3 weeks to go! I'm up at camp, I brought Trin and Michaela with me, partly to give them a crossroads experience, and partly so they would help me focus on continuing to train. I've been teaching Bronze Med/Cross and on the break times I've been swimming in Black Lake. The girls have done some of it with me and some of it on paddle boards beside me. Yesterday we went across to the far side of the lake and back, and then to pine tree point and back twice. It was funny to see the staff reactions. For Bronze Med/Cross they all have to swim to pine tree point and back (round trip 600m), and its a real struggle for some of them. So to see me, with a 15 and 13 yr old beside me just doing the lake like its nothing seems crazy, and then to know what my actual goal is, and what Trin has already done. I don't actually need people to be amazed at me, I really really don't. This is a very personal goal, and I'm doing it for me and nobody else. But it is nice for people to be able to understand what I'm talking about and to have some perspective on it.
I'm bringing Trin and Michalea up to Georgian Bay next week where we'll meet Christine and I'll camp with them for a night. Apparently there's some good spots to swim there, and waves! That would be the only thing I feel unprepared for. I've never training in actual waves. The canal is flat, even when its windy its flat with a bit of a current.
I sent in blood work one last time before leaving for camp so I'm curious about those results!
Mileage this week: 20km.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Training Journal #22
30km this week! This is the peak of my training. From here on I'm tapering til the big day. Its looking like July 12th will be the first day we shoot for. If conditions aren't what we want then we try every day after that. I'd really like it to be the 12th though. Its a Sunday and so way more people are available, not just for my cheering section at the end, but also to be part of the crew. Paul is going to join us as a back-up boat driver. Mom will be in charge of feeding the crew etc. Christine and her girls will be there too. Trin and Michaela have been so great to me through the whole thing. The rest of the crew, (other than Miguel) is kind of up in the air for now.
I had a really cool swim today. I've been in KW for the weekend visiting friends. Its my last free weekend before the swim and I've definitely prioritized my training over pretty much everything else, so it was nice to be with people again. But just because I'm not in Niagara doesn't mean I can take extra days off. So I found a pool here at the Moses Springer Centre, and its awesome. Its outdoors, and its 50m! I've never swam long course before. The temp was like 75 which was the best!! Since swimming in the canal I've really struggled swimming at the YMCA because I find it SO warm! 65 to 85 is just not ideal. Anyways, I did 4.5km in this pool and it was both challenging and a lot of fun. You only get to push off the walls half as often, and that totally changes your times for 50s, 100s, 200s. I don't think I've enjoyed a workout that much in a while.
The canal is fine but its not always the most pleasant experience. Its basically a giant trough with big cement walls and plants growing all up the side. Because the canal is shared with rowers and other non-motorized boat activity, the swimmers are supposed to stay close to the edge on the left side. The issue is that there isn't just plant growth on the walls, there's all sorts of growth underwater too, so you have to swim through seaweed at certain points. There are fish too...big fish...big gross fish...I think they'e called carp. I've seen a few of them, and I have a scratch in my goggles that sometimes looks like a fish out of the corner of my eye. I'm glad I grew up swimming in lakes and playing with seaweed and fishing with Dad. This stuff doesn't freak me out or make me not want to swim, its actually kind of interesting to see everything....like going snorkelling with the world's nastiest selection of wildlife. I just don't want to touch any of it. And that's the problem with the warm weather. As the sun is out more, the seaweed starts growing and reaching for the surface, so where it used to be 3 ft under me at the end of May, its now only 1ft beneath me. When Christine isn't with me I move further out into the middle of the canal, but its frowned upon so sometimes I'm forced to get all up and personally with the seaweed. That isn't the worst of it though. There's also this algae stuff that floats on top in big globs. Since I'm only supposed to breathe sideways you never see it coming. I've thankfully never breathed the stuff right into my mouth yet, but I've stuck my face into a bunch of times, and its like swimming through phlegm. I'll take my suit off after a canal swim and I will find the stuff everywhere. Everywhere. Christine's WPAC swim team has been training in the canal too, and they are really vocal about their hatred of the stuff. So when I swim with them I try to be a big girl about it and set an example, but its totally all show. Lake Erie should be cleaner, so that's a plus.
I had a really cool swim today. I've been in KW for the weekend visiting friends. Its my last free weekend before the swim and I've definitely prioritized my training over pretty much everything else, so it was nice to be with people again. But just because I'm not in Niagara doesn't mean I can take extra days off. So I found a pool here at the Moses Springer Centre, and its awesome. Its outdoors, and its 50m! I've never swam long course before. The temp was like 75 which was the best!! Since swimming in the canal I've really struggled swimming at the YMCA because I find it SO warm! 65 to 85 is just not ideal. Anyways, I did 4.5km in this pool and it was both challenging and a lot of fun. You only get to push off the walls half as often, and that totally changes your times for 50s, 100s, 200s. I don't think I've enjoyed a workout that much in a while.
The canal is fine but its not always the most pleasant experience. Its basically a giant trough with big cement walls and plants growing all up the side. Because the canal is shared with rowers and other non-motorized boat activity, the swimmers are supposed to stay close to the edge on the left side. The issue is that there isn't just plant growth on the walls, there's all sorts of growth underwater too, so you have to swim through seaweed at certain points. There are fish too...big fish...big gross fish...I think they'e called carp. I've seen a few of them, and I have a scratch in my goggles that sometimes looks like a fish out of the corner of my eye. I'm glad I grew up swimming in lakes and playing with seaweed and fishing with Dad. This stuff doesn't freak me out or make me not want to swim, its actually kind of interesting to see everything....like going snorkelling with the world's nastiest selection of wildlife. I just don't want to touch any of it. And that's the problem with the warm weather. As the sun is out more, the seaweed starts growing and reaching for the surface, so where it used to be 3 ft under me at the end of May, its now only 1ft beneath me. When Christine isn't with me I move further out into the middle of the canal, but its frowned upon so sometimes I'm forced to get all up and personally with the seaweed. That isn't the worst of it though. There's also this algae stuff that floats on top in big globs. Since I'm only supposed to breathe sideways you never see it coming. I've thankfully never breathed the stuff right into my mouth yet, but I've stuck my face into a bunch of times, and its like swimming through phlegm. I'll take my suit off after a canal swim and I will find the stuff everywhere. Everywhere. Christine's WPAC swim team has been training in the canal too, and they are really vocal about their hatred of the stuff. So when I swim with them I try to be a big girl about it and set an example, but its totally all show. Lake Erie should be cleaner, so that's a plus.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Training Journal #21
Holy Moly what a day!
Ability to move my neck comfortably in all directions -- CHECK
Final Trial Swim -- CHECK!
Up at 6am today to get to the canal for a 7:30am start. Dad and Christine came with me and paddled a double kayak. I've been feeling kind of off the last few days, like cold symptoms. We were in KW all yesterday for Ingrid and Paul's 25th anniversary, and I could tell by the end of the evening that I was gonna be feeling it the next day. So this morning I had the aches and the sniffles and all that good stuff. But the canal doesn't care how I feel, it was sitting at 65 degrees and my health is irrelevant, I already made it wait a week for me. I couldn't push it another week because you're not supposed to do anything big when you're within a month of your swim date. So I had to do some major psyching up this morning. I think my most effective piece of motivation to myself was, "If you can do 10km when you feel like shit, then you can totally do 20km on a good day!"
Well, I managed to do 11.2km, so we'll see if the second part comes true in a month from now.
We started from the South Niagara Canoe club dock and went right in the direction of downtown Welland. I had never swam in that direction before so that was a good way to start. At least I was looking at new trees and new slabs of concrete. Then it got way more interesting because I was swimming under cool bridges and seeing actual buildings and parks and people. The plan was to go further in that direction to another bridge in our sights, but then we realized that it was the weekend of the Welland Triathlon. There was a swimming course set up right in front of us, and luck would have it that it was starting right as we approached it. I couldn't see the swimmers, but Dad and Christine could from their kayak vantage point. So I quickly swam up and touch a big green inflatable buoy that marked their course, and then turned around and swam away. I swam all the way back to the place where we started and then Christine told me that I'll now have to swim out to the 406 bridge and back. Quick pee break for the kayak crew.
Side note: Christine wants me to be able to pee as I swim so I don't waste time by stopping. EASIER SAID THAN DONE. Try relaxing enough to pee while still moving all your limbs. This will not happen. She's convinced I'll figure it out in the next month. I will not. I have no intentions of doing that.
On that second leg of the swim I was really glad for the kayak beside me. Its just a nice distraction. Its not like I can talk to them while I swim or hear what they're saying, but its something to focus on other than my stroke, and I haven't had much luck with singing to myself or doing much else on the long swims so far. Every so often Dad or Christine would smile at me and give me the thumbs up. Sometimes Christine would have this really concerned look on her face which would give me a heart attack and I would launch into self-assessment mode: "Am I kicking? Is my hand entering the water straight? Am I doing a full recovery? I'll do a few obnoxiously full strokes and splash some water up behind me just so she knows I'm not tired yet. Is my elbow high enough? Am I rotating my body enough?" I asked her about it afterwards and 99% of the time she wasn't thinking any of that, I think it was just her resting face lol. When I turned around at the 406 I was starting to get tired and I was starting to feel the cold. At some point on the way back my hands went completely numb. The last 2km was tough mentally. I'm glad Christine didn't make me do the trial swim in Lake Erie. I think if I swam out into the middle I would just want to get it done once I'd come that far.
The important thing is I did it. I'm not even sure what my time was, but its done, and Christine is happy, which means I'm allowed to be happy. I felt the after-drop on the way home, I'm glad Dad was driving. I went immediately into our hot tub and it took me a good 30 minutes in the tub before I got even close to the point of feeling too warm. For the first 10 minutes I couldn't even feel the heat, I still had goosebumps on my skin!! Then I went to Julie's bridal shower right after that. Can't stop, won't stop.
Last week's mileage: 21.5km (that doesn't include today :)
Ability to move my neck comfortably in all directions -- CHECK
Final Trial Swim -- CHECK!
Up at 6am today to get to the canal for a 7:30am start. Dad and Christine came with me and paddled a double kayak. I've been feeling kind of off the last few days, like cold symptoms. We were in KW all yesterday for Ingrid and Paul's 25th anniversary, and I could tell by the end of the evening that I was gonna be feeling it the next day. So this morning I had the aches and the sniffles and all that good stuff. But the canal doesn't care how I feel, it was sitting at 65 degrees and my health is irrelevant, I already made it wait a week for me. I couldn't push it another week because you're not supposed to do anything big when you're within a month of your swim date. So I had to do some major psyching up this morning. I think my most effective piece of motivation to myself was, "If you can do 10km when you feel like shit, then you can totally do 20km on a good day!"
Well, I managed to do 11.2km, so we'll see if the second part comes true in a month from now.
We started from the South Niagara Canoe club dock and went right in the direction of downtown Welland. I had never swam in that direction before so that was a good way to start. At least I was looking at new trees and new slabs of concrete. Then it got way more interesting because I was swimming under cool bridges and seeing actual buildings and parks and people. The plan was to go further in that direction to another bridge in our sights, but then we realized that it was the weekend of the Welland Triathlon. There was a swimming course set up right in front of us, and luck would have it that it was starting right as we approached it. I couldn't see the swimmers, but Dad and Christine could from their kayak vantage point. So I quickly swam up and touch a big green inflatable buoy that marked their course, and then turned around and swam away. I swam all the way back to the place where we started and then Christine told me that I'll now have to swim out to the 406 bridge and back. Quick pee break for the kayak crew.
Side note: Christine wants me to be able to pee as I swim so I don't waste time by stopping. EASIER SAID THAN DONE. Try relaxing enough to pee while still moving all your limbs. This will not happen. She's convinced I'll figure it out in the next month. I will not. I have no intentions of doing that.
On that second leg of the swim I was really glad for the kayak beside me. Its just a nice distraction. Its not like I can talk to them while I swim or hear what they're saying, but its something to focus on other than my stroke, and I haven't had much luck with singing to myself or doing much else on the long swims so far. Every so often Dad or Christine would smile at me and give me the thumbs up. Sometimes Christine would have this really concerned look on her face which would give me a heart attack and I would launch into self-assessment mode: "Am I kicking? Is my hand entering the water straight? Am I doing a full recovery? I'll do a few obnoxiously full strokes and splash some water up behind me just so she knows I'm not tired yet. Is my elbow high enough? Am I rotating my body enough?" I asked her about it afterwards and 99% of the time she wasn't thinking any of that, I think it was just her resting face lol. When I turned around at the 406 I was starting to get tired and I was starting to feel the cold. At some point on the way back my hands went completely numb. The last 2km was tough mentally. I'm glad Christine didn't make me do the trial swim in Lake Erie. I think if I swam out into the middle I would just want to get it done once I'd come that far.
The important thing is I did it. I'm not even sure what my time was, but its done, and Christine is happy, which means I'm allowed to be happy. I felt the after-drop on the way home, I'm glad Dad was driving. I went immediately into our hot tub and it took me a good 30 minutes in the tub before I got even close to the point of feeling too warm. For the first 10 minutes I couldn't even feel the heat, I still had goosebumps on my skin!! Then I went to Julie's bridal shower right after that. Can't stop, won't stop.
Last week's mileage: 21.5km (that doesn't include today :)
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Training Journal #20/ FRIG AGAIN
Something I am learning about this sport of open water swimming is that I can plan and train and decide when something is going to happen, but at the end of the day you are not in control. If the elements are against you, if the water isn't warm enough, if the waves are too big or too strong in the wrong direction, then you change your plans.
Not only can I not control the weather, I also can't control my own body! This week I had tapered in preparation for my big official 10km trial swim in the canal. But on Wednesday morning I woke up and started to get dressed at which point my neck seized. Really painfully I might add. I couldn't move. I called both Christine and my chiropractor in tears. I went in to see Rebecca 3 times this week plus a massage. I had electro-pusle therapy on my neck. One of the more bizarre things I've experienced. Its this machine that forces your muscles to tense up and then release. By the third treatment I was doing much better, but not to the point where I was going to do a 10km. I was worried about the breathing aspect where I have to rotate my neck a thousand times. I have to stretch like crazy and I still don't have the full range of motion back. I guess I'm glad this happened now and not any closer to my swim. My mileage this week was 18km because I took 3 days off for recovery. Today I did 5km in the canal which was pretty ambitious considering my week but no issues. Christine wants me to do another good canal workout tomorrow, but then I still need to do my trial swim next weekend so hopefully I'm back to normal by then.
All my Masters programs finished this week. It was actually pretty sad, I really felt like part of a team by the end of it. It was a good end though. My last workout with them was 20x100m and I held 1:25 the whole time. It was exactly what I wanted :) I even beat Dave!!
Started from the bottom now we here. ;)
I feel like I might consider doing Brock Masters again in future....probably not in the fall, I'm gonna take a break from swimming after all this. Its not that I'm sick of swimming, but sometimes I'm just over being wet all the time.
5 weeks out. A lot more planning has been happening about the actual swim. Miguel will be joining us as Swim Master (the person who makes it official and enforces all the rules). We're going to take our boat, and we need another one, preferably bigger, so we're working on that. Christine will be in a kayak beside me. We've been practicing that. I'm not supposed to look forward while I'm swimming, as tempting as that's going to be. I'm just supposed to look at the kayak when I breathe and make sure I'm staying the same distance away from it, and if the kayak changes course then I need to adjust my direction also. At first I only liked sighting to the right, but now it doesn't really matter. There are all sorts of other rules I've learned about too. The kayak thing isn't a rule, but I'll wreck my neck and probably mess with my own head if I'm constantly looking to see how far I've gone/how far I have left to go. But outside of that, for a swim to be recognized:
-- I can't touch a boat at all during my crossing
-- I can't touch a person at all during my crossing
-- I can't wear a watch, or use a waterproof ipod or anything else that I might use to pace myself
-- I can't have anybody in the water with me for the first 5 hours. After that I'm allowed a pacer.
-- The pacer cannot be ahead of me at any point
-- The pacer cannot be in the water for longer than an hour
-- If there are multiple pacers they must be an hour apart (an hour gap between them where I'm by myself again)
-- I cannot wear a wetsuit
-- My bathing suit cannot be one of those speed suits they wear in the olympics, no material past the shoulder or groin
Most of this stuff isn't a surprise to me anymore, but knowing about pacers is important. I might ask Dave to be my pacer, its really nice to see a familiar face beside you when you're pushing yourself. There are obviously points where I want to be by myself, like for most of it. But especially at the end I think.
Not only can I not control the weather, I also can't control my own body! This week I had tapered in preparation for my big official 10km trial swim in the canal. But on Wednesday morning I woke up and started to get dressed at which point my neck seized. Really painfully I might add. I couldn't move. I called both Christine and my chiropractor in tears. I went in to see Rebecca 3 times this week plus a massage. I had electro-pusle therapy on my neck. One of the more bizarre things I've experienced. Its this machine that forces your muscles to tense up and then release. By the third treatment I was doing much better, but not to the point where I was going to do a 10km. I was worried about the breathing aspect where I have to rotate my neck a thousand times. I have to stretch like crazy and I still don't have the full range of motion back. I guess I'm glad this happened now and not any closer to my swim. My mileage this week was 18km because I took 3 days off for recovery. Today I did 5km in the canal which was pretty ambitious considering my week but no issues. Christine wants me to do another good canal workout tomorrow, but then I still need to do my trial swim next weekend so hopefully I'm back to normal by then.
All my Masters programs finished this week. It was actually pretty sad, I really felt like part of a team by the end of it. It was a good end though. My last workout with them was 20x100m and I held 1:25 the whole time. It was exactly what I wanted :) I even beat Dave!!
Started from the bottom now we here. ;)
I feel like I might consider doing Brock Masters again in future....probably not in the fall, I'm gonna take a break from swimming after all this. Its not that I'm sick of swimming, but sometimes I'm just over being wet all the time.
5 weeks out. A lot more planning has been happening about the actual swim. Miguel will be joining us as Swim Master (the person who makes it official and enforces all the rules). We're going to take our boat, and we need another one, preferably bigger, so we're working on that. Christine will be in a kayak beside me. We've been practicing that. I'm not supposed to look forward while I'm swimming, as tempting as that's going to be. I'm just supposed to look at the kayak when I breathe and make sure I'm staying the same distance away from it, and if the kayak changes course then I need to adjust my direction also. At first I only liked sighting to the right, but now it doesn't really matter. There are all sorts of other rules I've learned about too. The kayak thing isn't a rule, but I'll wreck my neck and probably mess with my own head if I'm constantly looking to see how far I've gone/how far I have left to go. But outside of that, for a swim to be recognized:
-- I can't touch a boat at all during my crossing
-- I can't touch a person at all during my crossing
-- I can't wear a watch, or use a waterproof ipod or anything else that I might use to pace myself
-- I can't have anybody in the water with me for the first 5 hours. After that I'm allowed a pacer.
-- The pacer cannot be ahead of me at any point
-- The pacer cannot be in the water for longer than an hour
-- If there are multiple pacers they must be an hour apart (an hour gap between them where I'm by myself again)
-- I cannot wear a wetsuit
-- My bathing suit cannot be one of those speed suits they wear in the olympics, no material past the shoulder or groin
Most of this stuff isn't a surprise to me anymore, but knowing about pacers is important. I might ask Dave to be my pacer, its really nice to see a familiar face beside you when you're pushing yourself. There are obviously points where I want to be by myself, like for most of it. But especially at the end I think.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Training Journal #19
We opened the pool. Dad has been heating it up to 70 so I can swim tethered. I broke the tether twice before finally swimming for the equivalent of 1km. I really don't like doing it, but Christine says its important, even for me to mentally have to endure something I hate.....just like kick sets!
A couple big workouts this week, 5.2 and 5.6. But most significantly this week I got into the old Welland Canal today which will be my new training space now that we're heading into summer. I did 2km with Christine and the girls beside me. No wetsuit, and the water was again around 60 degrees. I felt really good afterwards even though Christine said I should experience an "after-drop". Basically that's where your body temperature actually reaches its lowest point (potential hypothermia) after I'm already out of the water. This is dangerous if you're not used to it, especially if you're alone, or driving. I was neither this time, but felt fine anyways. Christine was pleased and impressed by how I handled cold water, so those are the feelings I'm choosing to have about it to. Now I'm off to a Car Wash to raise money for Jumpstart Kids Campaign which is the charity that Christine's family and the WPAC relay have chosen to support, and which I will be sending a donation to after my swim.
Mileage: 29km!!!!
A couple big workouts this week, 5.2 and 5.6. But most significantly this week I got into the old Welland Canal today which will be my new training space now that we're heading into summer. I did 2km with Christine and the girls beside me. No wetsuit, and the water was again around 60 degrees. I felt really good afterwards even though Christine said I should experience an "after-drop". Basically that's where your body temperature actually reaches its lowest point (potential hypothermia) after I'm already out of the water. This is dangerous if you're not used to it, especially if you're alone, or driving. I was neither this time, but felt fine anyways. Christine was pleased and impressed by how I handled cold water, so those are the feelings I'm choosing to have about it to. Now I'm off to a Car Wash to raise money for Jumpstart Kids Campaign which is the charity that Christine's family and the WPAC relay have chosen to support, and which I will be sending a donation to after my swim.
Mileage: 29km!!!!
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Training Journal #18
Lots to report:
May 10th: 5km swim, first time trying out the parachute at the YMCA. Got a bunch of interesting looks from the lifeguards and other swimmers.
May 14th: Kiwanis version of a test set (15x100m). Christine found this guy who coaches on another day to swim with me that day and he's fast. He's training for Brock varsity try-outs and he was exactly what I needed. While Christine gave everyone else a mid-way break this guy got me to swim 2 extra 100s, so I actually did 17x100m and all on 1:24-1:25. My lungs felt like they were going to explode. I have such a love-hate with those kinds of sets. SO DIFFICULT in the moment, but really satisfying afterwards.
Then we went up to Chesley for the weekend. On the Sunday I did a double crossing of the lake (there and back) for a whopping 2.2km. But do not be fooled by the low amount of km, those were probably some of my most important kilometres so far because they were cold. I was in a wetsuit and the water was hovering around 60 degrees. The wetsuit however was not designed for actually swimming and on the return trip I peeled it off and swam the rest bare-limbed. The open water season has officially begun. Christine will be pleased. All the cottagers thought I was nuts. I am a little bit nuts.
Mileage last week: 23.8km
May 19th: We did the most bizarre and extreme sprint set 30x50m I managed to hold 0:39.
May 22nd: Brock Masters 20x100 in 1:27 or under. I'm swimming neck and neck with another guy named Dave. He still beats me 90% of the time, but he's the only one faster than me now.
Mileage this week: 22.6km
May 10th: 5km swim, first time trying out the parachute at the YMCA. Got a bunch of interesting looks from the lifeguards and other swimmers.
May 14th: Kiwanis version of a test set (15x100m). Christine found this guy who coaches on another day to swim with me that day and he's fast. He's training for Brock varsity try-outs and he was exactly what I needed. While Christine gave everyone else a mid-way break this guy got me to swim 2 extra 100s, so I actually did 17x100m and all on 1:24-1:25. My lungs felt like they were going to explode. I have such a love-hate with those kinds of sets. SO DIFFICULT in the moment, but really satisfying afterwards.
Then we went up to Chesley for the weekend. On the Sunday I did a double crossing of the lake (there and back) for a whopping 2.2km. But do not be fooled by the low amount of km, those were probably some of my most important kilometres so far because they were cold. I was in a wetsuit and the water was hovering around 60 degrees. The wetsuit however was not designed for actually swimming and on the return trip I peeled it off and swam the rest bare-limbed. The open water season has officially begun. Christine will be pleased. All the cottagers thought I was nuts. I am a little bit nuts.
Mileage last week: 23.8km
May 19th: We did the most bizarre and extreme sprint set 30x50m I managed to hold 0:39.
May 22nd: Brock Masters 20x100 in 1:27 or under. I'm swimming neck and neck with another guy named Dave. He still beats me 90% of the time, but he's the only one faster than me now.
Mileage this week: 22.6km
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Training Journal #17
We're at 9 weeks away from my swim! I've been learning how to look at water temperature and waves on Erie. Most of the lake is still high 40s, low 50s but I'm told it will warm up fast once it starts. At some point this month I'm supposed to get into open water. Maybe Chesley will be warm enough on the May long.
100m in 1:18 this past Wednesday!!
Mileage: 21.7km
A new element that has been added into my training is called resistance training. It all started on Thursday morning with what Christine calls Cords and Buckets. The work out is two-fold. For the Buckets part of it you have 2 buckets, attached to a bungee cord, attached to your waist. And then you swim, and then buckets catch the water creating resistance, and then you hate your life. For the second part - Cords, you have these same bungee cords attached around the handles of the deep end diving blocks and then attached around your waist. And then you swim, and the bungee stretches, but only so much creating resistance, and then you hate your life even more than when you were dragging the buckets. The whole idea is that by creating extra resistance you are not only strengthening your muscles to be able to handle things like waves/currents. In addition, when the resistance comes off you should be able to do some sprints and pull off some awesome times since your "new, lighter body" will feel so easy to move. Christine is letting me borrow her "parachute" to swim with. Its basically like the bucket idea, it just looks slightly less ridiculous and is easier to carry in a backpack. Something I have to be aware of is getting too comfortable in my workouts. If I'm not uncomfortable for at least some of it, I'm not improving. There's something deep and philosophical about that.
100m in 1:18 this past Wednesday!!
Mileage: 21.7km
A new element that has been added into my training is called resistance training. It all started on Thursday morning with what Christine calls Cords and Buckets. The work out is two-fold. For the Buckets part of it you have 2 buckets, attached to a bungee cord, attached to your waist. And then you swim, and then buckets catch the water creating resistance, and then you hate your life. For the second part - Cords, you have these same bungee cords attached around the handles of the deep end diving blocks and then attached around your waist. And then you swim, and the bungee stretches, but only so much creating resistance, and then you hate your life even more than when you were dragging the buckets. The whole idea is that by creating extra resistance you are not only strengthening your muscles to be able to handle things like waves/currents. In addition, when the resistance comes off you should be able to do some sprints and pull off some awesome times since your "new, lighter body" will feel so easy to move. Christine is letting me borrow her "parachute" to swim with. Its basically like the bucket idea, it just looks slightly less ridiculous and is easier to carry in a backpack. Something I have to be aware of is getting too comfortable in my workouts. If I'm not uncomfortable for at least some of it, I'm not improving. There's something deep and philosophical about that.
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