 min/100m

I've a plan to increase the distance of my 'long swim' so I suspect this won't keep happening as this session really should be about total time rather than pace.  However it's no bad thing to develop pace too as I don't want to be in the water longer than necessary for the 10km I'm training for.

1000m

In a quick after work swim I completed 1000m as a single set. The time was a little slower than last week but I did get held up in my lane twice and swapped lane once. Those few delays easily account for the 14 seconds lost; basically I was at the same pace. Timing of the first 200m was indistinct but appears to be below 5:00 minutes, if only by a couple of seconds but as the set finished my pace was 2:35min/100m.

I'm disappointed with length recording with the 935, I tried to do distinct push-offs at each length although sometimes not as easily as hoped due to people standing at the lane ends. Powerful push-offs save time too!

This evening I received an envelope of CR1620 lithium cells from eBay so I can get going with CSS sets using the Tempo Trainer Pro.

Trying 1000m

I couldn't stay in 200m sets any longer and so today I went a little against instructions and set out to do 1000m with my new technique. Despite thinking that I was starting slowly the first few lengths were at CSS pace, although I soon settled into a sustainable rhythm. Towards the end of the set I noted that my stroke was becoming scrappy and this is shown in the figures by a progressive increase in SPL from 21 to 26. I refocussed and managed to finish with a final length of 22 strokes.

Over the first 200m (i.e. my usual warm up) I took 4:54min which is clearly below 5:00 minutes although by no means a PB. That makes sense as I had my mind on the longer task. The 1000m took 25:25mins which is a PB pace of 2:32min/100m. Two seconds less will make a great goal!

Some collation of data:

18/01/18 2:32 min/100m (ie 4% better than a year ago)
05/03/17 2:42 min/100m
06/02/17 2:38 min/100m
04/01/16 3:02 min/100m
26/02/15 4:00 min/100m with pauses (moving pace 3:40min/100m)

Looking back over 3 years it is very clear that I've made substantial progress even though week on week gains seem erratic or negligible.