Recovery Week

As per the previous post, the week commencing 6 June 2016 was intended to be recovery. However, it was still one of my better weeks.

Monday and Tuesday no swimming just some light stretching.

4km on Wednesday evening after work with the flowerpot men, then rest again Thursday.

Friday I visited Simon at Bodybalance for some treatment, and ended the week with two excellent sessions in the river with Amanda. 

Friday was intended to be 2 hours which turn out out to be 2 hours 35 minutes (Amanda was late again!! so ended up doing the first hour and half alone) a pleasing 8km/5miles with no negative after effects other than a stiff neck from sighting.

Fridays route:

Saturday was a 3 hour session (as per video), wasn't feeling the love as I forced down the porridge but come lunchtime and 9350m later it was all over. So just 3 swims but  still 21+km.

Saturdays Suunto Movie:

The plan is 2 x 1 hour sessions in the North Sea this week followed by rest and eating like a pig prior to our visit to Dover for the brutal Champion of Champions event.

May

May has seen a steady progression in training as I work towards J2F. My tolerance to the water is building nicely, one of my training partners (Bill) had a fortnight away on holiday in Phuket, despite his worries of returning to the temperatures of North East England, they were short lived, he quickly hit the hour once more, only for me to disappear for a week in the sun with Kelly. 

I therefore had the same concerns having spent a week doing very little other than 4 swims of around 2km in the caribbean at a ridiculous 85ºf ! That said I was more than ready for the break.

Kelly and I returned home last Sunday (15th), once the jet lag subsided I managed 3 swims in the River with the usual suspects Bill, Amanda and Ben. 

The build up was gradual with increments of 70-100-125 minutes. Friday was our longest swim to date completing just over the 2 hours at 59ºf, the wind was quite strong which ensured we had a decent workout. 

Any discomfort was soon put to one side as we reflected on the massive achievement of Howard James, who this week set a new record for the earliest English Channel swim on 16th May, the water being 10-11º c. Now that is what I call hardcore. He is certainly in the same bracket as the likes of Kevin Murphy and Dave Morgan. 

The BLDSA Champion of Champions event will soon be here, therefore I will have a few more sessions in salt water shortly as the coastal temps have now just about reached 50f/10ºc

Onwards into the final week of May, with a  planned 10km on Bank Holiday Monday.

On Track .. (updated)

Bank Holiday Monday (May 2nd 2016) a glimmer of sunshine and a lull in the windy conditions allowed the River Tees temperature to rise slightly and hit the tropical heights of 8.9ºc / 48f (having been a bitter 7.2ºc the previous day in which we only managed 28 minutes).

This allowed us to finally hit the hour. It's amazing the difference 1ºc or so can make and how this impacts on your time in the water.

The route was a little messy (to the second boat followed by some internal circuits, not too far from the jetty) As we approached the hour, Amanda was keen for me to get out of the water as I was beginning to slur my speech. it was the correct decision as the later pictures show I was getting a little, err, less warm.

We are expecting fantastic weather this coming weekend which is typical considering I will be abroad on holiday. That said I have two more swims planned this week after work (Wednesday and Friday) with the plan to break the hour.

The after drop was quite severe, but at least I knew what to expect and how my body reacts. This is quite normal for me. 

Update:

For once the UK weather forecast has proved to be accurate, today May 4th (star wars day) Billy, Ben and I visited the river once more, where the water temps ranged from 10.5º to 11.5ºc. I was delighted to again complete the hour this time 66 mins covering 3284m the warmer water resulted in a far better recovery too with nowhere near the same after drop. Ideally Friday will be 90 minutes before we head off for a weeks rest in the sunshine. Happy.

April

We have been working quite hard in the grotty chlorine pit over the winter, the benefits of having regular training partners in Bill and Ben are massive, we constantly race each other during our interval sessions then put the world to rights in the sauna afterwards which is always funny and a great way to unwind.

With the arrival of April, it was time to make the dreaded return to open water, as always it would be mentally and physically tough getting back into the cool water. Last year I was late (mid May) starting outside and paid for it throughout the season.

Whilst the air temperature is fluctuating and the water remains below 11º, the plan as usual is restrict training to our local river, it's only about 2 miles from home and it's free. 

After this we venture further afield as the time in the water increases. 

The target and general benchmark for this time of year is 60 minutes at 10ºc. 

I've included a little map showing our normal start point of the Jetty at Preston Park and some markers we use as sessions increase.

Thus far we (combinations of Ben, Amanda and Bill) have 

8th 11minutes @ 8ºc 326m around the jetty area 

10th 21 minutes @ 9ºc 989m around the boats+

18th 17 minutes @ 8ºc 718m around the boats

20th 34 minutes @ 10ºc 1690m to first boat

21st 34 minutes @ 11º 1910m to tennis courts

25th 50 minutes @ 10ºc 2620 second corner and boats

27th 33 minutes @ 8ºc 1700m around boats and first corner 

30th 36 minutes @ 8ºc 1900m boats almost second corner left

I am yet to hit the benchmark, BUT, it isn't too far off (providing the sleet and snow stop!)

Tracks of my Tees

Did you see what I did there with the title ! 

Never mind you are probably too young to know Smokey Robinson. 

Almost a year on from contracting Leptospirosis in the River, (RELATED POST) I retuned to its murky brown waters this week, its very close to home and I needed a swim after a over a week without.

The Yarm swim was alone today, with The 'Pipey' swim being with Belly on Thursday, aside from a couple of GPS blips when swimming under trees the course seems ok. (best viewed full screen if you cannot get rid of the ad) Enjoy

Next Friday I plan my longest swim of the year..all being well

Its been a while

As the title states, it has indeed been a while. I miss writing for the site so a long overdue return is happening. I have some exciting ideas for writings and interviews, but first of all a little of what has been going on in my world of swimming.

For the benefit of those who don't know me in person, I more less took a break from almost all things swim related until the beginning of 2014, starting back with the usual monotonous pool sessions. If I am totally honest these outings did not stand the test of time for two reasons, firstly just as I was getting some form and fitness back the grotty pool closed for refurbishment (it looks no better and is certainly no cleaner) and I was pretty bored.

So there I was festering away whilst attempting to cope with some other testing matters (mostly work related) when out of the blue I was called by Joe Hunter (EC 2011) who, to my horror , asked if I fancied a swim at the lake.

It had been 616 days since I had swam outside, so I knew it was going to be a shock to the system, and indeed it was. I was cold, out of breath and acting like a total new starter. This however proved to be the kick up the backside I needed and I was soon making regular trips to the river, mainly with Amanda Bell who I had promised to help where possible with her up and coming EC swim during the first August neap tide.

Anyway, I re joined the BLDSA and swam the Wykeham Lake Triangular 5km on June 8th in 1h 37m 45s which was more or less exactly what I had managed in previous years with a fraction of the training. 

I was my finis hydro tracker to map swims as above until it gave up the ghost during one of Amandas six hour efforts on Windermere. Its an excellent bit of kit but I am growing increasingly frustrated at the customer services regarding replacement

Next up in terms of events was Sun 20 July BLDSA Coniston 5.25 miles which I swam in 2h 41m 21s thrashing my new found swim pal Gavin Wilde by a full 40 seconds ! (sorry Gav, couldn't resist)

Finally bringing you right up to date was last weeks swim. A 1 way Windermere about which I will add further details on a future post, suffice to say I was delighted to brake my PB by 12 minutes swimming the 10.5 miles in 5h 46m 56s. More to follow very soon.