No Fins Training

13/5 10x50s on 2:00. build up to 87m (2 swims)

Tonight I did  5 x 75s no fins. Felt okay, but fatigued after work. Will see what I can do sunday morning.

No Fins Training

i got back into some no fins today. full weight + packing. 20 x 50s on 2:00 with the last one a 75m. was holding 1.5-2 strokes for the first lap and 2 strokes for the second lap. holding about 55 seconds per 50m.

was a little difficult to get into - a little later than usual (12:45) and a couple of hours after food. technique felt okay but not great. still undecided on whether to go for less strokes or easy strokes.

Solid DYN session

I did a set of 30 x 50 DYN this morning. 10 each on 1.30, 1.25 & 1.20. After the 29th I took one breath for the last one. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I might try for 1.10 next time.

Training

I tried the wetsuit for DYN yesterday, which seems fairly successful except for when I increase speed. I did 5 x 100m swims, 4 at 1.20-30 and the last was faster in 59.2 when the suit filled up like a parachute! I think it works otherwise. I felt pretty crap physically, but not as bad mentally.

Slow 50m PB

Training this morning went surprisingly well.

10x50 DYN on 1:30

4x50 Slow (1.30, 2.30, 3.00 4.00 - new PB) 15packs

2 x 100m DYN (1.32, 1.28) felt okay

Back in the pool

I've had a bit of an arm issue for the last 6 weeks, which has finally cleared up - don't actually know what the problem was, but it and work have kept me out of the water.

Anyway, had a swim this morning. Nothing stressful, 10 x 50s DYN on 1.45, then 6 on 1.30. My feet hurt a bit. I did a few slow 50s - the last one 2.50 without pushing too hard was okay.

Catch up

Went to Port Stephens a couple of weekends ago and did some snorkelling. Saw some turtles and a wobbegong. Got to 10m really easily with dive times well over a minute. Looking forward to some more serious depth diving.

Had a SC swim on tuesday after moderation day, after being away on camp for a week. Really struggled with CO2. Did a couple of 200m DYN breathing once every 25m - this is actually quite hard. You feel like you haven't actually had a breath and want to take a few! DYN in a 25m pool sucks.

Yesterday did 20 x 50s DYN. 5 each on 1.45, 1.35, 1.25, 1.15. Wasn't as difficult as I had anticipated.

This afternoon pulled out the wetsuit and did some no fins LC. Did 20 x 50s full packing on 2.00, holding 55sec and 4 and a half strokes per lap. Worked on technique. Followed this up with some push off and turn practice (6). Slow with firm push off works best.

This weekend

Yesterday felt a lot better than today: I got through 6 x 100m DYN, fairly comfortably. With purging, UTB at 85-90m, without it came at 75m. Interesting to note that I had 90seconds rest between 5 & 6 and without purging did 100m - more CO2 but much easier than expected! I was just going to do 50m and kept going.

This morning I had an early UTB. Did 100m then a 125m where I had a little bit left. Tried to do another one but bailed at 100m - I exhaled a little bit and cracked, was too buoyant this morning for some reason and flopping around everywhere...

An interesting week of training

Monday Evening - Did 3 x 100m DYN, though had a sense of hypoxia. Was my first day back at work which may have had something to do with it, also the lane was pretty hectic!

Saturday - Did 20 x 50m DYN with each 5 on 1:50, 1:40, 1:30, 1:20. Felt pretty easy with some CO2 discomfort in the last 5. I was holding 35sec for these swims. Then did some speed work, doing two fast 50m. The first was just over 21sec and the second was a PB 20.4sec. I really feel I can improve this a lot with some work.

Today I did the same set of descending 50s, only today I started on 1:40 down to 1:10. This set was considerably more difficult, mainly due to the fact that I was conscious to keep my CO2 levels high from the first repeat (i.e. got the urge to breathe at 20m). I held 31-34 seconds for the first 15, the last 5 were at 30sec (but for the last which was intentionally slower). This was pretty hard work!

Training DYN

I've added about 1kg at the waist and this seems to make my DYN technique balanced. This morning I did five 100m dives, concentrating on preparation and relaxation. The first two I did in 1:33, the second was slower but I missed the time, then 1:48 and 1:44. I had about 6-8 minutes rest in between each one. The third and fourth were quite easy with a very late urge to breathe 85-90m. The preparation I used was 60 seconds purging until signs of hyperventilation, 60 seconds relaxing, full pack and hold for 10, 90 seconds relax then two full exhales and go.

The technique I used was 3 soft kicks - glide. I'm sure the technique was not great : )

After the last, I took 60 seconds then swam 50m continuous kick without the urge to breathe.

Did a slow 50m in a new PB of 3:26. I still had some left but chose not to risk it.

The 100m from this morning

There's plenty of room for technique improvement - the knee bend in the glide (my body position is not very straight) and the amplitude of the kick is too big. I can see my feet lifting during the glide, but I'm not really sure what I can do about that issue - more weight at the waist may help, I can't exactly put any weight in the fin!

New DYN PB

After doing two solid 100m swims on Thursday, I thought I'd have a go at some longer dives this morning. I felt pretty good when I got up, though not great when I got down to the apnea part, and decided after a 75m just to go to 100m (which Wal filmed, before his battery ran out). I probably went a little quickly and was feeling ordinary ('heady') at 85m.

After a break and some swims from Wal, I had another go with the intention of turning at the 100m and maybe going to 125m. I started very slowly, thinking about those slow 50s I've done, using continuous/random kick glide combo. I got past 75m before the urge to breathe and did some stronger kicks to the 100m. Out of the turn I did some stronger kicks then went fairly fast (a little too much so) to the 150m, where after signalling and saying I was okay I didn't breathe enough and had a decent samba...

Anyway, that's a new PB that wasn't really expected. So I'm happy with that.

Things to do differently - continue to relax into the 3rd 50m, finish at the shallow end or at the side of the pool/lane, BREATHE more consciously, use a touch more weight at the waist.

Technique-wise things look okay. A little too much knee bend, but fairly level in the glide (though the feet are too buoyant)

Monofin progress

It's becoming more comfortable - there's a fair bit of pressure through the top of my feet and ankles, but I'm not really getting cramping or injury. I got through 16x50s this morning. 2 kick-glide feels the most comfortable, but I'm alternating with continuous kicking, because I'm obviously going to need that at some stage. A new mask has arrived - it's good though needs some cleaning.

Monofin Madness...

I'm just being dramatic! Got the fin last week and it's going quite well - after some alterations though. The toe end of the footpockets was way too tight, though after much stretching (jamming marbles first, then lead weights into the end then filling with boiling water) there's now enough room. I used it with relative comfort today, all up for about 500m. Hopefully I'll get more used to it soon.

On the positive side, I can't think of anything I'd want different on it. I have good control, the angle feels perfect and it's a tiny bit stiffer than suits me at the moment (which is about right as I'm planning on getting a bit more strength/conditioning into my legs).

Right now I'm at 12 kicks for 50m of kick-glide in 35-40sec, depending on how hard I kick. 20 kicks got me 80m - it's certainly easier than small fins.

Tough swim

Just got home from a hard training session at CISAC. Did 10 x 50m on 2:00, straight into 20 x 55m on 2:00 with the last as a 67m. All up 1600m + of apnea, which is probably the most I've done in one training. Did it with heavy neck weight, packing 10 times on each dive, and fastskin pants. I'm feeling a little tired now.