Firstly Just tried out the Parachute Pants...
The basic theory is that the parachutes add drag and create resistance, making it harder to move through the water.. and thats exactly what it does!.. its solid lol!
Then I bought myself a Drag Ring ...and a Belt of Cups:
Both work on the same theory as the parachute and make those lengths seem a whole lot further! The drag ring works when working on pull sets (arms only) but tumble turning with both legs squeezed into a ring of water filled sponge is pretty amusing... on more than one occasion both Just and I thought we were drowning.... which moves me on to our experimentation with multiple gadgets at once....!!!
We attempted to swim a length (yep... thats one whole length!!) wearing the parachute AND the drag ring.. AND a pull buoy. The result was a near death garroting experience when turning at the end of the length... not helped by laughing so hard i nearly wee'd myself!!!
Needless to say that these training 'aids' will form part of our training in the next year as we try to simulate swimming against the tide, which will happen a fair deal on the big day! They have also added a bit of fun into those laborious pool sessions!
I am also working hard on trying to breathe bilaterally (to both sides) as there may be times during the channel swim when we have to swim with the boat sheltering us from wind and waves... which means that we need to be comfortable breathing both to the left and to the right. Just seems to have seamlessly incorporated this into her swimming, whereas years of being a lolloping one sided distance swimmer as a youngster seems to be making it tricky for me to pick up bilateral breathing and maintain it. As soon as i get tired i find myself breathing every stroke and slipping back into my lollop!
Training for the half marathon continues... this week has been another hard one and i'm in need of a rest day soon... lucky for Just.. she's off on her holiberries soon.. jealous... moi?!!!!!
catch you soon
k
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