Monday swim - feeling good

This mornings swim was 3 x 1km with 500m to finish. The first km came in at 16.50 and the second at 16.57. The second km was actually me going at a fairly pedestrian pace so was surprised when I hit the stopwatch at the end to be under (just) the 17 minutes.

I remembered back that I was aiming to have all three of the kilometre swims in under 17 mins this was my opportunity, so I thought that I need to go out strongly to try and meet this goal. I was actually following the big minute clock in the pool and was on target throughout the whole swim, I hit the wall and the time was 16.30. Was very happy with myself.

The final 500 was completed in 8.25.

So the total swim time for the 3.5km was 58.43 - this was with a one minute break at the end of each set. Would like to be swimming this time without the breaks, but will have to see how I go.

Was planning on continuing the 3.5km each morning for this month and during Sept swim 4km a morning. Am starting to think that I should start doing 4km sooner and might try to swim 4km a couple of days a week. Will see how I go this week, but definitely next week.

More time in the pool ... whose nagging?

Lame dad reference to the 1st August being the horses birthday so happy birthday all you fillies, nags, geldings and stallions. After a superb 'winter' weekend on & in the water it was back to Monday morning. And today I was heading straight to work from the pool so I had more time to swim. Decided to knock out 3k this morning with 500m sets with 200m kick in between sets. Just on an hour in the water while Dark mavis knocked out 3.5k in lane 3.

Seven (7) weeks to go till the finish line ... Remember, don't wait for someone to provide the spark. You set yourself on fire!!

Sun is shining - what a great weekend

What an absolutely fantastic weekend. Cool mornings and beautiful warm sunny days.

Saturday morning was the brilliant ski paddle with Grimski, followed by the kids own sporting endeavours - Aidan with Soccer and Emily with netball. For Emily's netball we pulled out the push bikes and all rode down to Ettalong to watch her play and rode home....with a quick stop at the surf club for ice creams.

This morning was the usual Blue Swimmer races over at Pearl Beach , with the sun shining and the water a nice 17.5 degrees it is really hard to say that this is winter swimming. After the usual Bluey meetings and get together it was with the family back down the beach for a bit of fun in the sun. Had the ski out for a couple of ins and outs with the Club Captain and my brother...as well as the surf boards for the kids.

All up it was a great weekend, including a fairly hilarious 40th birthday party down in Sydney on Saturday night - everyone dressed up in their finest St Vinnes outfits was a fun night with lots of laughs.

Chairman of the (snow)board

Been doing some solid board training over the past two days- snowboard training. The running bride and I have been heading down to the snow a few times each season for the past few years, and have improved heaps. This trip has been pretty good with plenty of good snow, lots of jumps and tree lined chutes- I have been pretty mindful though of injury so. Have replaced the 1260 mctwists with the occasional 180. We took our swim stuff down to the snow with us and while the bride has been pretty sick, we jumped into the pool at jindabyne today and cracked out a k. Clearly swimming is not the biggest sport here... People commented on our swimming abilities as we smashed everyone in the pool- swimming easy. Back to reality next week where the kids at the PLC make us look like drowning mountain goats.

Snow swimming

Despite having a rotten headcold I have soldiered on (with codral) and am 2 days into a 3 day ski trip! It's a good strength workout for the old legs. This arvo we went to the Jindabyne pool and did some laps. I hadnt been swimming since before I got sick and really didn't want to push myself, especially still being sick. So I cracked out 1km. I felt like I was going fast but it was probably the performance enhancing effects of the pseudoephedrine in the codral. Great little pool but a little too hot!

Dolphins in Woy Woy channel

With the Camp Dixon members away at the snow, Dark Mavis and I decided to hit the water at our scheduled Saturday morning start time of 06:30am. The cold air and comparatively warmer water made for a low mist that just hung on the water awaiting the sunrise.

Today was uber special as I launched the new Dolphin direct from the Gold Coast... and the day had turned on perfect conditions for a still water launch. We decided to figure eight it around Davistown and St Huberts Island. The water was a pane glass as we headed out into the sunrise. Once the sun rose and was on our backs we were warm as.

The ski is superb although my seat pad wasn't fitted and by the end of ninety minutes the ole gluteus maximii were a wee bit tender. We put in a couple of sprints and the ski just glid across the glass. So happy with it.

Tough times

It is really tough (mentally) when you know you need to train but you also know it's not a good idea to push yourself. Today is my last day on the antibiotics for the chest infection but I awoke with a mild sore throat and now my nose is partially blocked. I've tried to keep the legs going while I've been sick - still went for a long power walk with Dad and have been on the fluid bike trainer, but I think it is now time to ease back into some running and swimming. I played touch footy last night but tried to spend some time on the bench too, and didn't run too much. We have a ski trip planned this weekend and the swimmers & goggles are packed! The legs should get a good workout on the slopes too! The chairman of the board and I bought a new car to tow our camper trailer to our honeymoon destination, the Coolangatta Gold. The ski trip will help break the new car in. Halfway through writing this blog I received a call from Ian Hanson from SLSA. You might just be reading more about us in the local media so look out for the Honeymooners, people!

Can't stay away

In yesterday's post I indicated that I would have a day off from swimming today, but it is has become a bit of a habit getting up and swimming so off to the pool this morning I went.

I only swam 2.5km this morning. Started off with the normal 1km and then gave some 100m sprints a go. After 5 x 100M I was particularly stuffed. I haven't been putting much effort in to sprints, and this really took it out of me.

So I thought being a bit tired and muscle fatigued that I would swim another 1km. My thinking is that if I need to put in an effort (say getting out through the break) I still need to get back into the rhythm of swimming distance.

I did get out of the pool a bit earlier this morning and had more time for breakfast. Planning on being at a work function tonight so if this goes a bit late might have to swim tomorrow after work.

Making a difference, today!

Today I've decided to make a difference; to have an impact. As the kids were growing up and I'd had a truly productive day I'd burst through the front door declaring that "I have SLAYED the DRAGON!!". Today, I'm hunting dragons. It's always good to start off with momentum so after the morning swim I had breakkie, watched Wall St spiralling, hung out the washing, made the bed, washed up, ironed a shirt, dressed & left by 06:30.

Oh and the training... No gear this morning. Straight up 40 laps freestyle at PLC for 2k. Felt a bit lethargic in the arms after yesterday's session. Looking forward to a run at lunch ...and if the trains are kind tonight I'll get down for a swim with the Pelicans at 7pm.

Ps. Managed to stick to plan and get out at 12:30pm for an hour. Jogged over to the QE2 steps in farm cove and ran 4 sets of 100 steps. Some beautiful planking in between sets made sure that the core got some work as well. As I write this on Wynyard station the trains are slightly delayed... Pelicans swim at risk!!

3.5km Non Stop Swimming

This morning I started off thinking that I will do a 2km and a 1.5km swim. However after the 1st km I thought that I might just keep going and do my weekly 3.5km non stop swim.

At the 2km mark I felt alright and kept swimming, at about the 2.4 mark I was struggling but pushed through to the 3km in which I was feeling much better. The last 500m was fairly boring but it did feel good that I have this swim out of the way for the week. Time was 63mins and 13sec.

The last two Thursday's have been when I swam my longer swim...maybe tomorrow I can sleep in.

It's K1 Wednesday

On Monday & Tuesday this week I have planned a lunch time run in the Gardens ... only to be over ruled by work commitments. I'm keen to get the new Polar RS300 HRM on and check current heart rate. Today could be much the same with meetings at Parramatta and Pitt St affecting my diary.

Nae bother with that, this morning I hit the surf club at 4:57am after passing Dark Mavis on his way to the pool. The plan was 4 x 15min sets on the K1 trainer with min stroke rate of 60spm. What I managed was 14m sets for 2k per set with varying spm of 60/75/65/75. Total time for 8k was 53m30s

Mind Games - I might be going crazy.

Today was another 3.5km and I remembered to wear my watch today so that I could keep track of my times.

• First km was just under 16.30.



• Second km was in 17.15 - Not a big effort and think that I could of gone a bit quicker.



• Third km was in 17.45 (but I did stop to have a quick 30 sec chat with Grimmo so this was probably another 17.15)

The last 500m was not timed, but I did put in a bit of an effort. Two lanes over from me some Umina clubbies were training and had not long been in the pool (so they were fresher than me). At the end of the first 100 I noticed that me and one of Umina guys was turning at the same time, I didn't want to let him in front of me, so I put in a bit of an effort to keep in front and then he does the same...so I am sure that we were both thinking the same thing...that we wanted to beat the other. Anyway after 400 we were both neck and neck (really I was slightly in front)and I am thinking that I only have another 100 to go, so I put in the effort and got to be over a body length in front. Glad that I was at the end of my session I looked over half expecting this guy to turn and keep going, but he was as stuffed as I was and had a break at the end of the effort...neither of us said anything and I will feel quite cheated if he wasn't putting in an effort and I just had the whole competition thing in my head.

Anyway you have to think of something when heading up and down the pool for 70 laps, and thinking that I am racing this guy is not all bad - makes me try a bit harder.

The magic of routine

Many people don't understand the value of routine. I often hear people say 'but it's so boring...' (insert: running/ swimming/ paddling/ etc) routinely performing a function or task over & over & over. The magic arrives however when the basics are drilled in and you can start to isolate components - breathing, stroke, kick, entry, recovery, and so on. Tuning the action and constantly striving for improvement in the many facets of physical action ... is the key.

It's about 365 days since we committed to swimming each morning and while we're not pushing for a spot on the London team, our swim times and overall fitness level have significantly improved. Today's Grimski swim session was the std 2k (5 x 400m: free, kick, free w fins, pull w paddles, drill)

Back into it

Still excited by Cadel Evans win in the tour de France! It made it impossible to get to the pool this morning though. Instead I dragged my gear to work and hit up the gym and pool this arvo. Took it reasonably easy because I am still at risk of getting sick. Did a relaxing 5k run on the tready, followed straight up by 1.5k hard on the ergo rower, 10 mins core exercises, 10 mins stretching, and a straight 1 k in the pool. I am not exhausted so I think I am about ready to get back in to the pool properly, and start building up some hard sessions over the next 3 weeks.

Big night on Saturday night with the running bride taking out the NSW surf lifesaver of the year title! I picked up a high commendation for volunteer of the year and we spent hours having photos and doing interviews- directing people to this blog!- all of this essentially killed any real training opportunity for yesterday.

2 months today

So only 2 months until the 25th September in which we will be competing in the Gold.

This morning I did 2 x 1.5km and a 500 metres to finish. Felt fairly strong in the swim today even though I was still a little sleepy when I arrived at the pool - must of been the big carb loading yesterday, with a fair few slices of toast at the Blue Swimmers along with a Seafood Brisk for breakfast. Followed by BBQ snags on bread rolls for lunch and more Pizza than I should of eaten for dinner. Need to get back to the healthy eating today.

Toughening up in the cauldron!

I love getting out on days like today, because no one else is out there. And so it was as we set off from Fishermans Wharf Woy Woy bound for Gosford pool n back. Well done Honeymooners!!

They don't have days like this in the brochure!

Well today was a miserable old day...cold, raining and windy. But we had set the time for training at 8 o'clock (gave ourselves a little sleep in). The Director of the Board, GrimSki and myself set off. With the Running Bride playing support driver today.

The plan was the paddle from Woy Woy to Gosford, jump in the Gosford pool for a quick swim. The board paddler would be picked up by the Running Bride with Grimski and myself to paddle back. Now this was only the second paddle on my new surf ski and with the wind hitting us from the side and the chop rolling from our left to right (along with the rain hitting me in the face) I was always going to end up falling in...3 times on the way over and 4 times on the way back. Although on the way back it was really only twice that the conditions knocked me over...the first time was me just trying to adjust my arse in the seat and over balanced. The last time GrimSki asked for an effort for about 300m...now this effort was really a race and we were neck and neck and I thought that I had a little more effort that I could put in, but that just unbalanced me and sent me into the drink and when I looked up GrimSki was paddling away (that's why he is paddling the ski in the Gold).

So all up a bit over 12km ski paddle with a quick 1km swim at Gosford Pool (let me say that I was freezing by the time we reached Gosford and that pool felt like a warm bath and saved me from Hypothermia).

I have also installed a new rack in the garage to store my ski (photo attached)....my handyman skills are sometimes called into question, but I think that I have done a pretty good job.

Channeling Cadel

Although I have been critical of Cadel over the years, I am anxiously awaiting tonight to see him smash those bloody Shlecks and bring the tdf home to AUS! That said I felt a bit like Cadel and probably looked a bit like him too as I battled my way across Brisbane water from Woy Woy to Gosford. Wind and rain and Chop felt like I was pushing up l'alp de huez. My knee is still an issue- not muscle or ligament or anything like that, it just feels badly bruised so paddling on my knees is very uncomfortable. This means that I am spending more time laying down paddling which takes more energy out of my arms. Hit 47:20 for 5 k after blowing up around 3k. All up paddled 6.11 in 58 flat so I was not too disappointed. Jumped in at Gosford pool ( which felt like a bath compared to Brisbane water) and rolled out 600 meters.

The swimmer and GrimSki paddled over and swam as well but they can tell you about that.

Jumped on the trainer and knocked out a good 40 minutes steady this are also. Feeling much better now than I was 2 or 3 days ago, so am glad I took a little rest! Surf is pumping so will have a look at that for a paddle tomorrow.

Good luck to Grim ski and the Running Bride at the NSW awards of excellence- up for trainer and lifesaver of the year respectively! Will see how I go for volunteer of the year!

5 days 16.5 km.

Normally I have only been swimming 4 mornings a week and giving myself some extra sleep on one morning. However this week I have swam 5 days for a total of 16.5km.

This morning was 3km (2 x 1km, 10 x 50m off a minute & 500m to finish). Wasn't breaking any records with my timing all week, but feel that I will be benefiting from putting in the time and effort. Only 2 more months of training until we will be packing our bags for the Gold Coast.

Gold medallion dinner but first ... the work

Tonight we're celebrating over a meal @ a local restaurant the achievement of those OB members who attained or requalified for their SLS Gold Medallion in the past season. A small but committed group of people who strove for the top step on Lifesaving's podium.

Remember...that the only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary!!! So with this in mind this morning I doubled up the workload and trained between 5-7am as I'm working from home office today. First the swim leg at PLC usual 2k with 4x500m (free,kick,free w fins, free w pull/ paddles). Then it was off to OB surf club for 6k on the K1 Trainer (41:30m). Met the diehards @ OB: Steve & Mark McFarlane as the headed out for their morning swim. Rough seas around the coast atm so take care!

Breathing

Today is my second day of complete rest and I am hating it. I have managed to pick up the chest infection that has been going around at my work. It feels really horrible to have a break in my training but a few days now is better than pushing myself to exercise through it and getting worse. The only good thing is that (so far) it has not hit me as hard as my less active colleagues.

Getting cranky in my old age

Don't know if I am being unreasonable, but if there is a free lane in the pool why does someone need to jump into the same lane as me - I have no problem sharing once the pool is full, but lets use the space if we have it.

Anyway rant over - I was planning on doing 3.5 straight today and went out pretty fast for the first 500 and pushed through to 1km, before I changed lane (see rant above) and swam 2.5 straight. The total swim time was 62.05. A minute or so quicker than when I gave it ago last week.

The road less travelled

I knew the weather was miserable when the gerri's that 'own' the therapy pool & spa betweene 5-6am didn't appear today. Normal crew in main pool though. My iAlarm failed me today when I awoke at 4:39am (14mins late!) so no shave prior to swim. I always try to look my best!! Anyhow... without my std routine tasks I managed to be in the water by 5am.

2.1k Session - 4x500m (free, kick, fins, pull) and an easy lap to cool. Tomorrow it's back at OB for some K1 time which will motivate me for the next 22hrs till I'm there. :)

Quiet

Been a little quiet recently but I can assure everyone I have been doing things! I have been feeling a bit unwell ( sore throat etc) and decided to slow down a little to try and avoid getting really sick. I have been working pretty hard though on the bike trainer and doing my physio and core work. Will try to rug up and do an easy run this evening. I would lik to be back in the squad tomorrow morning.

Surfs up so looks like we will be working on skills this weekend!

Also shout out to krystal smith at dolphin surf craft for the team shirts! We will at least look the goods!

Water, water everywhere!

Last night I kept waking up to hear the downpour on the roof and was thinking to myself that I would have a sleep in as it is too miserable to venture out - didn't want to get too wet ;)

Anyway I woke up at 4.43 and thought since I am awake I might as well have a swim. I nearly had to swim from the car park into the pool reception. I was planning on doing my normal swim but at the end of the third kilometre I was feeling lethargic so I finished the swim 500m short.

On the train for the last two days I have had to catch up on sleep, and felt tired all day at work...might have to have a sleep in soon.

666

Tough speed endurance session today. On the treadmill, 500m warm-up jog, then 6 x 600m on 4:20/km pace with 200m recovery between each one. The first two were on 4:15 and 4:18/km pace but the 4:20 pace was easier to maintain. I jogged it up to 6km to finish. I've had a mild chesty irritation for the last couple of days. Really hoping I didn't overdo it today!

Brrrr Brrr It's cold out there - Bring it on

This morning seemed a fair bit colder to me...maybe its the layer of insulation that I have that is reducing, but when checking the temp this morning it got down to 2 degrees in Gosford at about the time that I was heading into the pool.

But how keen was GrimSki - he was already in the pool when I walked in at 5am...whenever I get there early they make me wait at the door...I think that they have their favourites.

Anyway the session was a total of 3.5km, broken up into a 2km and a 1.5km swim. I forget what each individual time was, but I remember when I totalled them up it came to 60mins and 40 secs. This was with about a minute and a half break between sets. Will aim for Thursday to do the straight 3.5km and hopefully get close to this time.

69 days to the finish line

Of course that assumes we finish on 25th September. Yesterday work won the battle for my time. No lunch and queue mgmt & email until after 23:00hrs. Today's a new day and with a spring in my step I hit the pool a few minutes before 5am and was into my 3rd lap by the time Dark Mavis dived in. Tuesdays will be enduro days for me with a straight up 2km freestyle swim to start the day. For 40 laps I was on my Pat Malone in lane 2.
If I can slay the dragon @ work today I plan to take the 2XU tights out to lunch for a run around the gardens & finish with an hour on the K1 trainer at OB.

Big Weekend - not much swim training

After this weekend I was exhausted - Saturday morning was Pool Challenge with the Honeymooners competing in the SERC ( I think it stands for Simulated Emergency Rescue Competition). For our first crack at this competition we went OK not great, but didn't come last (6th out of 9).

I did buy a 2nd hand ski on Saturday straight after the SERC and was keen for a paddle but first had to whip down to watch Emily play netball (missed Aidan's soccer due to pool challenge). So straight after netball it was off for a paddle around St Hubert's Island with GrimSki and the Director of the board. I was thinking that I would spend a bit of time in the water as my previous ski was shorter and wider, hence more stable. But I managed to navigate the One League (about 5 km for the non nautical types) around the island without getting dunked.

Sunday was Blue Swimmers in the morning but I can't count my 120 metres as training. Sunday afternoon was off to watch the Dockers and the Swans play. Our friends the Moore's are Sydney supporters with the Davis clan cheering on the Dockers. The Davis' walked away happy.

Amongst all this we had my Mum down from Taree, watched a movie with Jane on Saturday night and Sunday evening watched a Karate Kid movie(I think it might of been the third one) with Aidan...did anyone else realise that Hilary Swank was a Karate Kid? I didn't.

Back to Training
This morning I headed off to the pool for my normal 3.5km swim. 3 x 1km and a 500m to finish. I started the first km very energetically, but died in the arse pretty quickly. The rest of the swim was fairly pedestrian, was planning on finishing after the 3km, but did push out a very slow 500.

Halfway through winter

Another great weekend on the Coast and was on the water three times. Two flat & one open water paddle with the lads. Mark on a D1 Dolphin from Cronulla looked the goods. This does give us some backup across skills in the team. Hopefully my D1 is in transit today and by weekend I'll be making room in the garage or maybe the loungeroom (for a week). Took in Harry Potter on Sunday arvo with the good lady wife, and it was a cracker in 3D

Today's pool session felt really good. The outside temp was back into double digits so the trip to the pool was pleasant eh. 5 x 400m (free, kick, free w fins, pull w paddles, drill). C'mon Monday give me your best!!

Dodging Fishermen

This morning I did a beach run session while the boys were in the water. 5 x 800m efforts, dodging the fishermen at Ettalong Point. I hate it when they set up in the path of where I want to run! It always forces me onto the softer sand because if I ran on the water side of the fishing rod I would no doubt run into fishing line. Finished off with a board paddle session in and out of the surf followed by Denice's nice coffee and some poached eggs on toast in the company of Ally, Jas, Benny, Aaron, GrimSki and the Oakes family.

stumps

Fantastic morning down at ob today! overcast and misty with clean waves and glassy surface. paddled down to Umina point and back (3 k) with Jason tucker and passed GrimSki on the way. After that spent 35 minutes catching waves in front of the surf club with JT, GrimSki and the running bride. My arms were pretty fatigued by the end- my Garmin GPS watch told me the session was a bit over 5 k all up (backing up from the 5 plus K paddle yesterday). It was good to work on catching waves on tired arms, i could tell immediately that i just didn't have the drive to pick them up the way i have on rested arms. Good to know that i need an extra meter or two at the end of the paddle to hopefully save me from paddling all the way to the beach!

went back down the beach this arvo contemplating heading out for a few more waves. The surf has dropped away, so i think i will do a bike trainer session instead.

Thank you come again

Even though it has only been 5 days, it felt like ages since I have actually paddled the board. Went for a Saturday arvo island paddle with grim ski and the swimmer (who is now eyeing off a position as the ski paddler after just purchasing Chris Allums dolphin ski this morning). It seems like hard work today particularly with my knee still hurting a bit when I jump up to paddle hard. Comfortingly though it was feeling hard because I was moving fast ( or at least faster than I have before) taking almost 2 minutes off my best 5 k to date. Went round in 47:10. I am confident that I can bring this down into the low 40's by the gold. Bearing in mind these paddles are still water so conditions on the day will have a significant impact.

In other news the honeymooners took on the SERC competition at the NSW pool rescue championships this morning and finished 6th overall. Was a pretty good effort for our first run through and were ultimately not far off the pace. Plenty of improvement to come!

Waiting to head for my favorite dinner tonight- Indian from rajdahni kincumber, best in AUS.

Swearing bride

Friday turned out to be a busy day, and I had planned to do a 5km tempo run on the treadmill at the work gym where I could lock in the speed, but time got the better of me. So I braved the weather (second coldest day this Winter) and went out for a run in the pouring rain and freezing cold winds. I kept saying in my head "set yourself on fire!" just to stay warm. We had some technical issues with the GPS watch telling me I was running much faster than I was, so I slowed down, wondering why I felt so great at that speed! I had to pay for it later, with the chairman of the board making me feel like a contestant on The Biggest Loser. By the end of the run there were all sorts of #$%& words coming out of my mouth when he pushed me harder. So it ended up being an acceleration run rather than a tempo run. There were so many puddles and potholes on the footpath, and that did not help. Doing a 12km run later today.

stretch

After a reasonably relaxed week spent primarily bashing out efforts on the fluid bike trainer inspired by the Tour De France, i cracked out a run session last night with the running bride (straight after a bike trainer session). My physio guy is doing wonders! my hamstrings have increased their flexibility dramatically and i  feel like i have had the brakes removed from my running! looking forward to testing out my speed in some form of competition!

Into the pool this morning feeling pretty good after a couple of days off. It was a pretty comfortable session (except for the 900 of kick). We did 2 X300, 2X 400, 900 various kick things, and 8 X 50 on 55s, 200 warm down- 2.9 k. a couple of months ago this would have next to killed.

good work coaches, Michelle Whyte, John Young.

Elastic Bands & Snow Whyte

After my rest day on Monday, I did a 5km run on Tuesday with 200 crunches and 5 mins on the spin cycle to keep it real! I played touch footy on Wednesday night which consisted of lots of short sprints, then I did some 800m efforts with the chairman of the board. 5 x 800m on 4:45 pace. Easy for him, challenging for me. He was always a step ahead, telling me there was an elastic band pulling me toward him. It kinda worked. Did my 200 crunches too. This morning we did swim squad @PLC. Coach Michelle Whyte is to the pool deck as Snow White is to the forest - always smiling when we rock up half asleep! I was going to do some deep water running today but we did a lot of kicking this morning so I don't really need to do the deep water running. I think I'll jump on the fluid trainer for 20 mins this evening just for something different. Tempo run tomoz! And yes, I have promised myself I'll do the 200 crunches per day until the gold. Operation: 6 pack!

Meeting Milestones

Yesterday I blogged that I wanted to swim 3.5km straight without a break and this morning I did just that.

I didn't push my speed, just wanted to be consistent and I think that I achieved that (tumble turns for the entire swim). Time was 63mins, would like to have that under the 60 minute mark in the next couple of weeks. Will try to test myself weekly between now and the event by doing a straight swim.

I beat the alarm clock today

Well I woke up 1 minute before the alarm this morning and didn't even wait for it to go off before getting out of bed. I had a spring in my step and was looking forward to my swim this morning. This unusual level of enthusiasm may of been caused due to me have a morning off yesterday.

So down at the pool I had a lane to myself again for 3.5km. This mornings swim consisted of 2 x 1km efforts and 1 x 1.5km swim. Have kept to doing tumble turns for the entire swim now but am not unilaterally breathing as I am finding that I feel total uncoordinated when I do try it for more than a lap or two.

Either tomorrow or Friday will aim to do a straight 3.5km swim - only will find that I lose count of my laps...does anyone want to volunteer their time and come down and count out my laps for me, it is only 70 laps (I think I have counted correctly) starting at 5am.

Off to Melbourne

After a rest day yesterday I was ready to swim this morning. Standard 45 mins with 2.2k (800 free, 400 kick, 400 free fins, 400 pull and 200 stretch cool down. The Honeymooners were scarce this morning but as I'm in Melbourne for 2.5 days I needed to get into the pool today. Back Thursday evening.

Ow.

After a good weekend out working on board skills, I visited my physio guy again today. My hamstrings are much better thanks to the first session and continued active stretching through the week- I barely had any pain during the weekend paddles. Next point of focus was hip medial and lateral rotation- again the comment was "hopeless for someone who does a fair bit of training". And for punishment I got the acupuncture needles around the right hip. Weirdest thing I have ever felt, didn't hurt- but it bloody does now!

Wll try to do some work on the fluid bike trainer this eve while watching the tour de France highlights. Swim squad in the morning- motivation levels are picking up again!

Broken Machine

I woke up a little sore on Sunday morning from my track session at Mingara on Saturday (butt and thighs!). Nevertheless, I dragged myself down to the beach where I did a 60 minute sand run to keep it real. It was a beautiful morning and some dogs joined me every now and then for 100m before finding something to be more excited about. After speaking to some past Gold competitors, I decided to do the run in joggers as they say the sand in the race is like concrete. The conditions at Ocean Beach were perfect. My previous sand runs had been on the softer stuff and either bare foot or in Vibram FiveFingers shoes. My lower calves are a bit sore this morning and the butt and thighs are no better! Today is rest day. It is really hard to tell myself to have a rest day, but recovery is important too.

Just a Quickie this morning

As I had to be down at Pennant Hills this morning at 7.30am, I didn't have time for my normal swim, but still managed to get in 2.3km.

First km was in a time of 16.18 - slowly but surely getting a little quicker. The 2nd km was a lot slower 17.35, but I was trying to do a few little exercises along the way, such as breathing on both sides, as I am a natural left side breather. Also not one for normally doing tumble turns, I did do them in the 2nd km - yes I know I probably should of gone a bit faster doing tumble turns.

I finished off with 5 x 50m sprints and a slow 50m at the end. There were not many at the pool this morning - I think that even half the squad swimmers had the morning off.

Windy, wet 'n wild

The OB Masters session at 8am saw some decent waves rolling in. The OB Malibu Club had relocated to north of OBSLSC to pick up the southerly swell rolling into the Box.
Today I was committed to paddling back to Horsfield Bay after the squad to build up some miles on the ski. Tried Brett Whyte's camelbak for fluid which worked well but need to address the chaffing.
Without a hot choccy at OB I headed back out to tackle the chop at half-tide rocks and beyond. The wind was picking up from the sou-west and lucky for me the tide was running in as I upped the tempo under the Rip Bridge. By the time I made it to McMasters Rd through the wind I was done. Chaffed, cold & wet I called the support crew (Mary) to come for a pickup. All up 2.5hrs on the ski in testing conditions.

And on the 3rd day she rose again

It has been over 3 days since my last blog so this is what I've been up to... Thursday was strength day: 3km run around St Huberts Island followed by 5x run-ups of the bridge (200m). Tough session. I bought an aqua belt for deep water running and did a 40 minute session at PLC on Friday night. I think I still need to work on the technique, but I can see it being a useful training technique to avoid injury. And today... I went down to Ocean Beach to watch the rest of the team go for a paddle in the surf (yes, there were some waves at OB today!). A freezing cold morning, I had to save all my energy for my first track session at Mingara with coach Peter Quick and the Tuckers (Ally & Jason), Rob, Bob, Debbie, Peter and Bradman. It took me back to my old days of track training as a teen. I dusted off my running spikes and hit the track. The warm up with the team was ok, then I started the main set with Jason. 5x 400m with 60 seconds rest between each one. It was the first time I had felt the spikes against the synthetic track in about 12 years, and I was off to a flying start, only to hit the wall at 200m. Couldn't maintain that pace! I ended up sticking to a more sensible pace that I could maintain for the rest of them. A couple of laps to warm down and some 100m run-throughs with the crew. Then McCafe coffee with the Tuckers.

The box is on

After receiving the SMEAC dangerous surf warning from SLSNSW yesterday i decided with a little trepidation to make today a surf paddle. Headed out from OB through unusually large surf (for OB) with Dark Mavis and GrimSki. Felt pretty good on the way out, water was warm and the sun was just starting to poke its head over the hills. Got significantly tougher once we got out into the open area subjected to the southerly swell. I found it a lot more difficult to spend time on the knees and so was forced to work harder on the arms. Every time i jumped up on the knees i would land on a bruise (which i did not previously realise was there and subsequently became a small cut)- 20-30 strokes on the knees at a time was all i could manage. The swell was rolling in and we spent a couple of minutes sitting on the shoulder of the Box watching the few surfers taking on the big lefts. Continued out past the channel markers and pulled into Ladders before the return trip. With swell behind us we made pretty good time on the way back to OB- GrimSki paddled all the way in without picking up a wave while Dark Mavis and i missed one, ended up on the inside, and got smashed trying to take off late on a solid wave on the outer sandbar. Popped up looking for the board- gone. While i feel ok on the board i am not a great fan of swimming in large surf so i didn't really enjoy the 500m swim back to OB. Dark Mavis was there swimming with a paddle so i dont think he enjoyed that part too much either. All in all today was an excellent training run for me on the board- these are the type of conditions that we expect at the Gold and it was good to get out for a race distance, race conditions session. All up the session was 6 K in bang on an Hour- pretty happy with that given the unplanned swim component. No slower than on the flat water.

Surf is still building. heading out again tomorrow morning with the masters crew- with goggles.

Freezing Friday - glad for an indoor heated pool.

Just read that this morning was the coldest morning in over a year (since June 2010). I certainly felt it when heading to the pool this morning.

After having Thursday morning off (disappointed that I stayed up to watch the Blues lose another series), I felt refreshed and keen for my morning swim. 3 x 1km swims and followed this up with 8 x 50m efforts on the minute and finished off with a 100m swim down. Total of 3.5km.

Feeling good for some cross training tomorrow morning with the rest of the team and will even brave the cold water for an ocean swim afterwards.

7deg @ Woy Woy ... time for therapy pool

Awoke at 04:25am in the same position I went to sleep. I swear I didn't move an inch all night which is testament to how stuffed I was after the K1 trainer session. Hmm... it's a wee but cooler this morning!! During my shave I could tell my shoulders and hips had worked differently yesterday, so decided on a recovery 1500 swim and some yoga stretching in the therapy pool. Good to see Dark Mavis powering away in lane 3 before and after my daily dip.

Technology matters

After attending an upbeat funeral (if that's possible) today at Rookwood I thought that my swim session could be with the Ettalong Pelicans Swimming Club @ 7pm. The family had their heart set on Thai dinner so I adjusted the schedule to fit the family time in. It's important when you're so focussed to be aware of those around you.
Decided to spend an hour on the K1 ergo trainer rather than swim as I need to get more into my discipline as we move forward. Boy I'm glad I did! Passing Matt Smith in OB carpark he went & grabbed the K1 computer that came back today. This allowed me to measure stroke p/m and distance over time. 80 min workout 3k warm up with focus on setup + 6 x 500m @ 3:15 avg. While working the technique is good ... working at pace pushed me. Pleasantly sore as I tucked into my Thai on the lounge.

Getting to the pool late means that you miss out on warming up adequately. Such was the case this morning. Struggled down to the pool and straight into the Wednesday speed session- at the speedy bit. Felt crap the entire session but was happy to hold my 3 200's in under 3 mins each. While I never seem to feel better I do seem to be swimming better. Thanks to coaches John young and Michelle Whyte- plus the throngs of ridiculously fast swimming kids who 's apparent lack of effort in producing said speed embarrasses me enough to try and swim faster- Laura mcglone, alicia Bain etc you know who you are- just make sure you can still beat me in ten years!

Death on two sticks

My arvo run session was about as tough as I had imagined. I didnt think I would be able to finish it but I tried everything to distract myself. Speed/endurance session on the treadmill. 1km warm-up, then 4x800m runs at 1min/km faster than my 10km race pace. 800m is a long way to run at a pace you're not comfortable with, especially with little recovery time between each one - just a 200m walk. I tried making number and letter patterns out of the numberplates on the cars parked outside the window. I also started thinking about GrimSki toughing it out in the 23km ski leg and that kept me going too. Got through it and needed an ice bath for the poor old legs but all I could find was a cold shower.

Good Swim this morning

Had a bit more of a spring in my step this morning. Still not friends with the alarm clock - but not the menacing glare that I had yesterday morning.

First 1km this morning was in 16.20 was pretty happy with this time and slowly working towards breaking the 16min mark. The 2nd km wasn't timed but was still feeling pretty good - so I kept going for a 1.5km swim and finished it off with another 1 km swim, while I did time this final set, I was held up a couple of times by a slower swimmer so the time was in the high 17mins, but was feeling a lot stronger today.

Well done Cadel on a stage win.

To swim or to sleep

Another tough morning. The aircon was programmed to come on at 4:10am and at 4:30 it was still cold. It almost didn't happen but we got to squad training a bit late. The coaches were still happy to see us and I think if they can get out of bed for us, then I can get out of bed for them. I have a tough run session later today...

Rostered Day Off

Today is my day off, after running sessions on the last 4 consecutive days. My legs were crying out for a break. I'm trying to break it up to avoid injury. I've decided to invest in a buoyancy belt for deep water running (once per week) so that I can get a good running workout without the impact. People have won marathons by doing deep water running when injured. Did a 5km yesterday with some core exercises and stretching, then a power walk with Dad last night. I have a really tough run session planned for tomorrow so stay tuned for the update on that!

Tuesday was chooseday

Bed or Swim, I made the choice that I needed to be swimming. So after sitting on the side of the bed for 30 seconds staring at the alarm clock and working out ways that I can exact my revenge on it once the Gold is over (Note; I have previously taken to one of Emily's toys with a hammer for keeping me awake).

Off to the pool and I started out with a bit of vigour and swam the first 1km fairly easily, felt like I had the wind at my back and was swimming down hill. The 2nd and 3rd km were not so easy. Really struggled through the last 500m even when I tried to put in a bit of an effort it wasn't showing in my times. I think an early night will be called for.

Aarrrggghhh

The week started well, with a good recovery run yesterday followed by a solid core workout and stretching. I had been talking with a mate Clifton at work who is a physio and he said he could put some work into my shoulders as well as improve my hamstring flexibility and strength. First session yesterday afternoon- 45 minutes of incredible pain. Apparently I have overactive teres minor and pectorals minor which fight each other to keep my right shoulder in position- this causes me pain particularly after swimming. I am bruised from having those muscles stretched. I also have limited mobility in my thoracic spine which means my muscles attaching there must work harder to allow me to move- cracked my back a few times to loosen it up. By far the worst though was my hamstring flexibility- 45 degrees on the right in straight leg hip flexion and 35 degrees on the left- disgusting was the comment. After about 10 mins of PNF ( proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) the range had improved to about 90 degrees on both sides- but aaaaarrrgggghhh it bloody hurt! I now have some homework to do before next week- lots of spine stretches and hamstring stretches. Hopefully over the next 12 weeks the elite athelete treatment will translate into a significant increase in awesomeness.

But not today- so sore I had to call an early rest day.

... some days are stone

Some mornings it's harder to throw that first leg out from under the covers. Today was one of those days! After a 19hr Monday the alarm on the phone was nae pleasant this morning. They're the mornings that you'll stay in bed if you don't have a goal, a purpose or a WHY. 95% of people are going to switch that alarm off and roll over. However 25 Sep is only 82 days away so each day is an opportunity to put credits into the account... credits we'll draw down on the Gold Coast.
Don't wait for someone to provide the spark ... Set yourself on fire

And so ... at 04:25am I was up and shaving to be in the pool a shade after 5am. Session was 5 x 400m (free, kick, free fins, free pull, drill)

Monday and my legs are still sore.

After going for a run on Saturday my legs are still sore this morning. This may be the reason that I don't run...

Yesterday was Winter swimming northern districts, was good to have a couple of sprint races and while I made the final in my age group, I am looking forward to moving up in an age group next year.

This morning was back in the pool for another 3.5km. I jumped straight in for a 2km swim and averaged just over 17mins for each km. I followed that up with a 1km and finished it off with an easy 500m.

Hopefully this week I am more energised than last week and can keep up the swimming while watching the Tour De France...c'mon Cadel - great start hopefully it continues on.

Masters of the Universe

Awesome session at the beach this morning in calm conditions with the OB masters crew. The boys (Chairman of the Board, Jason Tucker, James White and Darren Shaw) went to Umina and then out to Lobster, while the girls stayed in front of the surf club on boards and then did some running speedwork on the sand. After the 10km run yesterday the speedwork was a bit of a challenge, but I had Allison Tucker beside me to keep me going! Brekky afterwards at the surf club.

Yesterday's 10km run

Around 3:30pm we met at the Bayview hotel in Woy Woy... not for a beer, but for a long run. Myself, Dark Mavis, The Chairman of the Board and Jason Tucker took on the run. Shaniah and Lenny Tucker went for a stroll and Aidan Davis, son of Dark, paced us on his bike. We ran past the roundabout at Point Clare, turning around at 5km. Returned the same way, making it 10km. Thanks to all those who honked - Grimski, Jane Davis, and several unknown others.

Yesterday's Brekky Paddle

A bit late to blog this one but I just wanted to load up these photos of the awesome BBQ brekky we had after a paddle from Lions Park Woy Woy, around St Huberts Island and back to the park. GrimSki on the ski (he remembered to tie it onto his car this time), The Chairman on his board, Brett Whyte and I on boards too. Such a beautiful morning.

Winter Swimming @ Stockton

Sometimes the mental effort can be as difficult as the physical endurance to perform a task. Today was a great example with the Stockton Jellyblubbers hosting the Winter Swimming Champs for Northern Districts. It's an annual beerfest punctuated by short bouts of swimming. The fog, the wind and the time of year conspired to provide temps around sub 9 degrees at 8am, standing by the pool at Stockton. The water itself was a balmy 17degs.
Normally I'd be too blind to log into the blog let alone write something coherent however this year there's more focus than in previous Northern Districts. Drove up to the event had three swims and then back down the coast to recover from a hectic weekend. Being mindful of distractions and remaining focussed will be essential as we move towards Sept 25th

sunday surf

Woke to another gorgeous morning at Ocean Beach and headed straight out on the board with the OB masters crew; Jason Tucker, Shawry, Whitey, Allison Tucker, Alecia Herder, and the running bride (not technically a master). Surf was small but clean and the water temp was incredible- just perfect. Headed off down to Umina to catch a few waves before heading out across the bay to Box Head. Got some good training in with the gentle swell and then the heavy chop in the Ettalong channel. All up the paddle was 1:45- no idea of distance since my Garmin ran out of battery after 2 seconds of paddling. my estimate would be close to 6-7 k all up including ins and outs. felt bloody awesome.

Anyone wanna pay me to do this full time? TYR? Channel Ten? Anyone?

solid

Great day today all round. Up for our usual saturday morning board paddle around the island. Started a little different today taking off from lions park woy woy on what we would normally consider the backside (no pun intended) of the island. It felt pretty tough early on although the conditions were very calm. some fairly annoying tidal currents around the oyster plots made it tougher. did the usual distance of 5 k in 50:00 which i was happy with given i felt pretty ordinary most of the way. Added an extra 1K on the end and rounded out the 6k in 60:02. Followed it up with a BBQ breaky on the waterfront with the running bride, GrimSki and Cooly Gold veteran Brett Whyte.

The middle of the day saw us select our new car to tow our camper trailer up to the coolangatta gold! A Holden Captiva series II- smooth.

Cracked out a 10 k acceleration run to finish the day. It was good to have state and Aussie 2 k run medalist Jason Tucker join us for some extra motivation! The swimmer joined us on land for the run along the foreshore and also put in a strong performance.

off to the empire bay tavern to refuel for surf session tomorrow morning

The Breakfast Club

What a sensational morning on Brisbane water!! A very slight breeze and cool temp was no barrier to the Running Bride, the Chairman & I as we set off @ 06:30am with Brett Whyte. The water was like glass when the breeze dropped away as we headed out for 6k+ around St Huberts Island. Down the straight opposite Orange Grove I left the board paddlers & detoured under the Spit Bridge, to pick up the rating against the incoming tide. While the water may have appeared flat, the eddies & currents around the bridge kept me focussed on the job at hand.

Once back @ Lions Park Woy Woy we fired up the BBQ for bacon & eggs and a cup of hot Russian Caravan tea in the warm sunshine. Very civilized and a great way to start a Saturday.

Slow mornings

It seems to be getting harder to get out of bed in the morning. We have alarms, timed lights, I wear my swimmers, and have my ugh boats by the bed- can I vet up to go to squad training? No. It bugs me.

Anyway, redeemed myself this arvo with a solid effort. 6 k run broken into 2 k warmup, 5x400 at 3:15 pace on 3 min cycle. Jumped on the rower for a k, then 10 mins of core plus some exercises my physio suggests to help with my hamstrings and back extension for board paddling. Finished it off with a moderate 1500 in the pool.

Felt better today than I have for awhile so maybe the rest yesterday helped. Looking for a big board paddle tomorrow with the OB masters crew!

Opera House Stairs

Oops I forgot to mention that I ran up and down the Opera House stairs!

Coast Vs. City

The central coast girl tackled the city for a run this afternoon. I left the University of Sydney at the Ross St entrance on Parramatta Rd, and headed straight down to the Opera House via busy George St where people have no spatial awareness, especially in China town. Well I don't think I'll be taking that route again. Too much time wasted standing at traffic lights and dodging pedestrians. When I was running, I was running fast, so maybe I'll look at it as interval training. I returned via Macquarie St and it was a bit quiter. Hoping for a better quality long run over the weekend.