My new TYR Hurricane Wetsuit arrived today. It was still pretty tight. I’m 5’6″ and 72kg whereas the Small Medium size that I’ve got is supposed to fit someone 5’7″-6’0″ and 66-78kg. At least I could get into it though and once swimming it wasn’t too tight. It probably does restrict my breathing a tiny amount but hopefully I’m going to lose some weight!
I’ve just been for a little swim along the seafront. It’s going to take a little getting used to but it felt OK, it did really rub my neck though, so much so that I was bleeding as I left the water where it has rubbed the skin away and left me with a sore, raw patch on my neck. It was uncomfortable while I was out there especially when breathing to the left. I’ll wear a rash vest next time and hope that helps.
I took my Forerunner 305 with me but I don’t think wearing it on my wrist is the best option as I guess it tracks every movement of my arm making me seem to have traveled much further than I actually did. Either that or I’m quicker at swimming than I though as I managed 1.21 miles in 19 minutes. I think next time I’ll wear the watch on my ankle.
My triceps are a little sore though so it must have done some good for my swim fitness! Off to Circuit Training and a Swimfit class now.
I’ve always been a fairly good swimmer and enjoy swim sessions in the pool, but driving back and forth to Aberystwyth to get to the pool is a bit of a pain.
I’ve therefore ordered myself a wetsuit and cap so that I can do some open-water swim training here in Borth and Ynyslas. I’m hoping to be able to use my Garmin Forerunner whilst I swim so that I can see how far / fast I go and with water all around us there should be plenty of places to swim.
I don’t know how well it will compare with swimming in the pool when it comes to quality swim training as the external factors of wind, tides, waves and of course the cold will all affect my swims but it should be fun. When it is calm I’ll be able to swim along the beach off the seafront, but as I’d like to swim in flatter water where possible I’ll probably head to the estuary and swim there instead. There are also a few buoys in estuary that I should be able to swim between / around which will allow me to do intervals and reproducible sessions.
I might also try swimming in the River Leri as it will be nice and calm there, although the currents will add to the fun! There are plenty of lakes in the hills around here too that I’m sure I will have to swim at some point. It may not be the best time of year to start as it’s going to start getting cold, but what better way to start the day than a cold 5am swim in the sea.
It seems as though there is a quite an few people into outdoor swimming or wild swimming and plenty of websites with information on doing it and where you can swim.
Wild Swimming has lots of information. It is trying to sell you a book about Wild Swimming but the website has lots of freelay available information as well.
The Outdoor Swimming Society has a nice website with lots of information too, including maps of places to swim, events and tips.
Hopefully as well as having some fun and exploring some new places from a slightly wetter perspective than usual, it will help with my swim fitness as well. Once a week at swim fit just isn’t enough to keep my swimming as good as it should be.
Swimfit was good on Tuesday this week.
As usual I was fairly tired by the time I got there having done a lab test for Jon at Sports and Exercise Science and then an hour of circuit training, but I soon got into the swimming.
After a warm up and some drills Lauren had us doing 15 x 75m for the main set off 1:45. The first 5 reps were steady for the first 50m followed by a 25 sprint. The next 5 reps were steady for the first 25m followed by a 50m sprint and the final 5 were flat out all the way. It turned out to be a pretty good set as I tried hard to keep my times the same on the final 5 reps and just about managed to do it and actually knocked off a few seconds on the last few.
One swim a week just isn’t enough though so I think I’m going to have to find a way to fit an extra one in now and then.
We don’t take Morgan swimming quite as often as we should, but Cerdigion County Council don’t make it easy either.
Last time we took him to the pool at Plascrug leisure centre we were told that the children’s pool was a little cold. When we got in was was more than cold, it was absolutely freezing and there was no way anyone could stay in it so everyone had to use the large pool. This wasn’t much better and Morgan was only able to stay in the water for about 10 minutes before going blue. Needless to say we weren’t too pleased but the leisure centre didn’t seem too bothered about it and were still letting people in (and of course charging them) despite the fact that the pool was unusable.
We tried again on Monday as it was half term and there is supposed to be free swimming for children in the mornings. A good idea as this encourages children to get in the pool and of course gets their families into the pool as well. As far as I’m concerned this is just the sort of thing the council should be doing – no doubt getting people more active and therefore fitter would save money in the long term.
However, we turned up just before 11:30am only to be told (by a very grumpy girl on the desk) that we were too late for the free child swim and we had to pay full price for Morgan. We argued the point for a bit but in the end had to pay for him. It’s not the money that gets us, its the principle. For a start we were on time – last entry for the free swim is apparently 11:30am and both the credit card receipt and the till receipt from the pool has a time stamp before 11:30 (only just admittedly but we did argue the point for a minute or so before actually paying). More important though is the fact that they should be encouraging people to go swimming, not making it difficult for them, even if it had been a few minutes past 11:30 surely they should let you in anyway, afterall we were only going there because of the offer of a free kids swim so they were getting the full price for two adults anyway.
Anna has e-mailed the council to moan about it, so we’ll see what they say.
Morgan went to a swimming party yesterday. As it was a private party I thought I’d give my underwater camera a try out and get some shots of him playing in the water.
It seemed to work quite well, even the video quality was OK. Shame about my videography skills, but I was only messing around.
Morgan seemed to have a good time though.
Such much for keeping fit and healthy! Since I started trying to get a little fitter again I seem to have spent more time at the doctors surgery than ever before. In addition, every time I go to the doctors I seem to be told not to do some sort of exercise.
Last year I had a couple of visits to the cardiac unit and was told to refrain from anything too strenuous for a few months. So far this year I’ve had an ear infection and have been told not to go swimming. The ear infection has apparently been brought on by Surfer’s Ear.
The narrowing of my ear canal due to Surfer’s Ear means that it is no longer as good at ‘self-cleaning’ and ‘self-drying’ as it should be making it susceptible to infections.
Despite antibiotics, ear drops and refraining from swimming the infection still hasn’t cleared up. I’m therefore continuing with the ear drops and have been told to avoid getting it too wet. I might try swimming with blu-tack in my ear soon though! I’ve also been referred to an ENT specialist to see if anything needs to be done about my Surfer’s Ear. I don’t think I’ll let them go down the surgery route yet though. This is the first infection I’ve had and although it is proving fairly stubborn, I don’t think I should jump into the surgery option straight away. Obvisouly if I keep getting infections then that will change.
In the meantime how is a man supposed to get fit if everytime he visits the doctor he gets told not to swim or run or ride a bike etc.!
Yesterday was a good day. First I took Morgan to school and then worked at the university invigilating exams in the morning. Not the most stressful of jobs as I simply sit in a room with a student or two, keep an eye on them whilst they do their exams and keep a check on the time. It gave me a chance to catch up on some podcasts and just sit there and chill for a while. Any longer than a couple of hours and it does get a little boring though.
Then it was home (via MacDonalds!), and a catch up on my e-mails before doing a quick turbo trainer workout followed by a short Yoga session. Then I was back on the school run, after which Morgan and I went to the climbing wall for an hour.
I then dropped Morgan off with Anna at work and headed back to the Sports Hall for an hour of pain in the form of a circuit training session. I would have then spent some time on the spin bikes and gone for a swimfit session, but I’m under doctors orders not to swim at the moment due to my surfer’s and swimmer’s ear. Once I’m allowed to swim again, Tuesdays could turn out to be an action packed day, turbo training, yoga, rock climbing, circuit training, spin bikes and swimming. I just need to find a way of earning some money at the same time!
Swim Session
We should all strive to learn new things and challenging ourselves, but now and then you can’t beat the feeling of doing something you’re good at.
I’m trying to get fit, or at least fitter, since getting back on track after my hospital visits this year and swimming is a great way to do so. I used to swim properly many years ago and was quite good at it, but apart from a couple of sessions a week for a few months before my ‘health issues’ I really hadn’t been in the pool for about 10 years. Since I met Anna actually.
So, to help kick-start my fitness drive again I decided to turn up to a proper coached session at the pool in the university. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I did know a few other people who attended, so knew that I wouldn’t be completely out-classed.
As it turned out, although I’m slower than I used to be, I’m still fairly good at swimming and ended up leading the fast lane for the whole session. That doesn’t mean that I’m fit though as swimming is 95% technique, but it is something I’m fairly good at so doing it is a great ego boost.
I shall have to go more often, not only does it help me get fit but it makes me feel good too.
You know what it’s like sometimes with sports. You should really get out there and do it but for one reason or another you just can’t be bothered. More often than not if you just get out there and do it, you not only enjoy yourself but you feel much better for it too.
Today was just such a day. I was up early to do some work and then had a busy morning at a class followed by the tying up a few loose ends and more work. The wind was blowing, the sun was shining and I should really go for a windsurf. I didn’t have much time though as I was due to make the school run at 3pm. So, in some ways a cup of tea and yet more work was fairly inviting.
I didn’t let that get to me though, With only 2 hours to spare it was going to be a short session by the time I had got into my wetsuit, got my kit ready, walked to the beach, rigged up and got on the water. I then had to leave time to do all of that in reverse and still get to school in time to collect Morgan. It was worth it though as I had a nice hour of power windsurfing in decent conditions here at Ynyslas. Yes, there could have been a little more wind, and yes, it did pick up nicely once I got off the water but the hour I had was good enough. It certainly beat working and I feel so much better for it now.
My busy day continues though, off to get Morgan now and then time to motivate myself to go back out for a swim session this evening. At least I know I’ll feel better after having done it.
I can’t find a suitable ‘motivational’ photo, so here’s on of the beach at Borth. That should be motivation enough to just ‘get out there and do it’.
The Beach at Borth
Well, after signing up to the Dyfi Enduro a few weeks ago I had intended to do some training for it, get a little fitter on the bike and maybe loose some weight in the process.
The plan was to do at least 3 rides a week, a couple of swims, maybe some ‘core-exercises’ such as sit-ups and press-up at home and to make one of the rides a longer ride to prepare me for the event. The Dyfi Enduro is 45km (ish) off road plus quite a few more on the road so doing some longer distance rides beforehand would be useful.
All was going well, the swimming was good, I was getting quite a few rides in as well, including some longer rides and I had plenty of other rides planned. But then I came down with a ‘heart problem‘ which had me in hospital for a couple of days and then suffering with chest pains so I’ve been taking it easy since. All of which means I haven’t had a decent training session for almost two weeks. It’s driving me mad, I just want to get out there and do some training, as I feel as though I’m just sat here getting fatter, losing fitness and getting slower.
I did go for a little swim yesterday, but that hurt a bit despite taking it relatively easily. I was going to go for a ride today as well as I feel as though I need to ‘stress-test’ it to see how well I cope. But my chest is a little sore so maybe I should give it a rest for a few more days to allow it to heal properly.
I only have 5 weeks left until the Dyfi Enduro though. Just enough time to make some difference I suppose, but its going to be tough, especially if this doesn’t clear up soon.
Hope everyone elses training schedules are going better than mine.
