Probably enough past history: what's happening now?

Reflections on swimming at different levels of alert have probably run their course for a while, and also I'm tired of writing about them. So, I thought I'd post about something current, what I am doing now.

As I'm relentlessly pursuing the 'Million Metres in 2020' goal, I wanted to get back into swimming 20km weeks as soon as possible, plus a bit more to make up the shortfall caused by five weeks of non-swimming lockdown. Late April and May were the build-up, and I started hitting 20km weeks from the start of June. 

Progress has been as follows:

Week beginning 27 April: 13.05km (all in the sea)

Week beginning 4 May: 13.6km (all in the sea)

Week beginning 11 May: 15.3km (all in the sea)

Week beginning 18 May: 18.85km (sea and pool)

Week beginning 25 May: 17.18km (sea and pool)

Week beginning 1 June: 20.1km (sea and pool)

Week beginning 8 June: 20.93km (sea and pool)

Week beginning 15 June: 22.43km (sea and pool)

Week beginning 22 June: 22.75km (sea and pool)

Week beginning 29 June: 22.01km (sea and pool)

Week beginning 6 July: 22.4km (sea and pool)

Achieving, and exceeding the necessary distance in June was a great feeling. Another achievement in June was completing five lighthouse swims. I wanted to do at least four in July, but a combination of rough weather and a significant drop in water temperature has proved to be a barrier. We have had some beautiful mornings though, excellent Goggles at Dawn conditions. 

The weekly programme is as follows:

Monday: rest day (to recover from the weekend!)

Tuesday: squad session 6am-7.15am. I try to cover 3.2km minimum, with a slightly extended warm-up/warm-down.

Wednesday: solo swim, usually at Freyberg Pool. I've been gradually increasing these sessions from c. 3.5km to c. 4.2km. For three weeks I had the company of Bre who was in town for university holidays, and that was great. We did about 3km in the pool and then a bit more in the sea.

Thursday: squad session (long course) 6am-7.15am. Again, I aim at 3.2km in these sessions.

Friday: solo swim, usually at Freyberg, and as per Wednesday.

Saturday: either master's session at WRAC, aiming at 3.3km, or a warm-up in Freyberg followed by a sea swim. Until last week, the sea was a comfortably 12ish degrees, but it has suddenly dropped.

Sunday: squad at Freyberg, 7am-8.30am. I have to cycle to these sessions. It's about 6km, and lovely if it's not windy, but in a strong northerly, cycling is a workout in itself. We usually cover minimum 4km during the squad session, followed by a sea dip. 

Another goal has been to achieve 10x100 metres @1.30.  In February/early March I was on track to manage this, increasing the number of 100s @1.30 throughout a set from two, to four, to six (interspersed with 100s @ 1.40). One of the sets I've been doing on Wednesdays and Fridays has been this one:

Four or five rounds of

4 x 100 @ 1.35

200 relaxed swimming (or kick with fins)

OR

three rounds of

6 x 100 @ 1.35

200 relaxed swimming (or kick with fins).

Sometimes I've done half the set swim, and half the sea pullbuoy/paddles, to practice lengthening my stroke and reducing the number of strokes.  Initially, the set was a struggle: I was doing the 100s at about 1.28/1.30 and not getting much rest.  On Wednesday I did the second variation on the set, and did all the 100s sub-1.25, and all of them pullbuoy/paddles. Soon I hope to introduce a few 100s @1.30.  Maybe something like:

10 x 100 with 4 @1.40, 3@1.35, 3@1.30.