Sweet Dreams....

last week i dreamt that a fish bit half my finger off whilst I was swimming in the sea.

I am sure this is the first of many such random sea related dreams to scare the living cr@p out of me before July!!

Christmas Training

As Justine is rushing around moving house, I am busy planning quite how much food I can consume during the Christmas Break (all in the interest of creating the perfect channel swimmers' physique you'll understand ;-) )

I think our main goal over Christmas is to try and maintain a good level of fitness, ready to come back and train hard in the new year. We have to be realistic and accept that at this time of year sometimes its not that simple to fit in as much training as we would like... but we're sure gonna try!! (i'm working on a 50/50 approach... to try and spend as much time training as I will do eating lol!)

Nick has continued to put us through our paces in the pool in the mornings and I, for one am finding it great fun and really challenging! Arriving at work with a bright red moon face and google marks is now a regular thing !!

The new year will bring a whole new challenge for me as a plan on a tee-total few months in the lead up to The Big Swim... Maybe I should get sponsored for that too hey?!!

Not sent your Christmas cards out yet?

Well its not too late to include a Teenage Cancer Trust Name Drop card...

Just print out this file.. Cut them out.. And pop one in with each card you send

Spread the word of the Teenage Cancer Trust and all the great work they do!

Please send on to all your friends!

Crazy Comeback

Well... This morning was my return to the pool from my sick bed and OMG didn't I know it!!

Everything seems so much harder, which psychologically was a nightmare as I had been feeling really great the week before in training. Still, it was only a cough / cold / sore throat and I did keep thinking to myself that the guys we are trying to help with this project at the Teenage Cancer Trust have to deal with way more than this on a regular basis, so I guess it puts it all into perspective...

Nick and Just kept me going so big thank yous to them both!

ps SPOTTED whilst watching way too much daytime tv.... the blonde geordie one from loose ladies... denise someone (my favourite loose lady!) wearing a TCT brooch ... and I also read in a magazine article that Jameelia Jamil from T4 is now an ambassador for the Teenage Cancer Trust...

Wednesday......just Wednesday

So my session plan this morning went out the window after 25 minutes of non stop F/C swimming; my arms were hanging as a result of my new and improved technique! So I had to change to a 600m fast kick set on my front and back with fins and no kick board to help me recover. I then went back to F/C full stroke starting with 100's and then finishing with a set of 50's. Not what I had in mind! Anyway, I'm going to persevere with the new technique and hopefully I'll be blogging some positives next week. Roll on Thursday - session 3 with Nick.

I forgot - Miriam and I attended SNC's Student Council meeting yesterday and we had a really encouraging response from the students about getting behind Channeling Positivity. Come on SNC - let's show the rest of Nottingham what we're made of!

Technique Tuesday

So I've learnt how to swim all over again and my goodness it feels great - what a revelation! I'm pulling differently under the water and my recovery above the water involves a much longer glide. It's hard work and I'm going to have to practise my new technique for a good few weeks before it starts to feel natural. The most obvious difference is in the increase in forward thrust that I'm able to generate which consequently means faster and more controlled swimming - no more lollapping from me!

So this morning's drills involved lots of skulling. Firstly on my front using just my hands with my arms straight in front of me, followed by the same again but with bent elbows and arms at 90 degrees, followed by alternate arms pulling straight past my thighs and then putting it all together in the form a super powerful doggy paddle. Sounds crude but very effective and bloody knackering! There are of course some key descriptors which I have to keep repeating whilst attempting my knew pull technique and these are pop, push and glide.....pop, push, glide....pop, push glide and so on and so on..............who said swimming was boring. NOT ME!

So tomorrow is reinforcement Wednesday - no Nick tomorrow so I'm planing to put in a solid non stop hour swim and use my new technique for at least one 25m in every 100m. Anyone fancy joining me?

Training with a world champion!

So kate's been wheeling and dealing again and has organised our pool training sessions for the next 6 weeks with Nottingham's very own Nick Dunn - current World Champion Triathlete. How lush is that.....? Anyway unfortunately Kate has been claimed by a nasty bug so I'm in the pool this week on my own with Nick - so I thought I would blog my sessions and experiences........ as to be honest I'm a little nervous!

So session 1 consisted of 25 x 100:

5x100 F/C with fins @ 1.30

5x100 F/C pull @ 1.40

5x100 F/C full stroke @ 1.30 - 1.40

5x100 F/C pull float and paddles @ 1.40- technique focusing on elbow pop

5x100 F/C full stroke starting @ 1.40 - technique focusing on consistent leg kick

Cool Down

Great session, although tough going in places and my lungs were burning. I hate F/C off 1 minute 30 secs - it makes me want to puke! Also my weakness believe it or not is full stroke with a decent leg kick. Therefore, Nick very generously, is going to work on my technique which I thought was sound but it's not! Damn! But I'm ready and eager to learn even at the age of 38!

So I'm less nervous about tomorrow as it's "Technique Tuesday" (Nick's phrase which I've stolen), which means lots of drills focused on my arm pull under the water. Bring it on!

More name dropping...

...And we continued witht the big name drop in the gym, with assistance from the Lovely Lucy and Kev!! Thanks Gang!!... and thanks to the helpful photographer whos session we interrupted to get these snaps!!

The big name drop

This morning we had some fun in the pool experimenting with the Teenage Cancer Trust's Big Name Drop

It was lots of fun, and we even managed to squeeze in a bit of training!... Thanks to Ronnie the best lifeguard ever, for helping to take the photos!