Got some good cycling in yesterday. Cycled in and out of work, then met up with a few Transitions people for a couple of laps of Centennial Park. Kept a pretty good pace going and arrived home pretty tired.

Just got back from sqim squad and things are definitely getting tougher. The new fast guy, James, was joined by his equally fast girlfriend, Vicki, so the pace is not going to slow down at all. Turns out they both went to the World Masters Games in Itlay last year ;-)

400 warm up
3 * 400 FS on 6:25 (5:40)
200 FS
2 * {
    2 * 100 IM on 2:00 (1:25)
    2 * 100 BC/FS on 1:45 (1:28)
    2 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:21)
    2 * 100 FS on 1:30 (1:22) }
Total: 3400m

Also cycled 15km in and out of work.

S: 5800m – B: 49km

Got back in the pool at lunch after 10 days off sick. I can still feel the remnants of the cold, with the spark gone from the session. There were two new guys who showed up today, both of whom are faster than me, so that will help push me along in future. The full session was 3600m, but I was exhausted after 2400m and I want to try and go for a jog this eveninf, so I called it quits.

400 warm up
5 * 200 Pull on 3:10 (2:50)
200 BC on 4:00
2 * {
    2 * 100 IM on 1:50 (1:30)
    1 * 100 BC on 1:50 (1:33)
    1 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:25) }
Total: 2400m

S: 2400m

Feeling a bit tired now, but got a good day’s exercise in. Cycled in to work via New South Head Road, but the bloody hill through King’s Cross almost killed me; HR peaked at 177. I could have gone through the tunnel but I figured that it’s probably not the safest place to cycle through in rush hour traffic.

The lunchtime swim session was another distance oriented one which was cool. Felt a bit better today than I did on Wednesday, so I reckon I’ve managed to shake off the cold before it got established. However my legs were cramping up again towards the end of the session, so I’ll have to figure out what that’s about. It’s not dehydration, so all I can think of is that it may be caused by me not stretching my legs after riding in in the morning. Something to remember for next week then.

400 warm up
4 * 400 FS on 6:30 (5:39)
3 * 100 BC on 2:00 (1:45)
3 * 100 IM on 2:00 (1:27)
6 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:25)
200 warm down
Total: 3400m

Cycled home via Centennial Park and did some core/weights stuff when I got home. Going to get some ice-cream now ;-)

S: 6600m – B: 58km – 2 * weights/core

Yesterday’s lunchtime swim was a bit of a welcome surprise in that we did some 400s and 200s instead of the usual raft of 100s & 50s. While chatting to the coach afterwards he mentioned that he was going to try to do more distance work in future which I’m very happy about. Unfortunately, I felt very sluggish during the whole session which I figured was the beginnings of a cold caught from Jacqui. Sure enough, she woke up sick this morning and I wasn’t feeling great either.

400 warm up
2 * 400 Pull on 6:20 (5:50)
5 * 200 FS on 3:15 (2:51)
3 * 100 FS on 1.35/1:30/1:30
3 * 100 BC on 1:55 (1:45)
2 * 100 FS on 1:50
200 warm down
Total: 3200m

I cycled in and out of work as well, doing a couple of laps of Centennial Park on the way home for a total of 30.7km, then did a weights/core session when I got home.

S: 3200m – B: 30.7km – 1 weights/core

Got up this morning and did a core session before heading off to work on the bike. I had intended cycling to La Perouse on the way, but didn’t have time so I doubled back at the roundabout at Maroubra Junction. Did a pretty good session in the pool at lunch time, but my legs totally cramped up towards the end of the session, probably because I never didi any stretching after the ride in the morning, and hadn’t really eaten any decent food (a muffin doesn’t count). Must force myself to eat something decent for breakfast in future.

600 Warm Up
2 * {
    100 Single Arm
    100 6 strokes FS/BC } on 3:50 (3:05)
2 * 200 Pull on 3:30 (3:10)
4 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:24)
2 * 100 FS on 1:35 (1:24)
2 * 100 FS on 1:30 (1:24)
3 * 100 IM on 1:50 (1:30)
100 Warm Down
Total: 2600m

I got in to work relatively early, so I might cycle home vis La Perouse. BRATs are holding a 1km sea swim this evening at North Bondi, so I might give that a go as well. I’ll see how I feel after the cycle home.

S: 5200m – B: 47.3km – 3 * core

Got up yesterday morning and did another core session before heading in to work. Got a decent swim in at lunch again.

400 FS Warm Up
8 * {25 K/ 25 FS, 20sec }
3 * {
    200 FS 3:30 (2:32)
    200 FS Easy on 4:00 (3:06) }
6 * 50 FS on 1:00 (38)
300 Warm Down
Total: 2600m

I had planned to go for a run last night, but a sore toe put paid to that. It’s like as if I’d stubbed it on something, but I didn’t. It’s been like that for a week or so and I aggravated it by running on it last Friday. Hopefully it will have calmed down by Wednesday.

S: 2600m – 1 core session

Felt much better in today’s swim, which bore a remarkable similarity to the one on Wednesday, probably because we had a new coach who I’d never seen before. No cramps, stroke felt pretty good and the session was much easier. Cycled in and out of work as well.

400 FS Warm Up
4 * {
    50 K on 1:10
    50 P on 50
    50 FS on 45}
6 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:24)
4 * 100 IM on 1:55 (1:30)
4 * 100 Form on 1:55
4 * 50 FS on 45
200 FS warm down
Total: 2800m

S: 5200m – B: 30km – R: 7.5km – 3 core sessions

Got back in the pool at lunch, for the first time since before Christmas and I really noticed it. The pace was a bit slower, everything felt a little tougher and I ended up with both my legs cramping which finished my session a few hundred metres early. Hopefully it will only take two or three more sessions and all will be back to normal.

400 FS Warm Up
3 * 200 FS on 3:20
4 * {
    50 K on 1:15
    100 P on 1:45 }
2 * 100 FS on 1:40
2 * 100 FS on 1:35
3 * 100 FS on 1:30
100 IM
Total: 2400m

S: 2400m – B: 15km – R: 3.5km – 2 core sessions

After a relatively easy week in Canberra, and having recovered from teh mild cold I had, it was back in to the pool for a unch-time session yeasterday. The session was a little all over the place as the regular coach wasn’t there and the guy who took over just copied the morning’s session and adjusted it to fit the shorter time frame.

400 FS SKPS
2 * {
    100 FS on 1:50 (1:18)
    100 BC on 1:50 (1:28) }
4 * 25 FS Sprint on 30
6 * 50 FS K, 10s/50
100 BS easy
3 * 200 FS on 3:20 (2:37)
100 BS easy
4 * 50 Choice on 60
300 FS Cool Down
Total: 2500m

Went for a run when I got home which felt pretty good. However, i’ve been trying to get my run cadence up to 90bpm (180 footstrikes per min) and though I was doing well. Decided to test it yesterday and see what I wasa actually doing and discovered it was as low as 75bpm! I already felt like I was taking babay steps, but I’m going to have to shorten my stride further as a high cadence is the easiest way to avoid injury and significant pounding on the legs.

S: 2500m – R: 5.1km

Got a good run in last night on the treadmill in the hotel. Felt a bit shitty after about 3km, but decided to stick it out and it came good in the end. Still recovering after Frantic on the weekend! Got up at 5:15 this morning to go swim training with the local triathlon club, Bilbys, here in Canberra. Although the last time I got up this early to go swimming was about nine years ago, it wasn’t that hard to get out of bed, though I’m sure I’ll pay for it this afternoon. Felt pretty sluggish in the pool, which was to be expected given the hour. The session was pretty easy, as none of the rest of the squad came from a swimming background, but it was good to get a session done. I had intended to go to last night’s session, but managed to leave teh hotel without putting a towel in my bag. Everyone was very welcoming and invited me along to other sessions, so I might take them up on that if my contract gets renewed. In the meantime, I can lie-in until Friday morning’s session.

300 FS warm up
2 * (100 FS/ 50 BC) on 3:00
2 * (100 IM/ 50 FS) on 3:00
4 * 50 FS build on 60
2 * {
    2 * 300 FS @ 70% on 5:30 (4:15)
    2 * 100 FS @ 80% on 2:00 (1:20)
    4 * 50 FS Hard on 2:00 (35) }
200 FS cool down
Total: 3300m

S: 3300m – R: 5.1km

Got a good swim in today. Was feeling a bit lethargic this morning, but once I got into the pool everything fell into place and I got some good times done without too much effort.

400 FS warm up
4 * 200 as {
    50 K/ 100 Drag/ 50 FS } on 3:50 (3:05)
2 * {
    200 FS on 3:00 (2:40)
    200 BC on 3:30 (3:05) }
3 * 100 IM on 1:50 (1:23)
5 * 100 as {
    75 Hard/ 25 Easy } on 1:40 (1:20)
200 FS cool down
Total: 3000m

S: 8800m – B: 45.2km – R: 5km

Can’t remember what the session was yesterday, though it did total 3100m ;-)

S: 5800m – B: 22.6km – R: 5km

Hit the pool for the lunch-time workout to day. Was a little stiff after yesterday’s swim, but I was pretty happy with the 50s sprint and the 300 w/ paddles.

400 Easy
9 * 100 as {
    3 * 50 K/50 FS,
    3 * 50 Fist/50 FS,
    3 * 50 One Arm BF/ 50 FS} 10s/100
4 * 50 Sprint on 1:15 (30)
300 FS on 5:30 (4:12)
300 Pull on 5:30 (4:25)
300 Paddles on 5:30 (3:55)
6 * 50 Easy on 65
Total: 2800m

S: 2800m

The results of the swim are now online here:

Overall Time: 28:52.6, 67th out of 1,314. Winning time was 23:18.3 but that guy was just back from winning the World 5km Championships in Dubai. Next after him was 24:15.0.

I came 14th in the Male 30-34 age group, out of 264.

Well, I just got home from the Bondi To Bronte Ocean Swim which was between 1.8km and 2.2km depending on who you listen to. I left it until Friday to decide to race, only to find that online entries were closed and there were a limited number of late entries available from Bronte SLSC on Saturday morning. Got up early and as luck would have it Jacqui arranged to meet Tiff, Nick, Dave & Lee for breakfast in Bronte, so we got down there, they organised a table and I ran over and entered the race. Shortly afterwards the wind started picking up leaving me hoping that this wasn’t the start of some dodgy weather.

Awoke this morning to a beautiful summer’s day, walked out on the balcony and saw that the ocean was as smooth as it could be. Excellent! No wind to speak of either. Jacqui was content to stay in bed until I revealed that I needed her to come down and mind my bag while I swam, and if she could transport it to Bronte that would be great too. Thankfully she agreed, though she said she’d meet me there as I had been told to be there at 8:30am for race registration, briefing etc. etc. and there was no point in her hanging around for an hour and a half before the start. As it turned out, there was a bag van which would transport the bags for you, though I didn’t realise this until afterwards, not having done a sea swim before. Anyway, I rrock up to Bondi at 8:40, collect my timing chip and white hat (for the 30-39 age group) and I’m all done in 3mins. That’s it? Nothing else to do until 10:06 when my wave was due to start, so I got changed, sat in the shade, drinking water, looking out at the course and thinking ‘Shit, that’s a long way.’ After a couple of trips to the toilet Jacqui showed up, so I stripped off, lathered on the sunscreen, plus Vaseline on my lats to prevent the rashes I got at the swim in Watsons Bay, handed Jacqui my bag, as she was going straight over to Bronte, and wandered down to the start.

There was a bit of a delay as they tried to get the first wave, and only the first wave in place, so the race didn’t start until 10:06. I decided to position myself off to one side to avoid the rush to the first buoy, but by the time the 30-39 age group was ready I ended up in the middle. The whistle finally went around 10:16 and we were off. I got out past the breaks without incident – no-one tried swimming over me, no kicks in the face etc. The first few hundred metres or so was a bit awkward as the swell was still big enough to break up any rhythm I tried to get in to, but after the first buoy it was fine. I picked a couple of swimmers who seemed to be about my standard and just swam along, using them both to pace me and as guides, so I only had to sight a buoy every 30 strokes or so. The swell was side-on until we passed the 4th buoy and turned towards Bronte, after which I was behind us. I started working the swells as they came through – cranked up the kick a bit beforehand and let the wave pick me up and carry me a little further. It was fun and helped to break up the distance a bit.

Once I got around the final buoy, I was heading straight for shore and the end was nigh. Myself and the people around me started picking up the pace as one, though we actually seemed to be making less headway. I could see the bottom and we didn’t seem to be moving forward at all. I thought for a moment that we may have chosen to swim in against a rip, so I started looking around to see if I’d drifted off from the main bunch. Next thing I knew I could stand, so it must just have been a break between sets or something. I managed to run ashore, unlike the last time when I stumbled getting out of the water, and it was all over. I forgot to bring my digital watch, so based on a very approximate analog watch I reckon I swam around 27mins. I’ll have to wait for the official results though which should be up on the web soon. All in all, it was good fun and I’m looking forward to another one. I’ll have to check the ocean swim calendar and see what the options are.

S: 4800m – B: 15km

Almost finished another lazy week. Went for a swim yesterday lunch time:

200 FS Hypoxic 3/5
4 * 50 FS on 60
4 * (25K/25S) on 1:15
4 * 8L/8R/8full on 1:15
4 * Fast K/Slow Arms on 60
4 * 100 FS on 1:35 (1:18)
6 * (25 IM Order/25 FS) on 60
3 * 100 FS on 1:30 (1:20)
6 * 50 FS on 60
2 * 100 FS on 1:25 (1:16)
6 * 50 FS on 60
Total: 2800m

Went for a 15km cycle around the various hills in my area: Down to Rose Bay, then uphill through Bellevue Hill, down to Bondi, up Military Road, along Old South Head to Watsons Bay, then up through Vaucluse to New South Head Road and back down into Rose Bay.

My toe is much better, so it will be back to running next week. I’m off to Bronte now to see if I can get a late entry for the Bondi to Bronte Ocean Swim which is on tomorrow morning.

S: 2800m – B: 15km

Went for my first session down in the Boy Charlton Pool. The session didn’t start until 6pm, so I got a run around the Domain in beforehand. It’s a nice area of Sydney to be running in. The pool is salt water which made a huge difference on swim pace due to being more buoyant. I reckon I was up to 5s/100m faster. Still, this was going to be the longest session I’d done to date so I was taking it easier than I might have otherwise. Plus I kept bloody cramping and salt water doesn’t taste good!

300 Reverse IM
10 * 50 Stroke Count on 60 31 strokes, 37s
5 * 200 Paddles on 2:50 (2:35)
4 * 400 Pull on 6:00 (5:48)
10 * 50 Drills on 1:15 (55)
300 Easy FS
Total: 4200m

On a positive note, this is the first week I’ve done 10000m of swimming so I plan to do at least one of the 1.5hr session per week in order to keep the distance up. Off to bed now to get up at 5.30 for my long bike ride. Yawn!

S: 10000m – R: 10.25km

Got a good 400 in during my lunch-time swim session today: 4:53 with paddles at a reasonably decent effort, but not killing myself. Pretty happy with that, though the rest of the session was pretty easy. I think I’ll have to start swimming at a faster overall pace and doing one longer session (4-5km) per week in order to drop my average pace down a bit more.

400 WU as 200 FS, 200 Choice
2 * {
    4 * 50 FS w/ hard kick, 20s rest (36)
    200 FS easy, 20s rest (2:50) }
600 FS Easy on 9:30
400 FS Hard Padddles on 6:15 (4:53)
200 FS Easy
4 * 50 FS Hypoxic 3/5/7, 15s rest
400 Swim Down as 100 BR, 100 BC, 200 FS
Total: 3000m

S: 5800m – R: 6.55km

Well another attempt at a big week starts today. I’m going to try for 150+ aerobic points and try and maintain that level week-in week-out, unlike the last time where I topped 200pts only to be exhausted the following week. I’m also going to try an get 4 runs in this week instead of three.

400 FS
3 * {
    100 K on 2:00 (1:48)
    150 Drag/50 FS on 3:30 (2:59) }
2 * 200 ???
3 * 200 IM on 3:30 (3:02)
2 * 200 Form on 4:00
100 Easy
Total: 2800

S: 2800m

It’s been a pretty lazy last few days. I think I did a bit too much last week and I think my body is encouraging my mind to make excuses to skip sessions this week. I’m not that tired, it’s just that I have no interest. Well, no interest at 7am which is when I make the decision to cycle into work or not. About 9, when I’m fully awake, then I regret taking the easy way out. Oh well. Will power never was my strong suit. Tried to go for a run last night, but just as I was about to leave the apartment, a massive lightning storm kicked off, so I took the hint.

Hopped into the pool for an easy session this afternoon.

3 * {
    200 Hypoxic 4/6, 10s rest
    25 K/25 FS, 10s rest
    25 4L4R/ 25 FS}
3 * {
    200 Bands on 3:40 (3:05)
    150 Build on 2:40 (2:05)
    100 IM on 2:00 (1:30)
    50 Easy (39) } 1min rest
100 easy
Total: 2500m

S: 5300m – R: 2.8km