2000 metre open water swim!

Went along to the Uswim open water swimming training session again this evening. The coach Dave Quartermain was good enough to spend 15 minutes with me assessing my front crawl and giving me a few pointers to improve my stroke and efficiency which really helped!

Swam four circuits of the 500 metre bouyed route. Completing the mile in 45 minutes and the 2000 metres in 55 minutes. Really comfortable with front crawl now and felt like I could have swam on... Until I got out and felt light headed!

Also gave my new swimming wetsuit a go this evening... Very pleased! Accidentally bought it at Northern Diver last week... I only went in for air fills for the weekend diving!

D :-)

Gym and swim

Went down to Total Fitness Health Club this evening and after doing 35 minutes weight training in the gym stumbled upon the Total Fitness triathlon club on a training session in the pool and joined in for a half mile swim with them! Hoping to join them on their regular Tuesday training sessions... A very friendly bunch! :-)

My first open water mile!

Went for another open water swim again this evening at the Uswim training session at Boundary Water Park in Holmes Chappel.

I can't tell you what a good session this is, and still can't believe how many swimmers there are and how friendly the set-up is!

Swam four laps of the bouyed 400 metre route non stop, all front crawl in a very comfortable 45 minutes. Felt fantastic and as though I could have just kept on swimming!

I think I might have found another passion! The sense of freedom swimming in open water is amazing, really quite liberating!

I feel a triathlon coming on next year!

D :-)

Gym and Swim

Did 45 minutes weight training at Bannatynes gym this evening followed by 400 metres of very sloppy front crawl! Tired Arms!! ;0)

Half mile pool swim

Swam 32 x 25 metre lengths of front crawl at Total Fitness Health club this evening in 23 minutes. Didn't feel the best ever swim...

Open Water Swim :-)

Went along to a Tatton Triathlon Open Water swim training session this evening organised by Usiwm at Boundary water park in Holmes Chappel... What a Great set up! Must have been a couple of hundred swimmers, some just in speedo's !?! http://www.uswimopenwater.com

The water was shallow, murky but warm at around 20'c.

Swam 1,200 metres in total. Three laps of the 400 metre circuit with a few minutes break between each lap.

The coach that runs the sessions, Dave Quartermain was great and couldn't have been more helpfull and friendly! He gave me a few tips on technique and taught me how to 'spot' to help swim front crawl in a straight line when there's no sides or bottom to guide you... A great tip in itself!

The swim felt great! A lot more relaxed than my last open water swim in the sea but my front crawl is probably a lot better since then. Felt whacked and a bit light headed when I reached the bank at the end of the third lap and was glad of the BBQ and burgers being cooked up afterwards :-)

Great preparation and a huge morale booster for my Great North Swim! :-)

Half a mile in a wet suit

Did another half a mile front crawl at the sub-aqua club training session this evening and so was able to try out the wet suit swimming again... Very warm! Completed in 23 minutes :-)

Six and a half mile run

Went out for a gentle paced run with Karen tonight... Down Middlewich Rd picking up the canal in Moston and up towards Malkins bank to pick up the Wheelock Rail trail home. A round trip of 61 minutes but felt like I could have kept running all night!

Half mile swim

Swam 32 x 25 metre lengths of front crawl at Total Fitness' pool this evening in just under 25 minutes

Changing gyms

I'm in the process of moving from Bannatynes gym to Total Fitness, primarily as it allows my eldest daughter to also use the gym too (Bannatynes have an age restriction). So at the moment I have two gym memberships which must make me twice as fit!? :-)

Did 45 minutes weight training at Total Fitness tonight followed by half a mile swim (32 lengths of their 25 metre pool). Mixed front crawl with breast stroke and completed the half mile in 24 minutes. Rounded it off with steam room, plunge pool and 10 minutes in their hydrotherapy pool which was heaven! :-)

Out for a run

Went out for a run on a variation of my 'Romping Donkey Pub' route this evening covering the 6.7 miles in 57 minutes and a warm 21'c

Another mile

Swam at least another mile this evening at Bannatyne's 20mtr pool in 61 minutes (lost count a number of times so swam between 82 and 86 lengths?!?)... All front crawl, albeit sloooow...

That's just showing off ;-)

A break from the training to enjoy a spot of Wakeboarding out of Abersoch... Not quite ready for Wakesock yet ;-)

Weight training

Up early this morning to do 45 minutes weight training at Bannatynes before work... A nice way to start the day :-)

A mile of front crawl!

Not only did I swim a mile this evening (80 lengths of Bannatynes 20 metre pool) but managed to do it ALL front crawl which I'm really really pleased with. A massive achievement for me given that a few weeks ago I couldn't swim more than a couple of lengths of front crawl at a time!

Hoping to try and make this a regular training session and also get out into open water a few more times to get over the psychological factor of swimming without seeing the bottom or sides!

First sail of the year on 'Zig Zag'!

Went out sailing this afternoon on my Laser Pico 'Zig Zag'! A great day for it, sunny with a light but warm breeze :-)

Returned without cuts, bruises, broken bones or lifeboats! Always a good result!

D :-)

Thirsty work!

Went out for a 7 mile run in a very warm 26'c this evening (around the new 'home route' of Hassall, and Malkins bank golf course). Was thirsty most of the way around which detracted from the run a bit. 6 miles in 53 mins and a slow saunter back the remaining mile in 1 hour 10.

In an Iron man like challange ;-), I then swam half a mile at sub-aqua club! Pleasingly, 30 of the 32 x 25 metre lengths were front crawl! Completed in about 25 mins. The front crawl really does seem to have clicked!

Finally Clicked!

After my first open water swim, the reality hit home that I really need to do front crawl on the Great North Swim. Breastroke felt like just treading water!

So, this evening I decided to go for a swim and really work on the front crawl which I've previously only been able to manage a few lengths of. Anyway, this evening something just 'clicked'!

I swam 20 lengths of front crawl at Bannatyne's 20 metre pool before having a 2 length breather on breastroke, a further 8 lengths front crawl followed by another 2 length breastroke breather and the final 8 lengths of my half mile target on front crawl (so 36 lengths of front crawl in total!). Completed the half mile in 26 minutes feeling much more positive about my ability to actually complete the mile in Lake Windermere which is now only 12 weeks away!

Just a reminder that this is to raise funds for the RNLI to help maintain their coastal presence and specifically the Abersoch crew who came to my aid following my sailing accident in 2007... You can sponsor me here if you wish! ~ http://www.justgiving.com/daves-RNLI-swim

Diving around Abersoch

Brought the sub-aqua club ( http://www.vale-royal-divers.co.uk/ ) to our weekend haunt of Abersoch this weekend to do some scuba diving around Abersoch and Pwllheli!

A fantastic weekend's diving!

Relatively shallow diving but increadibly clear (+10 metre underwater visability) and warm waters (17'c) made for some lovely dives!


D :-)

5 mile run with Karen

Fancied a short run this evening but Karen was having none of it! We're now training for a half marathon this year (venue tba!) and a marathon next (venue also tba)?!? What have I done!? :-) Somehow amongst this I need to get some serious swimming training in for my Great North Swim in just under 3 months time!

Ended up running just under 5 miles (4.7) Down Crewe Rd, along the canal to Malkins bank golf course and back home via the wheelock rail trail... Didn't note the exact times but about 40 minutes.