7 degrees

This morning things were a little hectic at Hatfield as the 'winter swimmers' were doing a qualifier event for their Ice Mile. Working around them meant that the rest of us were a little delayed getting into the water, I was cold before getting wet! Anyway, that didn't seem to matter and I managed 4 small laps, which is around 1km in half an hour. As is so often the case, after one lap I nearly stopped due to feeling cold, tired and generally 'why bother?', but pushing-on gave a reward as I settled into the rhythm of the stroke, thought about hip rotation and set my sights on another few laps.

Once back in the cafe the sign noted a temperature of 7 degrees, over two degrees colder than last week.

Although my pace is ridiculously slow, at lunchtime I did reflect on this year's progress, 3km in the Mediterranean and 1km below 10 degrees, and both are within my comfort zone now.

Four day fatigue

Today's (very short) swim was exceptionally hard work and characterised by slow length pace even with a high perceived effort. I've run for the preceding 3 days and suspect that I've built up a bit of fatigue. Also my swimming practice has been rather lacking lately so I can't expect much. I didn't have the pull buoy and throughout my legs felt tired and my usually ineffective kick was weaker than usual.

At least I tried to keep good form.

A bit chilled

It's the winter timetable at Hatfield from today and so I wasn't in the water until nearly 09:30. It was a lovely autumn morning with the pond surrounded by a palette of orange leaves and the water still, almost glass-like. This would have been a perfect day for some photographs but I've not really worked out how to do that safety (for me, the wetsuit and the camera), although there's a method here, it doesn't feel healthy for the wetsuit! Walking in was a bit of a shock, distinctly colder than last week's evening swim even though officially there's been only 1 degree reduction.

After a little breast stroke faffing I got my face in the water and completed 1km. I set off to do another small lap but decided that the cold was getting to me, my hands were stiffening and somehow the chill was penetrating. Previously I'd just felt superficially cold, but after the half hour it was feeling different. So I headed back to the beach and teetered back to the cafe and changing area.

It's possible I looked very wobbly as an assistant was dispatched with me to 'make sure I was OK' whilst getting tired and dressed. After a coffee and walk around the cafe I felt almost normal but wished that I'd taken my DryRobe. It's been a waste of time carrying it back and forth over the summer but now I do need it.

The heated seat in the car warmed me through on the drive home. I think that it's mild and consistent enough to complement the hot drink and give core warmth - showers are best avoided after a cold dip.

Some hardy should were swimming without wetsuits ('skins') in training for an ice mile, but that won't be me for a season or two...

First test of Firefly Hawkeye 8 camera

Before my visit to Spain to swim I'd look for a waterproof camera having decided that my Panasonic LMC25 probably wouldn't survive a few hours immersion in salt water. After scanning many reviews there didn't seem to be a perfect device despite the vast variety of consumer electronics available!

Since then I look into things a bit more and found the Firefly Hawkeye 8s which was available direct from China at around £100 with a medium/high specification (for example it really does offer 4k 30fps). The online reviews place it well below the latest GoPro (model 6 at the time of writing) in terms of both ability and price but sufficiently capable to be useful.

Naturally it didn't come with a SD card and it needs a U3 grade to ensure that the higher video frame rates and resolutions have a chance of being recorded. So far I've been out at dusk and on a rather overcast damp morning, which aren't good for any camera. The  footage so far isn't very good. Currently I'm prepared to blame the weather! Incidentally, the edited mp4 hasn't been tweaked at all, and is definately better than the YouTube processed output below.



My key observations, most of which are criticisms, so far are:

• The stabiliser doesn't work when running and hand-holding the camera, this is likely too much to ask!
• The colour is poorly saturated, but maybe that is realistic
• Low light level ability is almost non-existent 
• The battery is reluctant below 10 degrees celsius and I can't see it offering the advertised 90 minutes of recording
• Buttons are hard to press whilst using the waterproof case

I'll have to give the camera a few more opportunities to demonstrate its abilities in more favourable circumstances.

Looking after shoulder

Today's weather forecast was for blustery to become gale force and so I walked to the pool rather than driving to Hatfield. Ultimately the forecast was worse than reality and the really strong winds hadn't arrived some hours later.

Anyway the pool offers the opportunity for drills and practice in a more comfortable situation than in the middle of a lake. So, with my left arm being on the brink of problems it seemed a good time to focus on rotation to lift my left side more. Naturally this leads into breathing on that side too. After the usual 200m-with-legs warm-up I did 3 sets with favoured right side breathing, bilateral breathing and finally alternate lengths with left and right breathing. Naturally I was using the pull buoy to ease the load on my arms and retain good posture. Significantly I went at the same pace for both right-sided and bilateral breathing although I needed a single strike more per length. For the final set I was tiring (so out of practice) and so the slow pace for left-sided breathing is not conclusive.

In terms of technique I was aware of a falling right leading arm with left breaths, especially when working that side. My perception was also that I had an untidy body twist in that direction rather than a nice neat roll from the hips.

Over the time I was aware of my shoulder abut it didn't become troublesome, or indeed painful, so this intensity and volume doesn't seem to be a problem.

14 Degrees

The water was a claimed 14°C this morning although my watch recorded at a whole degree warmer. Really this is quite mild as open water swimming goes in the UK but it's a good 10°C than I was immersed in a fortnight ago. I was torn between acclimatising and getting cold, or just getting on with it! It's been a shame that I was affected by a cough and cold that made swimming here unwise, until today, since my holiday.

I found a single lap a bit of a struggle due to feeling a little cold and also finding the Alpkit wetsuit hard work by comparison with the HUUB I've been using most recently. Having said that, the Silvertip was easy to get on and kept me fairly snug. As is so often the case my goggles were an irritation as they were perpetually misted up and some of the buoys had moved around due to strong winds over the last few weeks. I also managed to mess up settings on my watch and so don't have a true record of the swim pace. I think I kept pressing 'Start' rather than 'Lap'. The numbers don't really matter...

After the slow lap it didn't seem wise to go around again so finished off with a couple of small laps so that I knew I'd swum beyond 1km. Not a lot, but a step in the right direction.

Whilst driving to Hatfield I as slightly aware of my left shoulder, it's been more uncomfortable since being told there some impingement. I think that my minor injury was due to a combination of overuse during this training block when I've been trying to do some sprint lengths and insufficient roll to the right. As I tend to breath just to the right I have an asymmetric stroke with probably a biased roll. The article linked to earlier comments that injury risk is increased whilst fatigued so I am aiming now to keep good form throughout shorter sessions to try to counter this. The article also shows some exercises and I think I'll ask the physio about these.

HUUB wetsuit review

This morning's swim showed how much a HUUB wetsuit can flatter your ability. For the last week I've been swimming in Spain wearing an ex-demo Grade D HUUB Aerious Wetsuit 3:5 and felt pleased with my improving performance. This morning I was back in the pool in my trunks for 45 minutes and took a huge step back in speed and style!

I know it's well accepted that a wetsuit makes most swimmers faster but although my Alpkit Silvertip keeps me warm, I've not found it to be an obvious performance enhancer.

For the Spanish trip I bought a three different wetsuits and sent two back, keeping the HUUB. At an 'ST' size it felt tight, hard to get on, but flexible around my shoulders and not too loose around my waist. It was partly due to this fitting that I decided one of the others was too big for me. It was just too easy to get on straight from the packet.

An ex-demo wetsuit seemed like a good idea for a swimming holiday as I rightly assumed that it would get stuffed in the back of a van and taken on and off in a bit of a rush. Over 5 days I put it on 8 times, half of those whilst it was wet inside.

HUUB's statement about grading

I actually liked the idea of the wetsuit looking a little tired, to help get away from the 'all the gear, no idea' image that a set of new, top of the range kit can give. Peeling print certainly won't detract from usefulness.

Some graphic missing on the right leg

Signs of damage

On inspection I found a repair under both armpits which appeared to have been glued. I made an effort to get the sleeves well up my arms and the torso well-fitted to avoid unnecessary underarm tension. This give me good shoulder mobility and the repairs didn't show any sign of failure during the week.

The forearms had lengths where the overlock stitching was undoing itself. I contemplated a DIY repair to stop further unravelling but didn't know how to do it well so decided to leave it alone.

Midway through the holiday, the right forearm seam split at the affected area. This increased the water flow through the suit by a surprising amount. Luckily the water wasn't especially cold and I only had to suffer comments from my fellow swimmers about the 'hole'.

Whilst away, I emailed HUUB and they agreed to undertake a repair under the 30 day warranty which is fair. I'll post a photo of the outcome.

Wear 'n' tear

During the week I spotted a few places where fingernails had caught the soft neoprene. I can't honestly say whether they were caused by me or pre-existing. I suspect in some cases they were mine, as although I'm a careful user, a damp wetsuit is hard to get fitted without a degree of tugging.

The neoprene bulk fabric  and surface coating are both softer and more 'delicate' in feel than that of the Silvertip and must be more liable to damage.

Although I could have hired a wetsuit at least I wasn't concerned about a deposit on this bargain wetsuit.

Swimming

I suppose that this is the key aspect of a wetsuit and as can be assumed from the beginning of this post I was very pleased with the wetsuit. The 3:5 buoyancy helped my body position markedly and for most of the swims I left my legs trailing rather than expending energy to move them.

I don't know if the X-O 'exoskeleton' feature really does anything but I did feel well aligned and gradually settled into an effective rhythm with good-for-me pace and stroke length.  There was little flow of water around me, even with a torn sleeve and I was pleasantly warm. The water was mild at between 19°C and 24°C, but usually I get cold in a 28°C pool so I consider the insulation to have been spot on.

From this relatively low cost introduction to quality wetsuits I can appreciate the performance benefit that the manufacturers claim. An ex-demo entry, to last season's model, saved money, and to a large degree, worry about looking after the wetsuit. Perhaps an A or B grade would be a sensible purchase for normal use where more care can be taken of the wetsuit but even with cropped nails, I imagine damage is inevitable.

For me, this suit has plenty of life left and I'll tidy up any nicks in this suit with Black Witch when I get it back from HUUB ready for next summer...