Let's talk about swimming....

Swimming and me are not the best of friends at the moment. Much of that is down to the fact that I’ve had this lingering cough / cold for almost 6 weeks, and I never swim well with a cold as I just can’t settle my breathing, but much of it is also born out of frustration that I am just not getting any quicker. When I first “cracked” front crawl I made big improvements in a short space of time, as suddenly I dispensed with my breaststroke recovery length every other 25 meters and replaced it with a much faster stroke. Naturally, my times soon came tumbling down from 8:45 for 400m to my best, set in October 2015, of 7:04. At that point, almost every time trial marked a new PB; very invigorating as I hadn’t been setting any of those in running for a couple of years. Following my 7:04 I thought it was inevitable that, upon my next attempt, I would be hitting the sub 7s. Hasn’t happened. I have banged out several times in the region of 7:10 but I seemingly cannot break that magical 7 minute barrier. Most of this is down to technique, as there are swimmers in my tri club with inferior fitness levels than me on dry land who absolutely annihilate me in the water. The main point of frustration is that I do know what I am doing wrong – catch is too flat, using my hand to push me up on the water to help support my head as I breathe, arm too deep and straight in the water on the pull through, and stroke too short giving away valuable thrust at the back end… amongst other faults! Apparently, from above the water, I look like one of the most stylish swimmers in the pool, but, just like a swan who looks sublime and majestic on the surface, underneath the illusion is shattered and I possess all the grace of a drowning cat…

#Insert various images of me swimming badly in pretty locations below....

Vilamendoo, Maldives, 2014.

Vilamendhoo, Maldives, 2016

On the reef, Vilamendoo, Maldives, 2016.

Vilamendoo, 2016

Roadford Relays, Oct. 2016

Truth is, I don’t really know how to make further improvements. I have had valuable input from a couple of coaches at my club, including my good friend Anne, who is eternally patient (though even she had to concede defeat on attempting to teach me to tumble turn!). Anne has given me innumerable drills to help me perfect my catch and follow-through, but I find if I do things correctly, I suddenly end up swallowing half the pool as my head is in the wrong position to breathe. Basically, I have developed my own crappy technique to help combat my own crappy technique… it’s a vicious circle!

These woes are not isolated to me: I am one of a number of people in tri clubs all over the land to suffer this affliction. It is basically the curse of the middle lane! Whether swimming in lane 3 of 5 at Honiton swims, or in lane 2 of 3 at Sidmouth, I am always the middle of the pack: too fit for the slow lane, too crap technique-wise for the fast. The middle lane is generally populated by talented  land-based athletes who have taken up swimming as adults or who, like me, swam as children but then gave it up and have only revisited it because it is a compulsory element of triathlon. We rely on our high fitness levels to muscle our way though the one hour long swim set, in the classic manner of a 'Swim Smooth' Arnie fighting the water! 

I have recently been so demotivated with it all, I just dread having to go to the pool as I know it’s an unpleasant and frustrating experience every time. So, to motivate me, I decided to sign up to a 5k swimathon…. Yes, 5km in a pool…. 200 tedious lengths. It will take me the best part of 2 hours to complete. It seemed like a good idea at the time to give me the impetus I need to get down the pool and train, but I am secretly dreading it and delaying starting training for it. However, I need to improve my swim if I am to be competitive in the triathlons I have planned this year. Last night I finalised my 2017 race schedule and have decided on the following key races:

Clumber Park Sprint Duathlon and ETU qualifier, Nottingham – March

European Sprint Duathlon Championships, Soria, Spain – April

The Immortal Sprint Triathlon, Stourhead, Wiltshire – May

The New Forest Standard Distance Triathlon, Ringwood – June

Honiton Sprint Triathlon – July

The Brutal Half, Llanberis, North Wales – September

Yes, yes, after Slateman I said never again to cycling around Snowdon in a hail storm clad only in a glorified swim-suit…. but the truth is, I secretly loved it (once it was over and I was back home in the warm with a glass of prosecco in hand, that is). There is a part of me that is a shade sadistic and loves a personal challenge. I saw the Brutal on a programme on TV, when the presenter - a former Welsh rugby player - took part in a series of insane endurance challenges. It instantly peaked my interest because it’s in my beloved Llanberis. What does the race entail? Well, it’s a half-iron, also known as middle distance race, and involves a 1900m 2 lap swim in Llyn Padarn, followed by a 60 mile cycle on the Snowdonia Marathon route, circumnavigating Mount Snowdon twice, then just a 14.5 miles run to finish with…. Oh, which happens to include a full ascent and descent of Mount Snowdon up the Llanberis Path. Just my cup of tea… ahem, panad. Sounds slightly challenging right? Well, not so when you consider that this is in fact the shortest of four available distances on offer at this ”Brutal Fest” , all starting at the same time on the same day. I should be done in a taxing but achievable 8 ish hours.  There is the Full Brutal (an iron distance race, doubling up on everything I’m doing); there is a Double Brutal (4 times what I am doing), and, new for this year for the completely mentally insane, the Triple Brutal (you do the math!). So, I will really only be taking on the “sprint” distance, so no chance of whinging and whining about feeling cold and miserable this time as I will have it easy and my moans would be met with much disdain by my fellow Brutalers.

Ever since taking up triathlon in summer 2015, I have had this trajectory in mind: sprints in 2015, standards (olympics) in 2016, building up to a half iron in 2017. Due to personal circumstances, I wasn't sure if that would happen this year, but I need a goal to stay focussed on training, so I have decided to plan for it and build towards it, and, if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. No biggie. There'll be other Brutals (or things equally as brutal) for me to torture myself with... er, sorry, I meant, enjoy, in future years. :-)

This amazing setting will again be the aquatic stage for the 1900m Brutal swim.

Training wise, I intend to get Soria out of the way first as it demands a very different training schedule, with the onus being on short, fast efforts. Then, come May, I will start to ramp up the biking and running miles, the latter of which will mainly be longer, slower off road runs as all four of my planned triathlon event runs are on trails, thus avoiding the pounding on tarmac, about which my lower limbs doth protest too much. I guess I also need to do a bit of swim training between now and then… onus on 'a bit'. See you at the pool! ;-)