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.

Two distinct swims

On Sunday, instead of a run, I went to the pool and did a 'long' slow swim. Actually not long at all but the point was that the goal was to maintain a pace and keep going, no pull buoy, no messing.

Of cours it didn't quite work out like that, my pace peaked to 2:16min/100m after a handful of lengths an then gradually faded to 2:50min/100m at the end. The average pace for 1500m was 2:41min/100m which isn't as good as last year, but it's getting close. The SPL increased showing a distinct loss of form.

The focus on RHS breathing also gave me a stiff neck by this morning, perhaps showing that I'm not rating my body enough, too much head twist.

Today I was determined to up the pace although for an unknown reason the pool was busy and so I knew that I'd not be able to make progress. The first 6 warm-up lengths went well, early one I felt to be flying!

The I completed a short pyramid set with the ToyBuoy keeping bilateral breathing throughout. I often had to slow down, even in the 'slow' sets even though I tried to make a space infront before starting a set.

My first two 'fast' lengths were better than 2:00min/100m so that was great although it's worth noting that they were swum separately. Then a couple of sets around 2:05min/100m before fading at the end. Considering that these sets had to be a bit stop-start I'm happy with the outcome. Part way through I felt as if I was feeling how to use my whole arm to pull from the shoulder rather than 'batting' the water; which I think is what strained my left elbow.

Stroke rate

For a change I swam 3 sets with the ToyBuoy at 62, 64 and 66SPM. Previously 64SPM seemed about right, and it did today again as at 66SPM my pace dropped and the SPL increased. I felt to manage the arm turnover OK so the potential is there. Even 64SPM is faster cadence than usual and did give a slight boost to pace and uniformity so is a good point to work at currently.

Unexpected pace

I wondered today how I'd do over 200m with the ToyBuoy with RHS breathing. I'd expected to be just over 4 minutes as a while ago I'd cracked the 8 minutes for 400m with the BigBuoy. Strangely it took 4:25minutes which was a little disappointing and my SPL increased alarmingly. Basically back to the old more effort and less speed.

So, onto the main set of just over 1100m with tidy controlled bilateral breathing but aided by the ToyBuoy. For this I was pleased to record 2:12min/100m average with a fairly uniform pacing. The SPL rose from 21 to 23. Importantly these results show that with the ToyBuoy I seem to achieve a similar pace with bilateral breathing, focussing, than I do with RHS breathing whilst rushing.

A little bit further

Today's main set was 1267m with the ToyBuoy and I managed to maintain bilateral breathing except when overtaking. The pace was reasonable too at 2:14min/100 with some lengths in the middle of the set peaking at 2:10min/100m. I felt I was fading towards the end and indeed there were some lengths at 2:20min/100m. I thought hard about keeping a high leading arm, getting a good roll and keeping my legs up. Every so often I realised that I'd become careless and my stroke was collapsing but with a bit of focus I go back on track even with some tiring.

Hopefully my neck and shoulder won't be too tired or aching tomorrow.

Apart from a few lengths when the pool was very rough I felt pretty comfortable and am intrigued to see if I could manage that rhythm in a wetsuit in open water. After all, the ToyBuoy is supposed to mimic the buoyancy of a wetsuit.

At some points in the warm up set, without a pull buoy, I noted that I was close to a 2 beat kick but the vey thought of that made me kick a little more energetically.

There is still some progress.

Some swim gains but at what cost?

Today's swim was basically the same as last Monday's although I went a little faster throughout. I could have had a better pace as I was blocked on the warm up and during the pullbuoy main set. There was probably little to be gained in the main set as I lapped a swimmer three times and made quite an effort to pull past so gained a few seconds there.

However even before starting the swim my elbow was stiff - Thursday's snorkel rekindled the elbow pain and it only settled a little over the weekend. I'll keep an eye on how it develops.

More positively I felt that bilateral rotation was better controlled today and I was keeping a leading arm forwards more consistently. Strangely the SPL was slightly greater for bilateral breathing with the ToyBuoy than for right side only breathing with a kick; not what I'd have expected.

Some swim gains

This evening's swim went better than usual, perhaps because I'd not run yesterday and wasn't physically fatigued. The warm-up 200m felt a little easier and faster and indeed was, at 4:42 minutes. Not fast, but clearly below 5 minutes.

I then set out to swim 1000m with the ToyBuoy to help me maintain bilateral breathing but with less support than with the BigBuoy. The pool had lots of fast youngsters and so I was under pressure to keep going so as not to be in the way. Naturally I lost count and had to stop to look at my watch, and even then it miscounted.

Overall I swam for over 30 minutes which is a distinct point that I've not gone beyond in months - hopefully my arm won't be too sore tomorrow. Second, my time for the 1000m was good at 22:23 minutes. Of course I can't include this in my 1000m achievements as it was assisted by the pull buoy, but good to see that I am now starting to manage my breathing.

During the swim I was aware that some strokes were tidier than others, with a good leading arm and not collapsing on breathing. Breathing to my left tends to be weaker, my lead arm is more likely to drop and I feel as though my head is lifting and twisting rather than being part of a controlled roll.