Pullbuoy timetrail barrier smashed

Whilst working with Julian in London I'd tried a few time to break 8:00minutes for a 400m set with the pullbuoy and whilst I'd come close a year ago I hadn't made clear gains on this over the previous year.

For the last month I've barely used the pullbuoy and have been focusing on the catch phase and have increased my pace remarkably for both single lengths and up to 1000m. Last night I thought I should be able to break the 8:00minute barrier now and today's swim seemed the perfect opportunity.

After a 200m warm-up I set to the trial trying to focus on the catch and hoping the pace would follow.  It was great to rest my legs. Anyway, at the end I could see from my watch that I'd done a great time:

There was some loss of pace towards the end of the set including one length below target pace with some excellent times in the middle the outcome was secure.

After this set really I'd done enough, my arms were tired and working without the pullbuoy felt laborious, but after such a great success the final few lengths weren't psychologically important.

February 20147 Week 5 Session 3

Not too bad today, a sub 5:00 minute warm-up and then 66m intervals. Of these 9/11 'fast' intervals were better than 2:00min/100m and the other two were very close. It was great to see that I achieved 1:50min/100m for one set. My 'steady' sets faded as well as the faster ones but even at the end I was at 2:14min/100m.

Looking at SPL is positive too as I managed between 20 and 22 SPL for my fast sets, naturally more towards the end of the session. Over the last year I've certainly knocked a stroke or two off each length whilst maintaining g, or possibly improving, pace.

February 2017 Week 4 Session 1

Perhaps I started today's swim not quite as tired as usual as I only managed half a run yesterday afternoon. Whether that was really the cause, I managed to get a good pace throughout the session. All 16 'fast' lengths were under 2:00min/100m and 12 were better than 1:50min/100m. I've tried a final 100m set 'just to see' in previous weeks and repeated it today. Even though I'd already swum over 1km I achieved 1:57min for a 100m set. I'm pleased with that.

I did think about my stroke slightly differently today. I still aimed to reach with the left arm and aim for 1 o'clock with my right arm but perhaps not quite as far. I also thought about a high elbow, but not sure whether I achieved that! For the fast lengths I was around 68 SPM so I might have gained more by being bit more cautious there.

I think I might have a new PB with a length at 33.1seconds.

April 2016 Week 14 Session 1

I'm on an extended block as I've not been able to book in with Julian. Today was the long swim and pacing was consistent although not snappy.

April 2016 Week 11 Session 2

This session showed a data error on the Garmin Swim which makes me wonder about the  accuracy of all of my previous swims! One set was recorded with a total time of just under 15 minutes and yet adding up the individual lengths it was closer to 18 minutes. Oddly, the watch knows that this is the case as the average pace of that set is shown correctly. The 'missing' time seems to have been allocated excessively to a 'rest' as there is now way that I stopped for over 2 minutes, in the same way that  800m in less than 15 minutes isn't going to happen in the next day or so.

On a more positive note I did manage 6 lengths at a pace better than 2:00min/100m and I didn't fade as much as I have previously at the end of the session.

Looking back it's great that today I managed all three 800m sets in under 18 minutes, corresponding to less than 9 minutes for 400m. This is distance for the time trials I've been doing and 1 year ago in August 2015 my time was 9:07 minutes. Today, in my final set, I beat that having already swum 2000m.

April 2016 Week 2 Session2

I'm not used to Sunday swims and sometimes the pool isn't conducive to a good training session. Today I had no excuses except that I forgot what I should have been doing, or rather, how much I had to do. The routine was fairly simple; 6 easy and then 2 fast lengths.

I managed that fairly well, especially earlier in the session, but of course I faded towards the end. Importantly on my first 2 seats I achieved 2:00min/100m pace for the last fast lengths although I'd dropped to 2:12min/100m for the last set.

April 2016 Week 2 Session 1

Session 1 has been the long routine in my SwimSmooth programmes and continues to be. Today I managed to loose count, and took the turns at the end of lengths so gently that the Garmin Swim failed to register a handful of lengths. Mentally I felt as though I'd done enough and had been in the water nearly an hour and a half so called it a day. My suspicions were right in that I had done 2 lengths over target. A longest ever swim of 3600m, admittedly nearly all with the pull buoy. In fairness though, the warm up was under 5:20min so working with legs is improving.

I  did try to pace myself well and set off gently, even too slowly I thought, but even so there's a clear drop off in pace with time. From the second half of the middle set I made an effort to work harder and by the end of the fifth set I was 'digging deep'. The fatigue is also apparent in strokes/length, as I've noted before, in that for the first set I averaged 18 strokes per length which progressively increased 19, 20, 21 until the final set again averaged 21 strokes per length. I'm not sure if it's worth noting but in my arm up with legs I was at 22 strokes per length.

Looking back at my data it is clear that since January I can document that I'm now going further and faster with fewer strokes per length.

April 2016 Week 1 Session 2

After a week of not swimming today's session felt rather unfamiliar. The warm-up set was over 5:30min, the first time this has happened in weeks, mainly due to the lane being blocked.

The main session comprised sets of 6 lengths slow and then 2 fast, being repeated 10 times; potentially with a rest every 2 sets. Despite starting slowly my early fast sets weren't any better paced but as I settled in (read tired?) there was more distinction. I managed lengths at paces of 2:05 and 2:01min/100m in the middle. By the end I was slower but managed to set up my pace by 10s for the 'fast' pair. Initially the lane was fine but towards the end it became busy and that stopped me doing as well as I could have and spoilt the data recording.

The first week on one of Julian's programmes is always physically demanding and a bit confusing as I'm not sure what is needed and how fatigued I'll be. By the end of the 12 week block I feel in need of a change. This reminds me of the very old fashioned 'Muscle Confusion Principle' from the Weider training programme!

Naturally some sort of scheme is needed too to make sure that overload is progressive and focussed o weak spots. This isn't an excuse to be totally random...

January 2016 Week 8 Session 1

This afternoon I didn't achieve any PBs but it was a fabulous session. The warm-up was only 0.5s slower than my PB and I thought I went leisurely.  Then the 8 'easy' sets of 400m were done gently and I didn't have much desire to finish; more wouldn't have been a problem. Better still, my pace faded less than it did last week giving a good result from an apparently lazy first few sets.

In terms of technique I was trying to reach well and also move my shoulders on each reach, all part of being relaxed, and not board-like, I suppose. Importantly I was thinking about not lifting my head and thus avoiding a 'slap' from the water after each breath. With good positioning and a long stroke it all felt more comfortable, even towards the end. It is very clear that the more 'effort' I make the less efficient I become.  For one or 2 lengths working hard makes me faster but after those I'm simply splashing.

January 2016 Week 7 Session 1

I've been busy at work except for Tuesday evening when we went to a concert (and of course the Wednesday circuit!) and so I've not been able to go for a swim until today. That means I've had a good rest and went into today's swim feeling relatively fresh.

The warm-up went well with a total time under 5:30 and a good increase  in pace towards the end. The 7 sets of 400m didn't feel as far as they have the previous weeks, but still enough to feel tiring! I knew I was losing power and form during the swim and the figures show a clear reduction in pace and an increase in strokes/length. In fairness the first 4 sets were moderately consistent but it was in the last 3 that power really went down. That's after about 40 minutes, this is intended to be an endurance session.

Furthest ever, which felt uphill some of the time

The overall pace has improved by a few seconds each week since week 5 and the distance today was another PB at 3066m, so there is distinct progress.

January 2016 Week 5 Session 1

After work I had enough enthusiasm to start the swims for week 5. It called for 7 sets of 400m and I started with 200m warm up.  The latter wasn't on the programme and I think I might skip it in future! I thought I did it sensibly although the water was calm and I had an empty lane so that I could go at my own pace. This combination resulted in a clear 200m warm-up PB:

I started the main sets gently knowing that there was a lot of work ahead but even then I lost pace through the 75 minutes from 2:20min/100 to 2:32min/100m. I suspect that I found the session hard because I haven't done Session 1 consistently though the first 4 weeks.

January 2016 Week 2 Session 3

It's been a light week of running as I don't feel very well (I'm blaming a late effect of radiotherapy) but swimming seems fine. I'm even wondering if the medication is giving me an edge!

A PB length, good stroke count too!

Today's fast/slow sets went well. In the first set I managed 3 lengths at a 2:00min/100m pace whilst in the second set I was 10% slower but still managed to achieve a distinction between lengths. As required by the plan, I made an effort to keep a long stroke on both slow and fast lengths. Previously greater-effort lengths have suffered from a high arm turnover and little improvement in pace. Today I managed to go faster whilst keeping the stroke count down. As usual it increased even as pace fell as I tired but early lengths showed promise. A two minute 100m is in reach.

End of swimming week 10

I'd hoped to do the third swim of week 10 yesterday but the pool opening hours didn't fit in well with other things I wanted to do. Today I did 4 sets of 66m alternates which went very well. Once again I managed the warm-up at better than 3:00min/100m pace again so this is becoming something I can do reproducibly.

Two lengths were at 2:01min/100m pace including one in the second set so I'm getting slightly faster and able to do fast/slow better too. The first 3 sets had at least 5s per length differential but this dropped to 2s in the last few reps.

October 2015 Week 5 Session 1

Across the five sets of 400m I slowed from a 2:23min/100m pace to around 2:40m/100m. Although I was fatiguing across the session I was pleased to see that within a set I maintained pace fairly well. This was done by starting feeling very leisurely and then thinking about working progressively harder.

The pacing is similar to that of a few weeks back when I was doing 300m sets so I suppose that shows progress although it's not terribly convincing!

October 2015 Week 1 Session 1

For a change I entered the pool with just the pull buoy and no other aids. Notably there was someone else with fins so there is a bit of a trend developing.

Today's session was 7x300m juts trying to keep a regular relaxed pace. As time went on they became harder and I found I was struggling with waves. Whether the pool really was getting rougher or I was just finding it harder to cope is unclear. It was evident however that my pace slackened across the sets from around 2:30min/100m to over 2:40min/100m. That's perhaps not too surprising as it is over 2km and that's quite a bit for me still.

I've found that the watch has missed a few lengths in the last couple of sessions and assume this must be where I turn very promptly, without a pause but don't manage a decent push off. That tends to happen when there's congestion at the end of the pool. It is good though that I'm not pausing; although in general I'm not finding the arms-only approach aerobically intense.

August 2015 Week 3 Session 3

I'm making fair progress through my August swimming programme and this morning I managed to make a reasonable job of increasing the intensity in steps between sets.

Pace is grey and strokes in yellow

For the 4 supersets I managed small, but clear, increases in pace between the supposed slow, medium and fast sets. The slow sets were swum rather too leisurely, I suppose to help make the increase in effort, and that might explain whey the stroke count is higher; really I was being inefficient.

It's interesting that the longer set, completed with a snorkel, is at the fast range of pace. I'm finding that I can focus on catch fairly well when there's no issue with breathing. I suppose the whole idea of the superset is to reinforce good arm positioning and effort and then try to maintain it when breathing is introduced.

For the first 3 supersets I maintained my pace well but for the 4th I was clearly tiring. Very importantly I've recorded a clear increase in pace for these sets over the first 3 weeks of the programme. I hope I'm able to carry on doing that.

August 2015 Week 1 Session 1

The HUUB pull buoy arrived in today's post and so I took a few hours off work to start on the next 8 week swimming block. This block is centred on arm work, especially the vertical forearm and so the kit list is reduced to snorkel and the pull buoy (PB). A  bit easier to transport than the training fins.

A stock image from HUUB

After the warm up I had a few sets of acclimatisation and then 14x 100m with the first half with snorkel and the second half without. My times were much faster than without the PB but more importantly I was able to focus on a  reach and find time to think about my forearm positioning. I was able to stay within the rest interval and oddly I even started to get a bit cool - I suppose because I wasn't using my legs.

My final cool-down set was done without the PB and that was awful - it felt as if my legs were hauled into the depths of the pool! I can see why PB training is controversial as although I've had great arm workout and been able to focus on stroke technique I've been misled into my speed. I think I'll do a few floating drills next session to focus on keeping my legs up without the need to kick. The PB has really highlighted the importance of streamlining to me.

August 8 week review

This morning I was in East Acton for my 8 week review. I had to admit that I'd not kept up with the previous plan and that I was acutely aware of lack of progress. That sounds very negative but I could report some gains too. Julian noted that my legs were still dropping and acting as an anchor. After some discussion about my training goals, which had to include an agreement that my technique would never be 'textbook', we agreed that it was reasonable to use a pull buoy for training. This would replicate the buoyancy of a wetsuit which is fine since I stated that I'd like to be strong enough to try an open water swim.

For most of the session that followed I used a large pull buoy  that provided enough lift to streamline me. This week's 400m time trial was just over 9 minutes so 10% faster than 2 months ago. That doesn't sound all that much especially since I was aided by a float.

Fair catch on left arm, but aren't they weedy arms?

The second major issue is my weak catch where I'm still struggling to get a vertical forearm. A little practice, especially with a snorkel so that I didn't need to think about breathing, gave some progress. I do have a problem of over thinking but if I don't concentrate what little technique I have fades away.

My new programme is based around the pull buoy and forearm positioning with some speed and endurance sets thrown in.