Bonus!

I spent a salary bonus on a Garmin 935 as my aging Forerunner 110 has remained unreliable despite fitting new battery 6 months ago. Really it seemed very expensive but I took the plunge after noting that it hasn't received hate mail on various Garmin/watch/Suunto forums so it can't be doing too badly.

It arrived fully charged which was nice, but I topped it up via USB nonetheless. Today I took it for a swim which it recorded satisfactorily.

Naturally a few corners are missed off but some of that could be may fault as my sighting technique is poor so every so often I did a little lazy breaststroke. This leaves the watch submerged and thus lacking a GPS signal. This also accounts for the start in the lake as I lost signal whilst dithering in the not-all-that-cold water. I also messed up the cessation of recording but I think I've learn how to do that now. At least Strava does allow cropping.

Today's swim went well too, around 2km but done very slowly. I'm not sure why I'm so slow as I expected the wetsuit to give me pull-buoy-like speed. I know I'm being cautious in the big pond but I didn't think it was that much! Anyway, today I was in the water at just above 14 degrees for an hour so the wetsuit is certainly helping there. Incidentally  the watch recorded the temperature closer to 12 degrees.

Not much?

In a way it's been a low-exercise week as work activities have pushed into the early evening and I haven't felt the need to push something energetic into a thin space. Additionally, somewhere at the beginning of the week I hurt my right hand and so skipped circuit training.

Yesterday's swim at Hatfield was harder than anticipated, mainly due to an apparent 'tide' at the far corner of the lake. Really it must just have been a bit of a breeze. My sighting was better than last week but I struggled to complete the second lap due to calf cramp which has been present, albeit reduced, all of today too. It's tender to massage with the roller and stretching hasn't done much to it. Ouch!

Today we walked around 18miles thereby completing reconnaissance  of all of the key sections of the University's 2017 Big Walk. Each bit is OK, going them into a 50mile whole will be a challenge.

Getting properly cold

I arrived at Hatfield primed to do two laps of the 800m lake. I was changed quickly and face in the water faster than previously. It was a little bit warmer in fairness.

The first lap took somewhere over 20minutes which is slow considering the lift of the wetsuit. I did have a bit of a splutter at one point but that was only a 20second delay! By the time I started the second lap I was cooling, my feet were cold despite the socks, the small of my back was slightly stiff but, importantly, my hands weren't showing any clawing. Half way around this lap I began to feel disorientated and thinking of the route was a bit harder, my coordination less and hampering my inept sighting. As I approached the final turn I went completely off track as I was focussing on keeping going and not looking. I nearly reached the jetty! A little detour got me on the the loop but then I couldn't workout which of the pink buoys was marking the exit. Seemingly I was surrounded by a forest of confusing buoys. Once I spotted the ramp I was Ok, and headed to that to stagger out of the water.

Even though I felt I was a bit more deeply cold I did manage to get my clothes on a little bit faster than previously and only spilt a little of my coffee.

Two hour aquathon

I kept my motivation and arrived at Hatfield well into the morning session meaning that I only had clear 45minutes for swimming. I committed to a big loop, 800m, so reasonable after last weeks multiple small loops. The water felt cold initially but it didn't take me too many attempts to get my head in and get swimming. I kept a very steady pace as I'm still getting my confidence in the water and the feel of the wet suit. Early on I had to stop, calm my breathing, and settle into a fresh rhythm as I was going too fast, but that was OK. My goggles got a bit damp by the end so I struggled to see the route too. As I'd been out for 25-30 minutes I felt I had time for a 200m small lap and certainly not another full lap. The cold was penetrating a little too.

The wetsuit was dragging a bit on my right arm and my left arm was collapsing whilst breathing. Things to try to deal with next time. Socks were better within the wetsuit cuffs although this didn't make them any easier to take off!

A Mr T sandwich (Mustard, Rocket and Tofu)

In the afternoon, after a few little jobs I ran to Oxstones for lunch. Even though I don't really use my legs for swimming much they did feel tired and that 14km was plenty.

Easter training

The Easter holiday has given me plenty of time to get some walking practice. I've even fitted in a few runs! Over the period I've covered 82 miles and feel this has set up a good baseline. Over 4 days we completed around 50 miles which is the distance of The Big Walk, although that has to be done within 24 hours.

Hatfield and Silvertip

At the end of last week I visited the new Alpkit shop in Hathersage to get an opinion of which size to chose of their Silvertip wetsuit. I'd had both a Medium and a Medium Tall sent in the post and felt that the Tall version suited me best. Ben in the shop agreed and so I left with a nice refund.

Today was the wetsuit's first test and the start of my new season and I went along to Doncaster where I first dipped my toes in last year. The water at Hatfield today was measured at 11.7°C which really did take my breath away as it crept through the zip. I had to do head-out breast stroke for quite a few minutes to settle my breathing and get used to the water, then a few face down strokes with eyes closed and eventually managed to get going. Once settled in I was content working around the small novice circuit at a steady (or slow?) pace. After 4 proper laps I could tell that my hands were getting stiff and the cold starting to penetrate deeply so called it a day.

Getting changed was the usual struggle of cold, stiffness and eventually shivers but I didn't take too long to reach the cafe for a hot drink. I was one of the first out of the water although a few of the others around me had certainly felt the cold!

February 2017 Week 6 Session 1

It's a been over a week since my last swim. I've had a cold which has really drained me and combined with hard days at work I've just not felt I wanted to swim.

Today's warm-up was slow although I managed 19/20 fast lengths at 2:00min/100m or better. I don't know why I didn't manage the 20th, it was mid-session and surrounded by lengths at a good lace. Perhaps I lost concentration?

My attempt at a final fast 100m didn't work out, I was slow, and would have been even if not blocked on the third length.