Bliain Faoi Thrí

No, I wasn’t injured, I’m not in a strop and didn’t go on the drink (although I am now an expert on Croatian non-alcoholic beers!):D. Between a pretty busy week of work and personal stuff followed by two and a half weeks of holidays, I haven’t had a chance to log anything in a while. I slacked off a bit before holidays, skipping a long run as I was feeling a bit run-down and weary from the training so far this year.

Runs not logged prior to holidays:
6 mile tempo @44:31 (7:25 avg pace)
6:22 mile recovery @ 53:15 (8:33 avg pace)

Total: 12:22 miles

Runs on holidays
1:38 miles (run/walk with my wife who had started the Zero to Hero / Couch to 5k programme @ 13:27 avg

1st day of marathon training
Intervals
Time: 45:12
5:87 miles

Tempo
6:87 miles

Long
13 miles
1:41:37
Avg 7:48

Intervals
4:62 miles
Time: 38:12

Tempo
7:02 miles
Time: 54:22

Long
15 miles
Time: 1:59:27
Avg 7:57

Intervals
5:16 miles
Time: 40:05

Tempo
7 miles
Time: 51:27

Total: 65.92 miles

For some reason, I'm finding it very difficult to get the time to keep this log updated these days. I guess I'm not getting many days in the office, and am on the road more often. Still, the running is going well, even if the cycling has been badly neglected (which will haunt me shortly with Gaelforce just around the corner). I hadn't missed a run in the marathon schedule until this week, where cramming too much training together in order to catch up with missed days has resulted in tenderness at the back of the knee. Nothing to be too worried about, I hope, but yesterday's run has been abandoned and today's 20 miler postponed until (hopefully) tomorrow.

Here's a round-up of runs completed since the last log:

July 22
Route: Home to Cladhnach and back
Distance: 6 miles (4 miles tempo)
Time: 42:14
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: 6:49 / 6:51, 7:02, 6:40, 6:39
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 7
Personal Satisfaction: 6 (struggled to get into it)
Weather: Warm, drizzly

July 25
Route: Dalkey to Bull Wall via Dun Laoghaire pier and back
Distance: 20 miles
Time: 02:44:27
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: 8:15 / 8:13
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 8
Personal Satisfaction: 9 (felt strong right through, delighted with run, and really nice to be running somewhere new)
Weather: Cool, early morning

+ .52 miles cooldown

July 27
Route: Home to Páirc Uí Cháthanaigh and back
Distance: 5.2 miles (3 x 1600 m interval)
Time: 39.27
Target Interval Pace / Achieved Pace: 6:01 / 6:12, 6:16, 6:16
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 7
Personal Satisfaction: 7 (well off pace, but a nice morning, and lovely to see other people running on the pitch)
Weather: Warm

July 29
Route: Home to Cladhnach and back
Distance: 6 miles (3 miles tempo)
Time: 44:45
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: 6:34 / 6:54, 6:44, 6:54
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 7
Personal Satisfaction: 5 (horrible run, seemed straightforward, but never got into it, struggling against legs and lungs from the start)
Weather: Wet

July 31
Route: Black Park forest, Slough
Distance: 5k race
Time: 35:30
My wife started on a Couch to 5k programme about 10 weeks ago, and culminated in taking on a 5k race near my sister in law's house in High Wycombe. Not alone did she complete it, she did it by running further and faster than she had ever done before. I really, really enjoyed this run, being able to appreciate running as a thing to do rather than training, and being able to enjoy M's achievement. She has the bug now, and is already looking at taking on a programme to bring her 5k time down. A great morning's run!
Weather: Close

August 02
Route: High Wycombe to Princes Rissborough
Distance: 18 miles
Time: 02:21:00
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: 8:00 / 7:50
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 7.5
Personal Satisfaction: 10! (great run in the English countryside, and another strong run. Felt good with three miles to go so picked up the pace. Two good long runs in a row, the common denominator being chia seeds and new running routes)
Weather: Pretty warm by run's end

August 03
Cycle
Route: Loop from home around Baile na hAbhann, Ros a Mhíl and home
Distance: 17:03 miles
Time: ??
Average MPH / Max MPH: 18.5 / ??
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 8
Personal Satisfaction: 7 (felt tough, no surprise considering it was my second cycle in six weeks. Quads felt the work)

August 05
Route: Work to Bóthar Nua and back
Distance: 6.25 miles (2 x 12000m, 4 x 800m intervals)
Time: 47:10
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: 5:56; 5:44 / 6:00, 6:08; 5:48, 5:50, 5:47, 6:01
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 9
Personal Satisfaction: 5 (Crap. No excuse either of a morning run. Midday and still slow, plus finishing up with an injury. Glum after this one)
Weather: Breezy and damp

Training opportunities this past week have been fairly limited, my wife being away and I being on childminding duties. I wanted to knock off one more run pre-Gaelforce, though, especially as I had bought a new pair of Inov-8's and wanted not to be running in them for the first time on Saturday morning!

The shoes were lovely to run in, much lighter than the Salomons I had previously been using for trail running. I kitted out in race-day gear, a trisuit, a short sleeve base layer and a backpack. The malaise I had been feeling for the past two weeks was gone, thankfully, and I felt strong.

Later that day, though, while getting down on my knees to play with the eldest of the two lads, I felt a horribly sharp pain under my knee cap. It reoccured later in the day, and I felt it again this morning. Dreading some bad, bad news, I headed in to BJohnson to save the day, his diagnosis being tight muscles bearing down over the knee cap. He loosened them out, and hopefully following another treatment tomorrow, I'll be all set.

Last year, I was very nervous pre-Gaelforce. This year, I am really looking forward to it. I hope it stays dry though!

Route: Minna, up An Bóthar Nua, around Loch na mBreac Chaoch, and back to Minna
Distance: 4.7 miles
Time: 33:57
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: No target / 7:13
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 8
Personal Satisfaction: 7 (lungs a bit tight after the layoff but nice run)
Weather: Warm

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/45788554

The alarm went off at 5:15. Four of us were registered for the 5:30 wave, but being booked in at the B and B at start of the course gave us a little bit extra sleep time.

Pitch dark initally, the morning revealed itself to be, for the second Gaelforce year in a row, an island of tranquility in a summer in inclemency. For breakfast, it was a banana, porridge with chia seeds, a bottle of water with chia seeds, half a Mule bar (50 per cent off for being out of date!) and a strong coffee. At the start line, I met Yop and a cameraman from work, and then, following an emergency dash back to the B and B for a final toilet break, it was time to head to Westport.

The cheering from the next wave near the start was great, and I settled nicely into the run. I almost missed the turn for the Famine Trail section, but it was a lovely run, bouncing off rocks and trying to find the harder ground. That didn’t go entirely to plan, though, as my shoe disappered into a bog hole and I had to hobble back to fish it out. I guess I have to tighten my laces more when offroad running, as opposed to road running.

Last year, I got straight into the queue for the kayaks but had planned this year to take a little break, take on some water and a gel, and take a toilet break. My plan was scuppered by my only annoyance at the day’s organisation. We had been informed that every wave bar the elite wave would be taken off the clock once we came to the first transition area and I had planned accordingly. While I was taking gel and water, however, I was told that there was no time out as there were plenty of kayaks available. It threw me a little, but I got into the kayak with a Westport man called Francie and we headed across the fjord, away from my home county and into his.

The second run was heavy on the legs but not quite as boggy as last year. Two weeks of incessant rain before Gaelforce 2009 had left the ground considerably softer and more cut up, and things were a bit firmer underfoot this year. At the bike transition, I changed out of the trail shoes and threw the bike shoes on. The bike felt good, a break from the running, and half way through, I started chatting with Cathal from Cong. We stayed together for the rest of the bike leg but he was definitely stronger than me in the saddle as, while I was suffering, he was chatting away with me and everyone he passed! I guess if you’re a cyclist from Cong, you’d have to be good! The new bike section was bone-shaking, I was glad to have done it beforehand so as to see what was ahead of me. I felt guilty for doing such awful things to my bike, though, and I’d say that there isn’t a bolt on it that doesn’t need tightening!

Onto the reek, and Cathal and I stayed together for much of the zigzag pass, where he headed off and I struggled, cramping as I climbed. Half-way up the scree section of the Reek, the gel I had taken coming off the bike reappeared and I vomited twice. I am very grateful for the elderly pilgrim who gave me a gulp from his Ballygowan. Heading down was better, I went out on the scree and let the stone roll away underfoot. There didn’t seem to be as much loose scree though, and a mixture of that and me not being able to keep up with my body slowed my progress. I passed Cathal a quarter of the way down, but it wasn’t long before he was in pursuit!

Onto the bike again, and the Scelp. It was easier to cycle this year as opposed to last, but I was cramping up badly on the inner thigh, not sure what muscle it was but I hadn’t experienced cramps there before. Once I got onto the main road, I got down on the tri-bars and gave it leather. I had last year’s finish in my head... dispose of bike, run across a bit of gravel and onto grass, and that’s that. This year, I started swearing to myself as I cycled further and further past the finish line, knowing that the run was going to be longer than I thought it would be. I left down the bike, but was so spent at this stage that I struggled with changing shoes. A rake of people went past me, some of them I caught before the finish, others I didn’t.

Eventually, I made the finish line in 4:44:17. At the time, I felt like I couldn’t have given anymore. Thinking back, I’m not so sure. After last year’s finish of 369th place (5:04:30), I had a “secret” ambition of finishing in the top 100. When I came in at the finish and saw my provisional finish of 89th place, I was delighted but suspected that I would slide down the order pretty quickly. In the end, I finished in 116th place.

Afterwards, I wasn’t sure if I would it again, but today, I was looking at my splits and everyone elses’s splits and looking at the room for improvement. The times posted by Padraic Marry, PeterX, Enduro and company are phenomenal. I know that I will never get near those times but if I want improvement, there is no getting around the mountain. I definitely need to improve my performance on Croagh Patrick, and work on other aspects. Whether you should go for toe clips or cleats, I’m not sure. I felt that the cleats were the right decision until I was trying to change shoes at the final transition. I wonder what strategy the elite pack went with on this one?

Overall, it was a fantastic day and a fantastic event. Big-time congratulations are due to the organisers who took on board a lot of negativity last year and made Gaelforce 2010 a great event. And fair play to everyone who finished. A tough day out, but a great day!

catweazle wrote: »

Now its time to fish out the speedos for Loughrea

Don't remind me. My wife laughed when I told her I had signed up. Her first question was "how long is the swim?" I'm going to a wedding in Sorrento the weekend beforehand so I'll get my extensive swim training in there!

Back to marathon training again today, the body still a bit stiff after Saturday. I decided to switch the prescribed interval run for Thursday's tempo run, the two mile warm-up made more sense today!

I wore a new pair of Saucony Kinvara's for the first time, and went without my usual orthotics. The Kinvara's (I wonder are they named after the south Galway town?) are very light, and very flat, but felt extremely comfortable, more like a pair of slippers than a pair of running shoes. It seems very difficult to land on your heel with them, so a good match for the new running style.

Almost straight away into the run, I felt my right calf still very tight after Gaelforce. After 2.5 miles, I stopped to loosen it out, and to take a little breather. My body felt tired and the legs heavy, so I leaned up against a rock by the bog road on which I was running, an Bóthar Nua as it's called, although it's probably been there for over a hundred years! To my right, bog as far as the eye could see, to my left bog and some wind turbines on the horizon, in front of me was Galway Bay, the Burren and the Aran islands, and behind me, more bog and the outline of the Maumturk mountains. Sometimes when you run in the same places all the time, you don't see how nice it is. A well-surfaced road, no traffic, an occasional horse to shoo away. It's heaven and it's a left-hand turn from the office!

After a brief rest, I went back to the running and felt much better. The last two miles of the tempo run being much stronger than the first struggle.

Route: Work to Bóthar Nua and back
Distance: 6 miles (3 miles tempo)
Time: 42:25
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: 6:34 / 6:51, 6:32, 6:33
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 7
Personal Satisfaction: 7 (early struggle but nice finish)
Weather: Windy but deceptively warm

Friday 10 September

The first run, post-illness layoff, and although I felt the legs very heavy for the first 1.5 miles, I felt better after. At 3.5 miles, though, my chest felt like it was going to seize up (slight exaggeration of course ), and so I was glad to meet a friend on the road and have the excuse of a chat/break. I felt the run very tough overall, but it's definitely cleared some of the phlegm from my chest...

Loughrea Triathlon tomorrow, and I feel like laughing when I think of how underprepared I am! I'm meeting a few lads after lunchtime to try out the wetsuit and go for a swim. Nothing like thinking ahead!

Route: Bóthar Nua
Distance: 5.6 miles (4 miles tempo)
Time: 39:29 (not including the break )
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: 6:49 / 6:42, 6:44, 6:43, 6:45
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 8.5
Personal Satisfaction: 7 (okay, I'm starting back again... no more slippages!)
Weather: Muggy

pgibbo wrote: »

How did you get on Ronan? You looked a bit worse for wear on the run when I saw you? Did you enjoy the experience?

I really enjoyed it, pgibbo, a great experience. I managed to finish the swim with a combination of front crawl, breast stroke and backstroke (I think the doggy paddle could have made an appearance as well ), the cycle went well, but I had a horrible stitch during the run which kept me from picking up pace. At least that's what I thought it was, but today, I still have it so I guess it must be a pulled abdominal muscle?!

Anyway, I'll write up a proper report when the results are up, but overall, a really enjoyable day, and an incentive to start swimming come winter. How did you get on yourself?

I headed off to Loughrea on Sunday morning with the bike, the pushchair, my wife and two boys crammed into the car for the debut triathlon. I had been feeling very anxious about it, due to my lack of swimming, and my fears weren’t exactly allayed when I saw the chop on the lake when I got to the transition area.

Before that, I got through a very smooth registration process, where I met Catweazle, who answered some dumb-ass newbie questions I had, and I was on my way to the start. A bloke I met down by the lake must have seen the worried look on my face and told me to basically get through the swim by whatever means possible, including the backstroke, and I took his advice to heart!

Setting up in transition, I met Catweazle again, was introduced to Pgibbo over a rack of bike (nice to make your brief acquaintance Pgibbo!), met a guy I knew from Kiltormer and bumped into a friend of mine who came along as a spectator.

SWIM
I was not looking forward to the swim. I’m not sure what the furthest distance I have ever swum is, but I would imagine (not including scuba diving) that it would be no more than 100 metres. I stayed off to the right hand side of the start, anxious to stay out of everyone’s way, and I had a nice, smooth, hassle-free start. I began with the front crawl, until I got tired very, very quickly, and moved to the breast stroke. Back again to the front crawl, followed by breast stroke, and then the back stroke! So it continued and I couldn’t wait to get around that first buoy. After getting past the second buoy, I knew that I would at least be able to finish the swim, and to do so without stopping (albeit very slowly).
Time: 22:10, 351st

TRANSITION 1

I was worried about getting the wetsuit off. I had bought the suit on ebay three years ago, and was able to close the zip on it this year for the first time! The triathlon was my third time wearing it, but it came off quickly, and so it was off on the bike
Time: 1:26

BIKE
I was worried on the bike early on as I felt I couldn’t get any power going at all, and the quads felt very tired. After about 3km, it clicked finally and I got going. Cycle was as expected, slightly better than average time but not much more than that. The usual day-dreaming, and copping on and racing when passed by someone. I really need to sort out the concentration on the bike!
Time: 39:34, 127th

TRANSITION 2

I came out of the pedals easily enough, hit the ground with a bit of a bang though. The bike fell twice on me while trying to rack it, but the shoes came on quickly enough and overall, I was fairly happy. It was a bit of a shock seeing the winner come in as I was starting on the last leg though. You don’t see the winner come in in running races usually (thank god!)
Time: 1:06

RUN
I felt great at the start of the run, no real brick effect but within a few hundred metres, I felt what was a really sharp stitch just below my rib cage. I couldn’t get any pace going as the pain got much sharper when I did so. After about 2 kilometres, I passed my mate from Kiltormer and was beginning to feel good. Met Catweazle heading home and laughed at his suggestion that I could catch him! The Half Ironman plays down his abilities, methinks! When I got to the turnaround, I felt really good and started putting down the power, but almost straight away, the stitch returned. I was passed by a guy who I should have been able to keep with, and the best I could do was keep him in my sights. Coming near the end of any road race, I’m usually shattered but I felt like I had a good bit in the tank at the end of this, and put in a big (and unnecessary!) sprint, overtaking the guy who had overtaken me, and a few others before passing the finish line. The guy (turned out to be a Belgian) came over at the finish to chat, but unfortunately, I was too busy puking over the side of the railing… I think the stitch was actually a pulled muscle, as I still have the strain below the rib cage today. I was disappointed with my run time, but there was no getting around it.

Time: 21:09, 50th

OVERALL

Overall, I really enjoyed the day. I thought the whole thing was extremely well-organised, bar some confusion about the start of the swim. I’m definitely aiming to do more tris, and will start swimming this winter. Good stuff!

Final Time: 1:25:25, 151st

pgibbo wrote: »

I was happy enough with yesterday. A very enjoyable day out. :cool:

Looking at your results, pgibbo, a great performance. Strong running as always!

littlebug wrote: »

Well done Ronan. That's a great result. Alll these tri reports would nearly (but not quite) have me wanting to learn to swim properly!

It's funny... I never had any interest in learning to swim properly, but after Sunday, I'm definitely interested!

Thursday

Intervals today, I headed down to the local GAA pitch and was surprised by the volume of training going on there. Three different teams, between boys, girls and seniors, in the brief period that I was there. The run was okay, all I have in my head these days is Sunday's 20 miler. If I can get out of that in decent shape, I think my head will be right again for DCM...


Route: Home to Páirc an Cháthanaigh and back
Distance: 6.25 miles (1k, 2k, 1k, 1k tempo with 400m rest intervals)
Time: 45:13
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: 5:50, 6:08, 5:50, 5:50 / 5:46, 6:07, 5:55, 5:53
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 8
Personal Satisfaction: 7 (felt it tougher as it went on, a real lung opener!)
Weather: Warm. A very nice evening in the west.

I guess I always knew that I could run the 20 mile LSR. My only worry was that, after my LSR layoff(s), I would struggle with the prescribed pace, and so it came to pass.

We were at a wedding in Ennistymon in Clare on Saturday, and the initial plan was to get up early on Sunday morning and take advantage of the different location for a more interesting run. The wedding was great, too much food, lots of me convincing myself that Beck’s Non-Alcoholic really was a viable alternative to Guinness, and some dancing to dodgy 80’s music. We headed to bed before 2am (relatively early but sleep takes priority among parents of young children!), and my wife convinced me that I would be better off with a lie-in on Sunday, and to do the run when I got back to Conamara. I didn’t need much convincing.

We stopped to pick up the boys at my mother-in-law’s house, and after watching the All-Ireland, I headed out for the run. The plan was to start slowly, build up pace a little bit faster than the prescribed 7:45 so as to average out the slower start, and try and put in a decent effort over the last two or three miles. The plan didn’t come to fruition, however!

For the first four miles, I headed east from my mother-in-law’s before turning around into a stiff-enough breeze and heading for home. The initial plan of starting gently was easily put in place (7:56, 7:51, 7:48, 7:47). I had planned to pick up the pace a bit after the four mile turnaround but running into the wind stopped me from gaining any immediate momentum. I was still running over the pace by the time I picked up a water belt as I passed by my wife’s family home again at the eight mile mark (7:52, 7:45, 7:51, 7:51), but after that, I managed to up the pace a bit and felt good (7:40, 7:39, 7:38, 7:38, 7:43).

Although I was feeling fine, I began to slow down again at mile 13 and I couldn’t really get any momentum going. I took the emergency gel to see if that would help, but no. At mile 15, the legs began to ache and I was beginning to feel every pebble coming through the Saucony Kinvara soles (7:55, 7:49, 7:54). At mile 16, after coming up the long hill of Ard Chladhnach, things really began to come off the rails. At this stage, it was a case of keeping on keeping on. I also figured out at this stage that I had misjudged the route, and had to put in another mile after passing the little road to my house. The second last mile was tough, the last mile was pitiful (8:11, 8:02, 8:43, 9:26). It felt more like a full marathon run than a 20 mile training run.

I stumbled into the house, and made a recovery drink. My wife had drawn an Epsom salts bath for me, and had a sausage pasta pesto dinner ready. If Carlsberg made wives... In the bath, my two year old decided to take revenge for what he sees as the torture of having his hair washed, and kept splashing his inanimate dad’s head with water.

Today, my hip hurts and I’m a bit sore all over. My training has fallen back considerably over recent times, and I have, I think, three choices following yesterday’s run:
1. Continue the current strategy of training for a 3:10 marathon, while planning to run a 3:15 marathon.
2. Train for a 3:15 marathon and run a 3:15 marathon
3. Abandon the 3:15 ambition altogether and follow the 3:30 pace group.

I think the choice at the moment is 3:15 or 3:30, I can’t see myself heading out on the day without a pace group.

Route: Minna to Indreabhán, and back to An Cheathrú Rua, via Ros a Mhíl
Distance: 20 miles
Time: 2:38:59
Target Pace / Achieved Pace: 7:45 / 7:57
Perceived Exertion (out of 10): 8
Personal Satisfaction: 3 (I did the 20 miles, but I'm pretty sure I could plough through the distance one way or another. The collapse at the end wasn't pretty and doesn't bode too well)
Weather: Muggy over the first four miles. Running into a strongish breeze for the next 16 miles. Rain after mile 15.

littlebug wrote: »

That sounds tough Rónan. I (obviously :rolleyes::rolleyes:) can't advise on pmp etc but do you think the run might have been any easier had you done it in the morning?

Not sure. I don't think really that there's any getting away from the recent shortage of LSRs. I'm supposed to be doing a 20 miler at 7:30 in two weeks time, and the more I think of it, the more I doubt that I can do it. Perhaps it's time to change the marathon time target!

catweazle wrote: »

Ah you will come on for that run, is that your first 20 miler this year.

No need to start panicking about changing time targets yet, I had a disastrous 12 miler yesterday but I am getting too long in the tooth to start worrying about it. We all have our bad days. I expect (hope) on race day I will be travelling much better than yesterday.

Not enjoying the long runs at the moment isn't helping your confidence either, try and relax and think how far you have come, here's your opening post on this logs target, i think you are going to smash that anyways

Marathon: Sub 3:40 (yikes!)

Cheers, I had forgotten that 3:40 was a target!!

As for 20 milers, this should have been my fourth. The first was at 8:13 pace and was relatively comfortable. The second, I did Gaelforce in lieu. The third, I was out with an infection... So in effect, I've done two, and another one to go.

I saw you posting about HIM Galway. You're thinking about it, I presume? It would be a nice target if I get the swimming sorted over winter!!

That bit by Noble is interesting. I don't think it applies to total beginners like me though as I definitely have to get some coaching on technique...

Do you know what the route is for the HIM? Seanaphéistín is a lonnnnggggg drag! I might be out of the water by the time you land in Oughterard!

catweazle wrote: »

Ah yeah I suppose you would have to do your local one, I am from Salthill originally before Mrs C pulled me out by the ears to the stix so it would be one to enjoy. Its more or less local to yourselves as well as the turn around point isnt far from Carraroe. I definetly think you will have your arch nemesis nailed before the finish at those distances.:D

The swimming is the smallest jump from sprint to 1/2 Ironman, Yes its certainly long enough away for you to get the hang of the swimming, probably even long enough away for you to leave the pool swimming and wait for the sea in May, 4 solid months of swim training should see you right, Gavin Noble was interviewed recently on irishtriathlon.com (see below) and he had me thinking were all my hours in technique and drills wasted. Certainly getting a half decent stroke is a necessity but after that I dont know anymore. Certainly being swimfit was the biggest help for me this year, I am not a fast swimmer but the distances dont bother me at all

IT: At this time of the year triathletes are always thinking about improving their swim over the winter. Are their any top tips that you can give?


GN: Swimming is an interesting subject. I don’t think I shocked people who attended Tricamps but I maybe had a different approach. In 2008 when I started helping a small group of athletes the first thing I said was that I would not be wasting any time in swimming training on fancy drills or technique. We incorporated some technique work but that was diguised in strength sets or specific sets designed for open water triathlons. If you have for example 3x60min sessions per week you have to be time efficient and get the very most from each session. Unless you have a coach on pool deck all of the time then I believe your wasting your time with many of the drills coaches offer as the secret way to improve. With my group I was not concerned with turning them into beautiful pool swimmers. I trained them to be conditioned, conditioned for the demands of triathlons. There is no secret drill or session that will suddenly transform your swimming. I know people get very frustrated with swimming as you improve very quickly in biking and running proportionatly to the time you spend out on the roads. But not so with swimming and therefore triathletes look for the reason why. The best way to improve your swimming this winter is to swim with a group and swim consistantly every week. It is not by going and getting a one off 2hour technique session. 2 well structured 2km swim sessions for a period of 12 weeks will have you swimming better than 1x5km session every so often. As triathletes our challenge is then being able to transfer that to the open water, no black lines and lots of hustle. I sometimes think only a triathlete understands that . . .