Going to tri this

Kurt Godel

Some great training going on this year joey. Particularly your swimming, you're hitting some sweet times.

joey100

Cheers Kurt, pretty pleased with how the training is going since October really. Think consistency has been the key, have only missed a few days since then and most days have been two session days.

Swimming has come on a good bit since I started doing proper swim sessions. Last season I would just get into the pool and swim long distances. This year is much more focused, working off times and pushing it harder. Club swim sessions have been good too, first time ever really swimming with other people and it really helps, brings out that competitive edge in people

Kurt Godel

joey100 wrote: »

Cheers Kurt, pretty pleased with how the training is going since October really. Think consistency has been the key, have only missed a few days since then and most days have been two session days.

Swimming has come on a good bit since I started doing proper swim sessions. Last season I would just get into the pool and swim long distances. This year is much more focused, working off times and pushing it harder. Club swim sessions have been good too, first time ever really swimming with other people and it really helps, brings out that competitive edge in people

Good, basic, advice here. Consistency and effort. Last year I too was just racking up swim distance solo, hope to see similar benefits to yours, through faster, shorter, sets, and swimming with others. I was told last night an endurance swim is sets of 800m, rather than the 3km straight I'd been doing.

Seeing your swim times coming down brings out my competitive edge!;)

joey100

Friday 1st Feb

Rest day so 10.5km run at an easy pace and then home and straight into home circuit. 6 reps with no breaks between exercises or sets. Run felt good, really tried hard to keep it slow and enjoyed it.

Saturday 2nd Feb

Headed out with a mix of beginner group and sportif group from Lucan. Covered around 55km with them, keeping the pace on the easier side of steady. Met Banner Phoenix there, was good to meet you, put a face to the name. After this I stayed out by myself for about another 20km with the last 5km done as a type of time trial in around 8min 20 seconds, not bad on the road bike and after the earlier cycle but it was a sheltered route with no hills really.

Sunday 3rd Feb

Out for my first long run in around 2 weeks. Wasn't looking forward to it, was windy out and I just didn't feel it today but I headed out anyway. First 4km were tough but once these were through the legs felt good. Ended up covering 18.5km in 90 mins and took it fairly handy through the run. Bit of difference between the splits on some of the kilometres but that's down to the wind and if it was behind me or in my face!

This evening was back to the pool. Started with 200m FC, 200m Pull, 120m Kick (X2). Then it was 16 X 20m concentrating on length per stroke. Then 4 X 100m descending times,, 4 X 80m pull, 4 X 100m descending times, 4 X 80m pull, 2 X 100m fast. Then 120m easy. Altogether over 3km done and felt it in the shoulders. Legs were bit tired after the run during the day but overall felt ok, good session done.

banner_phoenix

Thanks for the spin yesterday Joe, good to meet you too. Some good sessions today too so ticking along nicely. Oh btw bike fitting booked

joey100

Monday 4th Feb

Bit of an easy week today so choice of trainer road session. Only going to be an hour on the turbo. Have been struggling the last while holding my power on the turbo for longer times, short 1 min sprints above FTP I have no problem doing, seem to be lacking endurance though.Picked a session today that I hoped would work towards sorting that. Session was to be 4 X 4min intervals at 90% of FTP and 4 X 4min intervals at 95% of FTP with 2 min break between. Found first few of these ok, but last two where tough. Got through it though and another hour done on the turbo. Only session of the day so took it handy the rest of day.

Tuesday 5th Feb

No structured swim session today but still got to the pool nice and early. Was concentrating on kick and pull buoy today. Done over 2300m, with around 700m being kick. Was really feeling it in the legs but again more metres done. Going on holidays for a week now this afternoon to the canaries, looking forward to it. Won't be much of a break from training though, swim gear and runners are packed. Already been cleared with the gf that I will be training over there, and we will be renting bikes at least one of the days. No structured training for the week but will try to get in at least one run a day and will mainly be concentrating on that. Hope the snow holds off now so the plane can take off!

joey100

So I'm back from holidays, great weather for the week and managed to get bit of training done too. Done 3 short runs, all around 6km but on the beach on soft sand so felt a lot longer and where very tough! There was 2 swims in the sea which didn't last too long, water was pretty cold and with the wind it was choppy enough too. There was 1 cycle that I done with free motion cycles that was probably the highlight of the week for me. I was in the shop and seen they did tours and signed up for one, was to be 72km with 1500m of climbing, to be honest I had no idea of what this meant. Turned up with my runners and running shorts and top to see the rest of the group had full cycling kit and shoes. Wasn't a good sign, bikes supplied where a lovely cannondale synapse carbon, full ultegra with wifli gears for climbing.

Took off on the cycle and there was to be a 800m climb for the first 10k, then 2km of steady with a bit of a drop and then the rest of the climb for the next 9km. The climbing was tough but the bigger gears on the bike really helped and managed to stay in the site for all the climb. Some of the group nearly took it as an insult that I overtook them on the climb with no shoes or gear. Managed to be 2nd up to the top of the climb out of around 20 people. It was on the downhill though that I suffered and it is definitely something I need to work on, I just don't trust the bike as much as some of the others and was constantly on the breaks. the last 50km on the cycle was rolling with small rises and drops and then the cycle back to playa des ingles with the wind behind us, hitting 50lmph-60kmph with very little effort. After I got back to the shop I dropped the bike back in and took off on a short 2.4km run. I tried to keep up the pace and was surprised to see I was running 4 min kilometres fairly handy. Legs felt grand and was pleased with the run off the bike.

Not a great week training wise but better than nothing and good to do a bit on holidays. Back into it from tomorrow with club swim in the morning. Plan was for a duathlon this Sunday and hopefully that will still go ahead, only a small club race but have been looking forward to it. If I don't do it I might sign up for the next Naas duathlon.

banner_phoenix

Good stuff Joey, the cycle sounded "interesting" . Hope you both enjoyed the hollier.

Dory Dory

So glad to hear someone else is a bit tentative on the downhill. I ride the brake all the way down too - I just haven't mastered the art of "letting go". And I agree with BP, sounds interesting. Nice day you had!

joey100

Thanks Banner, yeah was a nice break alright and great weather.

@Dory, it's a strange one for me because on sheltered descents I don't mind the speed at all, have been hitting mid 60kmph, but once there is a cross wind I don't seem to have proper control of the bike and the death grip starts on the breaks! Just need to get out and do more and more until it's comfortable.

Thursday 14th Feb

Back to swimming with the club and it was a good session. Bit of a warm up then into the main set of 4 X 200m steady then 2 X 50m fast. The 50's were done with everyone in the lane starting at once and racing to the other end from a sculling start. These were tough but surprised myself by keeping them consistent enough, coming in around 39-41 seconds per 50m. Could definitely feel I hadn't been swimming properly for a week or so though, breathing was a lot harder and could feel it more than usual.

Thursday evening was a run, 5km warm up then into 12 X 30 left foot taps and then a 1.8km cool down. Long day in work and was tired doing this session but again could feel the lack of training over the last week or so.

Friday 15th Feb[/B

Home circuit, 5 reps with no breaks between exercises or sets. Not too bad, got through ok. Then a 11km run, this was to be very slow. Enjoyed this, nice evening and no rush on the legs.

Saturday 16th Feb

Bit of a change from the planned training as I will be doing the Bunclody tri795 club duathlon with 2 other fellas from the club on Sunday so today would just be a cycle to see how the legs felt and make sure my road bike was in working order so I didn't have a repeat of Naas duathlon. Felt bit sluggish on the bike but just put this down to not being on it properly in a while. Bike was working ok though so was all set for the race. Spent about an hour on the bike.

Sunday 17th Feb

So down to Bunclody for the racing 795 club duathlon. There were 3 of us down from Activ Multisport to do this and we had all done the bunclody triathlon so had an idea of the course. Was to be 3km -25km - 3km. First run was handy enough, kept it steady and completed it in around 11 mins. Came into Transition 7th and left 7th as well so clean enough. From the start though the bike wasn't great. I was overtaking few people but legs just didn't feel great, legs felt heavy and didn't feel like any power in them. This is were I thought my biggest improvement has been over the winter and it was a bit disappointing for it not to be happening on the day. The bike course was 2 laps of a 12.5km course, but it was a tough course. Constant hills and it didn't seem to matter which way we were going there always seemed to be a strong head wind. Got to transition in 4th after the bike, not too bad but felt I should have been stronger on the bike. Second run didn't start great, calves started cramping, it's a problem I only seem to get in races, never get them in training. Stopped and stretched them out and got passed. Took the first km steady enough to test the leg and started to up the pace after this. I could see one of the lads from the club who had a great cycle in fourth place in front of me so I pushed to try catch him. Nearly got him but in the end I just ran out of distance. Came home in fifth place so pretty happy with that, 1st and 2nd were good bit ahead but I think with a proper bike leg I could have been pushing for third.

Great race overall though and good to get out and push yourself before the big races come up. Good day for Activ multisport too with our 3 racers in the top ten, more than any other club. After today I'm even more determined to get back proper training tomorrow so I don't have a day like that again. Looking forward to getting back into it after my holiday!

Kurt Godel

Nice one Joey, a solid start to build on for the year.

Having been plagued by calf cramps for ages, I find a drink of tonic water (containing quinine) an hour or so before the event/exercise helps a lot.

catweazle

What bike did you go with for the race?

joey100

@Kurt, Thanks for that, I'll give it a go and see. No idea why it keeps happening, have had training sessions where I would push it above race pace and have had no problems with them. Thinking it could be stress or nerves or something.

@Catweazle, went with the road bike for this race. Knew the course would have a lot of hills so thought it would be better suited to the road bike. On the day I don't think it would have made much difference, the better climbing on the road bike was lost into the head winds against lads on TT bikes with their aero position. Knew as well that the road bike worked with no problems, hadn't had a chance to really get out on the TT bike with my holidays. But next few races are all on TT bike so need to start getting out on it a bit more.

joey100

Monday 18th Feb

Back onto the turbo and wasn't looking forward to it after the bike on Sunday. Surprisingly enough it went very well, put out new best efforts for 5 second, 10 second, 15 second, 20 second and 1 minute power. The workout was suited to this but still I think it shows that I wasn't fully right at the race on Sunday. There is no way if I had been racing properly that I would have been able to put out them numbers today. But an improvement all the same and did get to try out my new mavic shoes on the turbo, bit tighter than my old shoes but they do look cool! Turbo session was 1 hour with around 22 intervals varying from 15 seconds to 1 minute, mostly between 150% to 180% of FTP. Got through most of them ok, missed the second last one due to day dreaming on the bike but other than that session went well. Legs felt grand after too. Evening was a home circuit, 5 reps no breaks between exercises or sets.

Rest of the week is going to be a bit different than usual, have to make a few changes because of work. So that means no early morning swim tomorrow, will do it Wednesday instead and the long turbo on Wednesday will be moved to tomorrow. Will be good test for the legs to see how they hold up to two turbo days in a row but I should be ok. Will be few changes the weekend too with Sundays long run moved to Saturday (Have a 30th birthday party in SLigo on Saturday night) and then just a swim on Sunday.

banner_phoenix

Well done Joe, it gives you a good idea of your progress.

joey100

Tuesday 19th Feb

So another day on the turbo because of having to change sessions around with work. Wasn't sure how I would get on with this, never done 2 turbos in 2 days but legs felt good from the start. Session was hour and a half long with 12 min warm up then into 6 X 10 min intervals at around 90-100% of FTP. There was a 3 min rest between these. Started ok and legs pretty much stayed that way throughout. No problem completing the intervals and by the end had a new record for 1 hour power and 90 min power. Pleased with the bike this week. After was home circuit, 5 reps no breaks between exercises or sets. Legs feel good and looking forward to getting back into the water tomorrow morning.

couerdelion

I'm getting worried now - You have a couple of decent turbo sessions after getting beaten by a certain team mate on the bike just a couple of days ago who I'd normally be pretty competitive with time wise.

Now, based on the last few times we were out - I reckon you're stronger than me on the bike so he must have come on leap and bounds and will be easily beating me this year! :eek:

I was putting it down to a bad day in the office for you but now I'm not sure!:D

joey100

Wednesday 20th Feb

So early morning swim session today, moved from Tuesday morning. Pool was pretty quiet and had it to myself for most of the session. Managed to forget my sheet with my session on it and forgot my phone that had the email with it in it. This meant trying to do it from memory which wouldn't be my strong point! Can barely remember Thursday morning swim sessions when I get out of the pool. Started with 2 X (400m FC, 200 Kick, 400m Pull), then into 4 X 80m building, then 2 X 520m with second one faster than first, then 320m to cool down. Altogether around 3700m done and felt good at the end, feel like I'm getting the sharpness back that I had before my holiday.

This evening then was run session. 5km warm up then into 12 X 30 left foot taps and 1.5km cool down. Altogether around 9km done. Legs were starting to feel the two turbo sessions towards the end and was thinking of cutting it short a few times but used how annoyed I felt on Sunday to keep me going. Nice to have some motivation to train!

joey100

Thursday 21st Feb

Another club swim session. Bit of a warm up then into main set of 10 X 100m pull buoy, building 1 to 5 then repeating. Then it was legs crossed, no pull buoy, 10 X 50m building. The ones with pull buoy went well, arms felt good and body position good in the water, second set was tough. As the length went on legs just kept sinking lower and lower, felt like swimming standing upright. After this was 200m kick. Legs felt ok in this, were starting to feel tired think it might have been the two turbo sessions close together earlier in the week.

Evening session was run. 5km warm up then into 12 X 30 left foot taps and then 1.8km cool down, covered around 9km in total. Legs were definitely feeling tired for this. Got through it ok but was tougher than usual.

Friday 22nd Feb

Home circuit, 5 reps no breaks between exercises or sets. Then it was a slow run. Covered 10.5km and was taking it very easy. Legs felt good throughout, probably better at the end than the start. Cold evening out there but was nice evening for a run.

joey100

Saturday 23rd Feb

No cycling club cycle today, headed out with Activ instead. Met up with Bjorn and two others at the NAC and we headed off around north county Dublin, I had no idea where we were going, just followed who ever was in front. Plan was 2 hours at a steady pace and then last hour descending. First half hour of this was ok, but by last half hour it was tough and legs were feeling it. Managed to stay with Bjorn up to the last 10 minutes and then just couldn't keep up with him, he just pulled away with no problems. Kept going and tried to keep him in sight until the end. Ended up covering around 87km and was surprised because it felt like a lot less for the legs. Good session overall.

Sunday 24th Feb

Morning run. Legs felt bit tired but was able to keep the pace steady enough and after a while legs felt good. Covered 17km and legs felt grand at the end of it.

Evening sessoin was swim. Got to the pool and it was packed. Managed to get through my warm up but couldn't get the main set done, just too many people in the lanes. Ended up covering 2.2km, mix of kick, FC and FC with legs crossed.

Good training week, feel like power has definitely got better on the bike. Looking forward to my next testing week to see if there has been any real improvements.

joey100

Monday 25th Feb

Back onto the turbo. Another trainer road session, 1 hour with about 50 mins of that around 80% of FTP. This session was to work on my endurance, something I think definitely needs to improve on the bike. Went well, found it handy enough, will look at raising the FTP a few watts next week. Legs felt grand during and after this, no problems at all.

Evening was home circuit, 6 reps, no breaks between exercises or sets.

Tuesday 26th Feb

Slept through my alarm so meant getting to the pool a bit later than usual. Usually try to get nice and early so it isn't too busy but luckily enough it was ok today. Warm up of 320 FC, 200m kick, 120 FC, 200m Kick. Then into main set of 3 X (320 Pull buoy, 120m easy, 120m medium, 120m fast). Then 320m concentrating on distance per stroke and 200m to cool down. Altogether just under 3km done and arms were feeling it a bit today. Felt good in the water just not as smooth as I have on other days.

Run session in the evening. 5km warm up then into 30 X 12 left foot taps. These all coming in around 17/18 seconds without pushing it too much. Felt good tonight on the run, 1.5km cool down then. Times are coming down a bit, slower easier speeds are getting faster anyway.

joey100

Wednesday 27th Feb

Hour and a half turbo before work. Session was to be bit of a warm up then into 20 mins at 80% of FTP, straight into 8 mins at 95% of FTP, 5 min break, 8 mins 95% FTP, 5 min break, 8 min 95% and straight into 21 mins at 80%. Legs were feeling it towards the end but finished the session (which is always a plus). Again another session to work on endurance, should be improving after these sessions. Evening then was home circuit, no breaks between exercises or sets.

Thursday 28th Feb

Early morning club swim session. Started with 4 X 50m descending then 200m backstroke. Then into main set of 3 X 700m with fins above race pace, 15 seconds rest each hundred and 100m back after. Found this very tough session, fins do nothing for me. I can kick ok with a kick board and no fins, I can swim ok with legs not kicking but put a pair of fins on me and it just slows me down. I had to do the last 300m without them, they started to give me some blisters on my toes and these 300m were about 3/4 seconds faster than the ones with the fins. Not sure why this is but am sure I don't like fins!

Evening session was a run, 5km warm up then into 12 X 30 left foot taps (coming in around 17 seconds for these), then a 1.5km cool down. Overall just under 9km covered and legs were feeling tired at the end. Looking forward to rest day tomorrow, looks like I will have a busy weekend ahead so will enjoy tomorrow.

Trig1

joey100 wrote: »

Wednesday 27th Feb

Hour and a half turbo before work. Session was to be bit of a warm up then into 20 mins at 80% of FTP, straight into 8 mins at 95% of FTP, 5 min break, 8 mins 95% FTP, 5 min break, 8 min 95% and straight into 21 mins at 80%. Legs were feeling it towards the end but finished the session (which is always a plus). Again another session to work on endurance, should be improving after these sessions. Evening then was home circuit, no breaks between exercises or sets.

Thursday 28th Feb

Early morning club swim session. Started with 4 X 50m descending then 200m backstroke. Then into main set of 3 X 700m with fins above race pace, 15 seconds rest each hundred and 100m back after. Found this very tough session, fins do nothing for me. I can kick ok with a kick board and no fins, I can swim ok with legs not kicking but put a pair of fins on me and it just slows me down. I had to do the last 300m without them, they started to give me some blisters on my toes and these 300m were about 3/4 seconds faster than the ones with the fins. Not sure why this is but am sure I don't like fins!

Evening session was a run, 5km warm up then into 12 X 30 left foot taps (coming in around 17 seconds for these), then a 1.5km cool down. Overall just under 9km covered and legs were feeling tired at the end. Looking forward to rest day tomorrow, looks like I will have a busy weekend ahead so will enjoy tomorrow.

Hi Joey...
This might sound like a silly question but what does "12 x 30 left foot taps" mean?? I think i'm ready to start doing some speed work in my running and i'm just curious..

joey100

Hey Trig, 30 left foot taps is just left foot hitting the ground thirty times. Not full on but pushing it a bit and count 30 left foot taps, I've been told to come in around 18/19 seconds. I then jog back the distance I came and use this as recovery. Not sure if it is speed work training, think it's more to work on keeping a high cadence, starting my speed work soon too.

couerdelion

joey100 wrote: »

Hey Trig, 30 left foot taps is just left foot hitting the ground thirty times. Not full on but pushing it a bit and count 30 left foot taps, I've been told to come in around 18/19 seconds. I then jog back the distance I came and use this as recovery. Not sure if it is speed work training, think it's more to work on keeping a high cadence, starting my speed work soon too.

Yeah, it's not really speed work per se but a higher speed should be a result (if that makes sense?). Joe Freil talks about getting triathletes to think about their cadence and to focus on an increase in speed by increasing cadence and not by taking longer strides as many do - the above is like one of his drills. It's not a new thing though, Galloway has been talking about it for years too...
http://www.jeffgalloway.com/resources/rw_archives/feb_1998.html

joey100

Friday 1st March

Recovery day so slow run today, 11km in 1 hour, hard to keep it slow but felt good and legs felt strong. After this was home circuit, 6 reps, no breaks.

Race season is starting to take some shape for me now,

Apr 28th Joey Hannon OLY
May 19th Fingal SPR
June 1st Athy OLY
June 15th Hook or by Crook SPR
July 6th Athlone SPR
July 21st Beast of East OLY
Aug 4th Loughrea SPR
Aug 25th Dublin City OLY

Busy enough with nearly a race every two weeks once it kicks off in June. Looking forward to it, only ever done one full Olympic distance race so will be hoping for 3 new PB's in Joey Hannon after my training.

Goals for training at the start of the season were 800m swim in 13 mins, last TT in the water was a 400m TT in 6.20 so not too far off this.
5km run in 20mins, still have to do a 5km run but would be confident enough I could get under 20 mins. Speed work training still to start so should be faster as season goes on.
10km run in 42mins, wouldnt be too far off this either I think.

Overall looking good for the start of the season. Have club training camp in April that I'm looking forward to and will get some good training in over there. This along with starting to introduce some speed work into my run training should have me set for my two 'A' races this year, Athlone Sprint and Dublin City Olympic. Just need to keep the training up now.

Saturday 2nd March

Got up nice and early today and because I'm going for a cycle tomorrow with my Dad around Howth decided I'd head out on the TT bike for it's first proper spin since I got it in October. Initial impressions are that it's fast, very little energy seems to be wasted. This also means a bit of a harsher ride though but nothing too bad. I went out on a stretch that I would know fairly well, and at the start was a bit wobbly on the tri bars but got used to this. Took it easy and was surprised to see the speed staying around 33/34 Kmph, put in a few 800m efforts to push it a bit and was hitting 40kmph. Pleased with how I got on, and the wheels even managed to work on this spin which is always a good thing. Only covered around 26km but will be out on the road bike again tomorrow so should rack up some more miles then.

joey100

Saturday 2nd March

Changed my Sunday swim to Saturday this week so headed to the pool in the evening. Warm up of 200m FC, 200m Kick, 200m Pull, 120m FC, 120m Kick, 120m Pull. It was around then that an old woman decided to get in the lane beside me (even when there was plenty of space in rest of the pool). She also decided that we had to stick to the anti clockwise swimming even though there was only two of us in the lane. This made my main set a bit tougher, had to do some mid lane overtaking and keep an eye to see what side she decided to swim up each time. Main set was 6 X 80m coming in under 1.24, mostly came in around 1.13. Then 2 X 160m steady, then another 6 X 80, then 320m steady, another 6 X 80m then 2 X 100m. My T pace was set back in November and I think I should probably work on setting another one. Didn't have to push too much and was coming in around 10 seconds per 80m faster than back then. Good session in the water.

Sunday 3rd March

Was heading over to my parents today for a nice Sunday dinner and my Dad had asked me to head for a cycle with him, he seems to be really enjoying getting out on the bike I gave him before christmas. Headed out up towards Howth and went up Howth head from the Sutton side. Not too bad a climb and was able to keep a good pace up it. Altogether around 35km done at a steady pace and nice to spend a bit of bonding time with the oul lad!

Evening was a my usual sunday morning run. Took a while for the legs to get going, felt pretty tired and heavy. Woke up after around 5km and felt ok then until the end. Covered 18km at just under 5min kilometre pace and felt comfortable.

joey100

Monday 4th March

From the moment I woke up today I knew it was going to a tough day on the turbo. Don't know if it was because I done my run late on Sunday evening or because it was a busier weekend than normal but my legs were very tired this morning. This combined with it being an hour and a half turbo working on endurance made me dread getting onto the bike. Session was bit of a warm up then into 18 min at 80% of FTP, straight into 10 mins at 90%, then 6 min rest, ten mins at 95%, 6 mins rest, 10 mins 90% and straight into 18 mins at 80%. Had to drop the power for the last 10 mins at 90%, last four mins were used as recovery to set myself up for the 18 min effort. Pleased I got through the session and a few weeks ago this would have been a session I just cut short after not feeling great but pleased I kept with it and pushed through. FTP was also raised on the bike by 3 today so another reason to be feeling it. No home circuit tonight, going to just concentrate on resting my legs and foam rolling.

joey100

Tuesday 5th March

Up nice and early for my swim today but wasn't feeling great and as soon as I got in the water knew it would be a short session. Started my work out and just felt crap, everything felt tight and after the second time nearly being sick in ten minutes decided it was better for the rest of the people in the pool if I got out. Will be taking tonight off too to try and recover a bit. There has been a bug going round the kids in work so hopefully it's just a bit of that and won't keep me out too long. Seems to be a lot of sick people on these logs the last while!

joey100

Wednesday 6th March

So back to normal training. Another hour and a half turbo session again focusing on endurance, bit of a warm up then 17 mins at 80%, 9 mins at 90% with 3 X 1mins at 105%, then break, then same 9 min interval again, another break and same 9 min interval and then staright into 21 mins at 80%. Legs felt good, sometimes I think on the turbo it's more about getting the right gear for the power needed. Doesn't help that I can't use some of the gears on the bike because they make too much noise. Will be leaving the turbo bike in soon to get the BB and gears looked at. Evening session was home circuit.

Thursday 7th March

Club swim, started off with 4 X 50m getting faster each 50, then I heard what I was dreading, fins on. But this was only for 2 X 50m kicking on side and then 100m backstroke, just kicking. Actually got through these ok, felt much more comfortable with the fins on this morning, but they weren't on long. Then it was main set of 5 X 400m descending times with 20 seconds rest between each 400. Started out nice and slow andnot sure what first one came in on but from other times around me around 7 mins I'd say. Next upped it a bit but still very comfortable and came in at 6.48. Next one was 6.43. Was probably taking a bit too easy for these ones and pushed it more on next one, I remembered what Shotgun and Kurt have been saying in their logs and gradually built into the 400m. Came in comfortable enough, wasn't pushing too much at 6.20, equalling my best ever 400m TT. Next one was the one when I was hoping to break that record and set off a good bit quicker without going too hard, felt I was going a nice pace and pushed it for last 50 metres, unfortunately got caught in a bit of traffic about 10 metres for the wall but still came in at 6.20. Definitely felt this one a bit more than the previous but still felt pretty ok, alot better than when I had done my TT. After this was 8 X 50 metres pull and then 100m slow FC. Good session in the water and was pleased with my times, time hasn't improved a whole lot but was a lot more comfortable with the pace. Even the 6.43 felt like a recovery swim, good to see coming into the season. Next week we have been told to bring our wetsuits for the warm up so that should be interesting.