Tri related splish splash notes

pgibbo wrote: »

LOL

Just reading this log now for the first time and all I can say is WOW. Excellent log. Your times and distances are unreal. Take your points regarding your background and not getting caught up in distances.

Have you ever used any of those tempo trainers that clip on to the goggles to get more accurate/consistent splits or are they a gimmick. My pacing is awful and I need to address it pronto. Cheers.

I read something about those tempo thingys recently alright - checked youtube for their vid - Id say there's something in it alright but there's no hope for me ever actually wearing one There's definitely something in it though and it might help when learning with regard to pacing arm pulls etc - but from the video I saw there'd be loads of little beeps in my ear as I swam which would most likely lead to alot of little pieces of the devices against the wall of the pool

I remember using music alot when I swam (as opposed to messing about in triathlons) to sometimes control pace at the start of a race since tension can cause all sort of problems with stroke etc - with the obvious risk of sounding loopy - heavy bass related music at a reasonably tempo (no dance tracks allowed) seemed to work from time to time or at least allowed me to tune out from what was going on around me. Having a tune in your head before a long swim aint a bad idea but you really dont want something like the cheeky girls in there at the start of a long day

In truth - stroke pace regarding swimming is at the pointy end of technique and imho sometimes more relevent to sprinters (50,100, 200 and 400 swimmers) - if you're watching your splits on a clock in the pool and working hard you'll learn to feel the pace at which you need to swim to make a time

are they a gimmick. My pacing is awful and I need to address it pronto. Cheers.

imho they're a gimmick but thats just my opinion. Try to relax when your swimming, keep an eye on the lap clock, focus on your stroke and literally 'feel' your movement through the water - use a pull bouy during a set to artificially lift your hips (that your legs should be doing when kicking) and just feel each pull. To go faster - increase the rate of strokes your taking per lenght but maintain form ... last bit of that is the trick ... your shoulders will indicate to you when you're doing it right.

17/01/10

1000 f/s straight
2*100's on 1.30

1200

Yet another weekend off the bike and indoors - crawling the walls at this stage ... anyhow ... same as yesterday ... got a swim in during lunch - sprinted sections of the 100's today ... 1.10's ish .. which was good ... kept stroke long during these so it all bodes well ..

19/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
2 * (6 * 100 f/s pull with paddles on 1.30)
100 easy swim down

2300

Glad of a long warm up today - eased into the 100's pull ... average would have been 1.22 or so for both sets of 6. Confortable, long strokes to the hip, trying to drive through with the hands and thinking about shoulder rotations in order to lean as much as possible into each stroke.

20/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
4 * 200 f/s on 3
30 seconds
4 * 100 f/s on 1.30
30 seconds
4 * 50 f/s on 45
100 swim down

2500

Legs still sore and tired from last night. Needed the long warm up this morning before doing a single repeat of last nights block with added 50's at pace at the end. As per last night felt comfortable doing these - although the 200's were a little slower this morning. Something for the future might be 4 * (4 2's, 4 1's 4 50's) - 5600 session would need some time and a reasonable warm up.

MCOS wrote: »

Yikes 2 swims and a turbo in one day.... Whats the story with swimming every day? Is it just a swim focus month or do you plan to swim this much all the way through your IM training? Hows your run in comparison to your swim?

The turbo wasnt a great idea but due to life commitments Im off the road until Sunday and felt it was a necessary evil.

re: frequency of swim
I enjoy swimming before work - I beat the traffic on my commute and I get to work early enough to get through stuff before other people arrive - AND - Im lucky enough to leave early each day - which facilitates doubling up come the longer evenings ... the fact Im working these days makes me feel lucky anyhow ...

Again, its all relative - in a previous life I swam 11 times a week - close to 24 hours in the water and worked through anywhere between 50 and 90 km a week in the pool depending on the time of the year. These days my morning swim is around 2.5km and HAS to be done in 40 minutes so ... hey ho. The twice a day sometimes occurs when I keep the missus company doing some sets or a more social gathering from time to time ... although knocking out over 4km in an hour tends to be alot less sociable than most people would expect - but there are benefits to swimming in a group off a lap clock.

Swimming this year is much more structured than last year (based on some loose plans I have for the open water season) and Im probably a little up on average of last years sessions. But because its essentially handy for me to swim in the mornings and I can use it as a recovery session from long runs or long bikes I tended to swim alot - as I did right through last season - this wont change - but if I get run injured the advantage I have from my background is that I can easily increase the swimming volume if need be and time permits.

re: my run v swim - great question
Running in the snow / ice recently someone asked me was it slippy - I thought the description I gave of my running applied quite well 'think large, slow moving Tank, that doesnt turn quickly' Ive carried calf injuries all through last year and still find running sore (due to a fairly serious onset of ITB FS after 25km of Challenge Barca (I was pushing my luck running my second marathon in 6 weeks following the adventure that was Eireman))- but the medium term plan is to get through a base period for running this month and next (along with the swimming and bike) - and then work on my speed over 10k for some early racing (Id like the option of Lisbon half if funds permit). Off the bike Ive gone under 20 mins for 5k during a sprint but my 10km off the bike needs alot of work. My flat half marathon not part of a triathlon is 1.46.

Sure, Im fairly competitive but I enjoy the training as much as anything - last year (june, july) I was running 2 half marathons a week an a 5km shuffle off a long bike - I never would have thought that was possible.

pgibbo wrote: »

Makes sense. MCOS actually beat me to the punch as I was going to ask a very similar question.

Was your flat half marathon (not part of a triathlon) of 1.46 before you ran sub 20 off the bike in a sprint tri?

Have you thought about competing at Masters Swim Meets?

the flat half was part of the addidas series in the park in '08 - it was 6 days after HIM in groomsport.
Sub 20 off the bike in a sprint was last sept the weekend before Barca ... so yeah it was well after the half marathon
If I can stay fit when running and get through the next 7 weeks with the usual biking and swimming sessions then I can look at increasing my speed bit by bit.

re: competing at masters swim meets - very very very unlikely - when I finished swimming Id had enough of it in every way possible and I really dont think anything has changed that much ... theres a good chance Ill swim at the open water sea swims from time to time as part of training and Id like to look at one of the open water 5k events in a lake as well (I did a 6k swim last year in Kerry but ironically ive very bad sea legs and had to take a little timeout 3k off shore to ... chum the water ... not the first time nor the last ).

metal dog wrote: »

I was beginning to think that the channel was on the cards......

no - I think its one of the great challenges but not for me ... and I kinda enjoy my cycling (and to some extent the variety added by running) too much for me to only focus on swimming again - plus the variety of training for triathlon makes it all the more interesting.

22/01/10

400 f/s warm up
4 * 400 f/s pull with paddles on 6
200 swim down

2200

Pretty tired again this morning - 400's pull were comfortable on 5.45 / 5.50 but was using second and last 100 to ensure rest times by working stroke rate a little.

25/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
12 * 100's f/s pull with paddles on 1.30
200 easy swim down

2400

bit sore this morning - long warm up helped - then set of 100's - most on or around 1.20 - trying to just get a feel for the water again. Effort was reasonably consistent throughout ... ~ 60 - 70 % - keeping stroke long.

26/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
5 * 200 pull with paddles on 3 min
200 easy

2200

Spent most of warm up concentrating on what my hands were doing - good entry, out a bit, down and in a bit and back past my hip - good shoulder rotations - regular and easy kick. 'Supersize' style paddles arrived yesterday so still getting used to them - really focuses the mind on long and well paced strokes, stretching as the hand enters to grip as much water as possible. I wont be wearing these paddles on the time (mainly with drag belt) but they're good fun - 200's were coming in on or around 2.45.
200 easy again after paddles was good - obviously faster stroke rate but the stroke still felt balanced.

27/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
12 * 100's f/s pull with paddles on 1.30
200 easy swim down

2400

Another reasonable session - shoulders fine so used paddles for 100's - controlled long strokes - coming in around 1.20 - 1.23 for 12.

30/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
3 * (4 * 200 f/s pull with paddles on 3) with 60 seconds between
200 easy swim down

3600

Good session - coming in on 2.45 and 2.40 for the 200's - comfortable, controlled pace all the way through - felt a little sluggish during first 4 but the others were stronger which is good sign at the end of the week.

01/02/10 PM

1000 f/s warm up
5 * 200 f/s pull with paddles on 3
10 * 50 f/s on 50
300 stroke / swim down - 100 catchup, 100 ripple, 100 easy

2800

Easy enough session - felt strong on the pull and spritely enough on the 50's - in on 40 for all of them - working the turns and keeping stroke rate high.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Yay you are doing Valentia. Not that there is much chance of me holding onto your feet for more than 10 seconds, we must meet up beforehand so I can at least try...

hell yeah - annual pilgrimage for my usual first race of the season !! - although Im giving serious thought to the one around the corner from there on the 1st of May or so (dont think Ill ever bring myself to do a pool-based-tri, could see myself getting DQ'ed for tumble turning).

Im sure theres a few on here racing that weekend so it'll be cool to put some faces on usernames ... Ill be the one in the snorkle and arm bands