Category Archives: Swimming

Mostly swimming-centric stuff

New Goodies!

As part of my campaign to improve my swimming I have signed up to the Speedo ‘Get Speedo Fit‘ campaign. This basically gives me some sort of training plan to work on, it also gave me the excuse to my some new goodies, which arrived today!

Speedo Biofuse Fin Training Fin
Speedo Men’s Elite Pullkick

I have some Speedo Biofuse Finger Paddles  on order too but they haven’t arrived yet 🙁

Tomorrow is my next swim session so I’ll be sure to try them out and see what they actually do!

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Swimming ‘improver’

Another session on Saturday morning, mornings not exactly been something i’ve always been a fan of, but still 7.15am at the pool. Currently I train twice a week on my own and have one ‘club’ session, this helps me improve my currently very basic ability but also means i get pushed and learn a little about improving to actually compete.

As someone who swam a long time ago, when i started out the thought of being able to do 2 sets of 4x50m did not compute but despite feeling a bit sick and still struggling with my form I was pretty chuffed to actually succeed with the day.

My current biggest issue is most likely caused by the hernia as i find my form difficult to hold and consequently my legs sink in the water, as i get tired (happening quite quickly at the moment!) I also start to lose my breathing pattern and start to take on water – combine these issues and things go wrong quite quickly!

I have decided to follow another training plan on my own, following an email from Speedo, I will be attempting over the next month their ‘starter programme‘. This has meant buying some rather techie looking equipment: Speedo Biofuse Finger PaddlesSpeedo Biofuse Fin Training Fin and i followed the suggestion from the training plan and knowing that I need to work on my legs and may need a float, i decided to save money and bag space and get a Speedo Men’s Elite Pullkick. Hopefully i don’t look like too much of an idiot when i rock up with this and nearly drown not long after!

 

Swimming… or controlled non-drowning

I’m not sure if this counts as a great first post for a new blog, but hey it’s where we’re at right now, so the first post it shall be!

Like many triathletes (he says talking as though he is one) I come into this sport as a newbie but with some degree of ability in one of the disciplines, in this particular instance, running. I have been known to hurtle around the countryside a little on a mountain bike too but having never owned a road bike, would hardly call myself an expert there either. Swimming on the other hand…. let’s just say, it’s not my strongest discipline. I can jump in a pool and swim a mile in some sort of breastwork without having to stop, but when it comes to front crawl I am definitely more of a ‘get to the other end of the pool without drowning’ kinda guy.

I’ve now had 5 swim sessions in total, 2 of them with the local triathlon club and 3 on my own. Things are definitely improving but i’m still struggling with breathing properly and, possibly as a result of carrying a knee injury and having an inguinal hernia, I am struggling to get my legs working properly in the pool. According to one of the coaches at the club I have a runners/cyclists kick to my swimming – whatever that means – I mainly take it to mean, not what it should be!