February

A few more changes to my trianing regime this month.  I have been finding it difficult to find a pool near me where I can do a long swim over 3 hours without getting interupted by swimming lessons and other people kicking me out of the lane.  So, I got back in touch with ‘The Orcale’ (Mr Adams) who once again advised me.  This time that there is no need to do a long swim of 3-4hrs, as long as I am covering around 25km per week of quality sets.  So, I have made some changes to my training plan as well as finding a new place to train near work.

Wk	Planned    (km)	Actual      (km)	Time (h:mm)	Weight	CSS Test Pace
1	25	18.5	5:04	86kg
2	25	24.17	7:00
3	25	28.5	8:08
4	20	18.3	5:15	87kg	1:24
Total	95	89.47	25:27

By moving to a pool near work I have been able to change the length of the swim sets that I have been doing from just over 3-4km per set to 5km.  The first couple of weeks of doing these longer sets was pretty hard work.  If I thought I was working hard before it was nothing compared to this.  I started to hit a bit of a low towards the end of the middle of the month, just when my form was picking up I started to get slower again, feeling slow and lethargic.   Yes I have had a bit of a cold and still getting broken nights sleep (I feel like a broken record on the sleep front), but it felt like more than that.  I remember reading somewhere that before a peak in perfomrance there is a bit of a dip as the body is adapting to the increased work load.  I really hoped that this was the case......and then, as if by magic, my form started to improve quite dramatically.  I knocked 4 seconds off of my previous month’s CSS which was awesome, so it was all looking good. 

I have also decided to stop doing weights sessions and instead dedicate the time to doing yoga and more pilates.  Both of which incorporate some form of strengthening exercises, especially around the core.  I have  started to feel looser and more flexible from doing the yoga, which can only help my swimming.  I imagine that it is a combination of stopping doing the weights, becoming more flexible and the increased quality of the sets that I am doing in the pool that has led to significant improvement in form....long may it last.

The eating has been going well this month too....actually a little too well, my target was to put on 1kg per month so I dont have to carry the extra load for too long.  However this month I managed to put on 2kgs which shocked me a little, but then I have been eating massive portions of food as well as quite a bit of chocolate, not to mention the endless bags of nuts.  I’ve actually managed to put on a bit too much weight, so on that front I am slowing down the calorie intake!