4th August

Train of Events

 4th August 2010
Train of Events

The trouble with keeping a diary about my swimming training is that swimming is not the kind of activity that lends itself to writing. I can’t pop a notebook in my swimsuit or stick a pencil into the strap of my goggles to jot down my every passing thought as it occurs to me. And even if I did, there’s nowhere comfortable to sit and rearrange the passing thought into something memorable, so when I come to type it up, I don’t have to screw up my eyes and try to work out what ‘M’chef/rvnge/sll boy/speed’ is supposed to mean when it’s at home.

Huddling in the changing room and scribbling it all down seems more than a little eccentric and anyway, even after years – decades even – of juggling my possessions in an environment where 80% of the surfaces are covered in shallow water, I have yet to emerge from a changing room without sporting a massive damp patch on one or more of my garments. So the likelihood of keeping something that relies upon dryness in order to maintain its functionality, dry – paper or a laptop for example – seems remote.

And now I have stepped up my swimming from 40 lengths (1000 metres) per session to 60 lengths (1500) per session, there’s less time to sit around writing. Meanwhile, I’m aware that what I’ve written so far has had more to do with idle chit-chat and less to do with the task at hand. So, what I thought I’d do, is cut to the chase, live up to the title and give you a quick rundown of my current swimming progress so far.

The objectives of my training plan for the Great Scottish Swim (21st August - Strathclyde Loch) are as follows:

1. To swim six out of every seven days during the summer holidays
2. To be able to swim a mile without stopping
3. To be able to swim a mile within an hour
4. To gain experience in open water with a wetsuit

The techniques required to achieve these objectives are a little less clear. I know that really I should be using the training drills that have been calculated by experts and which are tried and tested methods of improving fitness, burning fat, improving strokes and speed. But my first priority is to be absolutely certain that when I get into Strathclyde Loch I will be able to complete the course. And then, because of the cold, my second priority is that I can do it without having to be in the water for more than an hour. Over the last two weeks, rather than any complicated drill, I have just gone in and swum sets of ten lengths (250m) with 40 seconds rest between each set.

My first training swim was on Sunday 18th July. I swam 1000 metres (4 x 250m) and that took me 55 minutes. On Monday 2nd August, I swam 1500 metres (6x 250m) in 61 minutes. The 1000 metre mark comes in at 40 minutes. In two weeks of training I have increased my speed from really, really slow to quite slow. I’m sure there must be a formula that works out exactly what speed that is: all I know is it’s still under one mile per hour and that is still below my target.

What I have found interesting is that it was only when I made a decision to swim more than 1000 metres per session, that my speed started to improve and that I started to feel different in terms of my fitness. I’m not sure why that might be.

My plan was also, to spend the first two weeks building up stamina; the next two weeks improving speed and the final week before the swim, practicing getting into my wetsuit without drawing a crowd, and swimming in open water. So far, I’m on track.