Toiler's Constant

Oryx

Dory Dory wrote: »

Wait a minute!!!! Are you signing up for a distance OW event missy? When is it....and how cold will the water be??? (you can't have all the fun with these studs, you know!).

Stranger things have happened. but I know nothing of this race. Yet.

Oryx

Kurt Godel wrote: »

may be followed by Smackdown II... followed by hot cocoa and Irish Dancing in a small caravan

How very Fr Ted.

Edit. Cant do the 27th anyway

Kurt Godel

Oryx wrote: »

How very Fr Ted.

Link for our bewildered American cousins

Dory Dory

I love dancing and cocoa. Together or separately, either way is fine with me.

Thanks for the link. Didn't see where I could access the video (probably me), but I'll google for another link later.

Kurt Godel

Sun 4,000m swim

500m wu
500m pull bouy
5x(100m ripple, 100m hip, 100m pull, 100m swim)
500m pull
500m various warm down

More practice on hand entry today. The temptation is to go faster on the drills, but where's the use in that? Better to slow and concentrate on the stroke. Something fell into place towards the end of the session, and I was catching the water nicely. It's all to do with bending the elbow, and being a bit stiffer and forceful on entry.

Sun pm 42 mins turbo

Kurt Godel

Weekly Summary|Session|Comment

Monday|4,200m swim|drills
Tuesday|47min turbo|Sufferfest Revolver, 16x(min hard, min easy). Wrecked.
Wednesday|3,800m swim|Drills
Thursday|3,050m club swim|Main 12x200m, found this okay.
Friday|13.8k run, 65 min turbo|First run in a while, 4:47 pace run, happy with that.
Saturday|65 min turbo| Steady
Sunday|4,000m swim, 42 mins turbo| drills

Weekly km|Swim 15.05k Bike 104k Run 13.84k|Longest swim week yet
2013 km|Swim 69.25 Bike 509 Run 164.34


Once again, a swim-heavy week. The coached session seemed easier than usual, since my stroke is developing. I got some good "tired arms" feedback from the coach, so todays drills tried to address that aspect. I hope to be tumble turning in a few weeks, having started to practice this week.
Biking is coming along, no long spins yet, though since I won't be racing more than 40km, perhaps the turbo will suffice for a bit longer?
Running- although the volume is very small, I'm happy with where I stand, pace-wise. I've shed a fair amount of weight, and have firmed up in other places, so my stride is better than the usual plod of the past couple of years. Missed out on a fartlek session, which will need to be included from next week.

mad m

Kurt,

Do you think bike work has helped you be a better swimmer, I mean fitter etc?

Kurt Godel

mad m wrote: »

Kurt,

Do you think bike work has helped you be a better swimmer, I mean fitter etc?

Hi mad m,

I'm coming from a jogging background (marathons), only started swimming a year ago to overcome a running stress injury. So I had a good aerobic base, and started swimming longer and longer (getting up to 3 or 4km straight a session) without much issue. Recently, times have improved owing to coached stroke work and doing shorter, structured sets.

I don't know if one discipline necessarily "helps" improvements in another (I'm Tri-focussed), but what I have noticed is that I can do more "balls to the wall" sessions by alternating between disciplines, and avoiding overuse stresses. If I was training for a purely swim focus, I'd up the swim sessions and still run and/or bike, but they would be at a much lower intensity (purely for recovery/enjoyment). So I don't really think biking adds much to my swim fitness at all. Perhaps if I get more focussed in the water, I'll use long runs/bikes which would transfer well into swim aerobic fitness (but I'm sure there are more swim-specific ways to do this!:))

Do you currently bike/run to complement swimming at all?

mad m

No, only bike I've used was a static bike in circuit training last year. Doing some weight training twice a week geared towards core work, plus one day a week I do a boot camp, on top of all this I try and get in 4 swims a week, at least two are half drills and main sets.

Was thinking of trying out spin class that's why I was asking about cycling, I know it's not the same as actual bike training but better than nothing.

Kurt Godel

mad m wrote: »

No, only bike I've used was a static bike in circuit training last year. Doing some weight training twice a week geared towards core work, plus one day a week I do a boot camp, on top of all this I try and get in 4 swims a week, at least two are half drills and main sets.

Was thinking of trying out spin class that's why I was asking about cycling, I know it's not the same as actual bike training but better than nothing.

I'm a big believer in having a reason for every session. So with that in mind- what do you hope to gain from spinning classes (or bike work in general) that would add to your swimming?

And seeing as we have a swimmer here:), do you do any resistance pool work? Bands, tshirts for drag, ankle weights, etc? (I'm just curious myself, I've no opinion on them!)

mad m

Have done some resistance band work, but it was hit and miss but found it good after a set especially to stretch my back/triceps. The bands are great to bring away with you if your on hols, very easy to pack away. Always find when I go on hols my fitness levels plummet. I suppose I want to get my endurance level up, be that bit fitter. Some of the lads in the pool do spinning and swear by it to improve fitness level.

I got into doing weights last year to lose some weight, have lost near enough to 2 stone. So at a steady 76kg now. But have not beefed up, just toned up, big muscles are no good for swimmers. Have found doing core work in general vastly improved my swimming and my times. Have never done ankle weights, but really believe in paddles and drill work, you can get those drag shorts to fit over your swim shorts, these would be better than a tshirt. They do make you work that little bit harder.

Kurt Godel

Mon 3,000m swim

1,000m warm up (1:50 pace)
5x100m off 1:50 (in 1:38, 1:41, 1:44, 1:44, 1:42)
60 secs rest
5x100m off 1:45 (in 1:36, 1:41, 1:42, 1:44, 1:42)
60 secs rest
5x100m off 1:40 (in 1:34, 1:39, 1:42, 1:41, 1:40)
500m various drills easy.

I practiced flip turns at the deep end during the warm-up, they are functional, if not fluid by any means! Didn't seem to harm the pace though, it was a steady warm up.
The last time I did these 100's I had four in each set, so today was pushing it a little harder. The focus throughout was on arm entry and maintaining form. The first set were fine, I purposely held something back. They started to pinch during the middle of the second set (I lied to myself that I'd only do four of them, and did the fifth anyways;)). More lies for the last set, as I said I'd call it quit at 2, then 3, and by then I had to complete. Numbers 3 and 4 were tough, I was going over time slightly, grab a breath and go again. Happy enough with the overall session.

Kurt Godel

Tue 6.75km run 30:02

The usual Tuesday night club run, this time with the garmin to set a marker for comparison. Once again, I led out, once again I was caught going up the hill, once again I just managed to hold on the group to the top, once again I saw them create a big gap on the downhill. That's fair enough, I'm not going to risk anything by running hard down.

The second loop I was on my own, and I'd say this was slower than last week, when I had targets to chase down. I ran steady up the second hill, and tried to up the pace at the end. Somewhat disappointed to see the overall pace is 4:28 min/km average. Its hilly, but I should be going faster than that.

*Edit* I'm not going to beat myself up over the pace. The last time I timed this run (Nov) I ran 31:29, so tonights is some improvement. It's too hilly really for the average pace to be meaningful.

Kurt Godel

Wed 62 mins turbo

Sufferfest, "Downward Spiral"

2x(2:00 hard/2:00 easy; 1:45 h/e: 1:30 h/e:...:15 h/e)

Tuogh. Very bloody tough, especially the "last" session sufferfest are great for the old venial sins.

Kurt Godel

Thurs 10km steady run 4:33 pace

Ah, the joys of being young in Spring! This steady run reminded me of everything I enjoy about running- along the forest path, holding a decent stride without much effort, no limiting pain form creaking joints, the cold air refreshing with every breath, and an extra couple of gears there in case of passing females.

I've purposely held off timing my runs until this week, as I wanted to get some run fitness back before I start attacking times. The tempo runs I've been doing on Tuesday nights have obviously helped a lot, and I'm pleased to be running steady at this sort of pace. If I can keep up the progress, I might even try a couple of running races this summer (5km or 10km).

Abhainn

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Thurs 10km steady run 4:33 pace

Getting serious now KG - doubles. Almost exact same run as me this lunch time. Hopefully no kicking reps in tonights swim session.

Oh savage swimming last week - 15km, going pro?

Kurt Godel

Abhainn wrote: »

Getting serious now KG - doubles. Almost exact same run as me this lunch time. Hopefully no kicking reps in tonights swim session.

Oh savage swimming last week - 15km, going pro?

My legs started aching a bit 7km in the run, and I briefly considered slowing in case of kick sets tonight... but feck that, what will be will be;)

The 15km last week was lower intensity than usual, it was more consolidation and stroke work. This week will will be less volume, but a couple of more intense sessions.

See ya later.:)

Kurt Godel

Thurs pm 1,500m club swim (including 400m TT in 6:15)

Having been promised that tonight's would be an easy swim, we duly offered up our strings to puppet-master interested, who put us through a strange (to me) set of short drills, strokes, with the emphasis on correcting form. He seemed to be everywhere tonight, watching from the deck, and correcting problems at the wall. I have a tendency to throw my arms over when tired, so I was told to straighten up, higher elbow, don't sweep the arm so wide.

Next a set of 4x50m off 1:30, to come in on 45- it was emphasised not to come in under or over, 45 means 45. I managed to hit each one bang on, found them very easy, and puzzled a bit over the long rest. No matter, I've got 100% faith in the coach, so 45's it is. Next the same set off 75. This was slightly harder, but again I came in bang on 45, and found them easy. However, a large part of tonight was about stroke correction, and I noticed (and was noticed by) the "throwing" motion creeping in sometimes.

Then, thrown at us, a 400m TT, with a strict emphasis on using what we had learnt about pace and stroke control. First 100 I found good and steady, and was catching the water well. Next 100 felt a bit tougher, but I held the stroke and kept a decent pace. In every other TT I've done, I'm gasping for the second half, swimming through pain. What was different tonight was that I wasn't hurting as much, and was holding form much better. The last 100 was just really more of the same, I had to put in a bit more effort, but not "balls to the wall" as would be my usual method. So the upshot was, as I came in, I knew I had held the stroke better than usual, but had undercooked the swim effort wise. I was shocked to hear it came in 6:15, 11 seconds better than a fresh TT a couple of weeks back, when I was gasping for air a good minute after finishing.

Big thanks to interested, who will shrug and say I'm the one doing all the work. But a huge part of my (our) improvements is down to his knowledge, how he frames the sessions, how he interacts with the swimmers, and how he imparts that knowledge with clarity. Next one's a sub 6, and that one's for the Gipper;)

Dory Dory

Three things:

1) love how your Garmin reads in miles,
2) love that you love interested (he's pretty awesome, isn't he?), and
3) love your enthusiasm, energy and ability in the pool.

Very well done.

El Director

Hi Kurt,

Serious work going on here in this log :cool: I like your style. Well done on the 400TT....you will be a force to be reckoned with come race season :cool:

Kurt Godel

Dory Dory wrote: »

Three things:
1) love how your Garmin reads in miles,

This is a remnant from pacing Dublin Marathon, which will show you the last time I used the Garmin. Changing it back to km's ASAP (until such a time as I need to divide a field equally between 12 people;))

El Director wrote: »

Hi Kurt,

Serious work going on here in this log :cool: I like your style. Well done on the 400TT....you will be a force to be reckoned with come race season :cool:

Cheers El D- this will be the last time I'll mention it for a while (it can be offputting to be talked about online), but so much of the improvements are down to the coach's impact. Seriously, anyone who is looking to improve their swim should look up Sub60Swim in Dublin, Friday night sessions in Belvedere pool.

Kurt Godel

Fri 2,800m swim

1,000m w/u 1:56 pace
500m pull bouy
3x(100m ripple, 100m hip, 100m pull, 100m swim)
100m wd

After last nights session, I expected to feel better in the water than I actually did today. It's still a learning process to correct to a higher, tighter, elbow. But when I get it, boy, the results are something else- it feels like floating through the water.

Kurt Godel

Sat 51.13km bike av pace 24.1kph

This was the first spin outside of 2012, and despite layering up, my gloved fingers were soon frozen! Very cold out there, there were lone flakes of snow falling throughout. The pace isn't great, but I'll take it for the first spin in a while, on rough and hilly backroads. And the best thing- it wasn't the turbo:)

Kurt Godel

Sun 4,400m swim

500m wu
5x(100m kick, 100m pull, 100m hip, 100m swim)
500m easy free
5x(100m ripple, 100m pull)
300m pull
100m wd

Everything today was about trying to make a high shoulder more natural. Lots of practice required, but the times that the stroke comes together makes it all worthwhile.

Kurt Godel

Weekly Summary|Session|Comment

Monday|3,000m swim|3x(5x100) off 1:50, 1:45, 1:40 good session
Tuesday|6.75 club run|Usual hilly loop, 30:02
Wednesday|62 min turbo|"Downward Spiral", very hard effort
Thursday|10km run, 1,500m club swim|Run 4:33 pace, swim 400TT 6:15pb:)
Friday|2,800m swim|Drills, arms a bit tired
Saturday|51km bike| 24.1kph av, hilly course (521m climbed)
Sunday|4,400m swim| drills

Weekly km|Swim 11.7k Bike 81k Run 16.75k|Decent week
2013 km|Swim 80.95 Bike 590 Run 180.64


Another solid week- although I never fitted in the fartlek run. I'm starting to feel a little tired from the recent workload, so may scale back a little this week. There's progress across each discipline, although I'm most happy with where my swimming is going. That 6:15pb was done having ceded full control to the coach, who knew what I was capable of. Any limitations are mental ones- there's no reason I can't take another minute off this. I have the paddles, I have the reach, its up to me how much I want to improve. Ditto the other sports, I need to set and hit decent goals this year.

Kurt Godel

Mon 8.5k run easy pace 5:26min/km

I wasn't feeling the love this morning, despite it being a wonderful bright, fresh, scenic route. The snowscape from Hillbrook across to Lug usually puts some pep in my step, but a combination of heavy legs, and a nagging feeling that I need an easy week to consolidate a training base, meant this was just a jog. My training schedule is makey-up, I'm going to listen to the body and throw a few easy sessions in there over the next few days.

Kurt Godel

Tue 1:30min turbo

The kids are coughing, my nose is running- the whole house is a little run down. That has convinced me to take a step-back week, so (besides Thursday's swim) I'm just going to keep any volume at a low intensity this week. I've had a good run of training since the start of the year, and I'm enjoying it, but its the right time to take a few easy days and consolidate any fitness gains.

Kurt Godel

Wed 1hour turbo

I was way too happy earlier for some of the cranky streaks of misery that inhabit this forum. Luckily, my cold has got worse, and I'm suffering headache and muscle complaints. I grouched the turbo for an hour to increase the pain, and finished the miserable set with a dolor of gloom from the Smiths desolating my misfortunate headphones.

Oryx

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Wed 1hour turbo

I was way too happy earlier for some of the cranky streaks of misery that inhabit this forum. Luckily, my cold has got worse, and I'm suffering headache and muscle complaints. I grouched the turbo for an hour to increase the pain, and finished the miserable set with a dolor of gloom from the Smiths desolating my misfortunate headphones.

It worked!!!

*cackle*

In other news I just learned a new word: dolor. You never fail to hedumacate this cranky streak of misery.

Kurt Godel

Thurs 3,000m swim

400m descending w/u
3x200 off 3:25 (in 3:12, 3:20, 3:20)
50m easy
3x200 off 3:20 (in 3:15-3:18)
50m easy
3x200 off 3:15 (in 3:15, 3:17, 3:15)
50m easy
3x200 off 3:10 (all in 3:20)
10om easy

I've got a cold today, woke up feeling crap, and took about four Lemsips throughout the day, but the shivery feeling never quite left my bones. The first set of 200's felt good and controlled, as did the second, but the third were pinching, and I was missing the target. By the fourth my body had given up, I tried to give what I had but was coming in 10 seconds over. Still, a decent enough session, and hard work is hard work. Got some more good stroke (and kick) advice, so plenty to work with, once this cold leaves its snotty residence.

I got to "chase" a couple in the slow lane who were doing 25's, my god they have really improved! Flying along at a good clip, some of them who could barely swim 6 weeks back.