Monday, 16 August 2010
The long road back..........
So, it's been 5 days since my return from very sunny and hot South France and the training has resummed! To be honest it's been tough, in fact, I'm in pain right now just sitting down. My first session back was an interval hill running session on the tread with Kate followed by an abs class.......nice; spinning with psycho instructor on Friday, who just kept shouting "turn your dial"....."add resistance" and a hideous resistance swim session this morning in the pool with Kate and all of our gadgetry! I'm also cycling to and from work just to catch up on some of my lost fitness..............so all in all I should be back in the zone in a weeks time. Bring on the channel!!!
Thursday, 12 August 2010
3km race at Holme Pierrepont
well....
Saturday saw me compete in my first ever open water race... a 3km swim at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham.
I decided to steer well clear of the pushing, pulling, ducking and shoving at the start and kept myself near the back until the crowds started to break into smaller groups.
I progressed nicely and found a good comfortable pace.. until the lake weed struck (you'd think i'd be used to it by now!!) It was like swimming through tar... horrific. At one point I actually had to stop to try and remove myself from a tangle web of sticky weed.. and in doing so, swallowed half the lake, ending up coughing and spluttering and generally feeling as though I was about to die. Luckily I managed to recover and carried on with the race...
The water was brown and it was really difficult to see where anyone or anything was. My sighting was shocking and hence I swam a wibbly wobbly version of the 3km route!
On the home straight I picked up the pace, still feeling comfortable and was challenging another swimmer with about 200m to go... then I nearly swam head first into a concrete pontoon.. I was saved by a helpful canoeist who steered me out of danger... stopping .. again.. to say thank you I carried on full speed ahead to the finishing point recording a time of 44.45.
The race is on (before the concrete pontoon!!)... thats me on the left!
This is what swallowing half a lake does to you:
Tired but pleased I was delighted to hear that I was the first woman out of the water. The official results confirm that I was 12th overall, and first lady over a minute ahead of the 2nd place lady!!
Me with my medal:
Saturday saw me compete in my first ever open water race... a 3km swim at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham.
I decided to steer well clear of the pushing, pulling, ducking and shoving at the start and kept myself near the back until the crowds started to break into smaller groups.
I progressed nicely and found a good comfortable pace.. until the lake weed struck (you'd think i'd be used to it by now!!) It was like swimming through tar... horrific. At one point I actually had to stop to try and remove myself from a tangle web of sticky weed.. and in doing so, swallowed half the lake, ending up coughing and spluttering and generally feeling as though I was about to die. Luckily I managed to recover and carried on with the race...
The water was brown and it was really difficult to see where anyone or anything was. My sighting was shocking and hence I swam a wibbly wobbly version of the 3km route!
On the home straight I picked up the pace, still feeling comfortable and was challenging another swimmer with about 200m to go... then I nearly swam head first into a concrete pontoon.. I was saved by a helpful canoeist who steered me out of danger... stopping .. again.. to say thank you I carried on full speed ahead to the finishing point recording a time of 44.45.
The race is on (before the concrete pontoon!!)... thats me on the left!
This is what swallowing half a lake does to you:
Tired but pleased I was delighted to hear that I was the first woman out of the water. The official results confirm that I was 12th overall, and first lady over a minute ahead of the 2nd place lady!!
Me with my medal:
Monday, 2 August 2010
New record in channel swimming
A new Record has been set in Channel swimming... check this out... what an achievement!
56 year old Jackie Cobell has lost 8 stone in the past 5 years and set herself the challenge of a lifetime ... to swim the channel.
28 hours and 44 minutes was her official time, which is amazing! 28 hours of cold, dirty, jelly fish infested waters is something that is not to be sniffed at!!
This is exactly the kind of achievement that we hope to insipire through out Chaneling Positivity campaign.
56 year old Jackie Cobell has lost 8 stone in the past 5 years and set herself the challenge of a lifetime ... to swim the channel.
28 hours and 44 minutes was her official time, which is amazing! 28 hours of cold, dirty, jelly fish infested waters is something that is not to be sniffed at!!
This is exactly the kind of achievement that we hope to insipire through out Chaneling Positivity campaign.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
not my legs...
ps... they're not my legs on the Drag Ring photo below... i know i've been without a bathroom for over a week now, but they're not THAT hairy lol!!
gadgetry...
This week we have been experimenting with various training gadgets when in the pool... with somewhat mixed success!
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
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
Monday, 12 July 2010
Thank you!
I attended the South Nottingham College Student Awards on Friday - it was a fantastic event and congratulations to all of the students that were shortlisted for awards. It was also a really successful night for Channeling Positivity as we managed to raise approximately £600 in the form of a raffle.........a big big big thank you from Kate and I for your support.
So I guess Channeling Positivity is slowly getting into the public domain which makes matters all the more real for Kate and I. The official launch will happen once our charity has been decided. Currently staff and students at the college are voting for their preferred charity via the college portal.
The training is going really well and we pulled out 2800 metres in the pool this morning. We're boxing as usual tomorrow morning; Emma our trainer has mapped out a hideous session which involves speed and endurance of our arm muscles predominantly...oh and we throw in an equally painful plank triangle at the end.........maybe you could try it:
30 seconds of plank followed by 30 sessions of crunches - 10 seconds rest
45 seconds of plank followed by 45 seconds of crunches - 10 seconds rest
1 minute of plank followed by 1 minute of crunches - 10 seconds rest
1 minute of plank followed by 1 minute of crunches - 10 seconds rest
45 seconds of plank followed by 45 seconds of crunches - 10 seconds rest
30 seconds of plank followed by 30 sessions of crunches - 10 seconds rest
Let us know how you got on.............remember pain is strength and pain is your friend!!!
So I guess Channeling Positivity is slowly getting into the public domain which makes matters all the more real for Kate and I. The official launch will happen once our charity has been decided. Currently staff and students at the college are voting for their preferred charity via the college portal.
The training is going really well and we pulled out 2800 metres in the pool this morning. We're boxing as usual tomorrow morning; Emma our trainer has mapped out a hideous session which involves speed and endurance of our arm muscles predominantly...oh and we throw in an equally painful plank triangle at the end.........maybe you could try it:
30 seconds of plank followed by 30 sessions of crunches - 10 seconds rest
45 seconds of plank followed by 45 seconds of crunches - 10 seconds rest
1 minute of plank followed by 1 minute of crunches - 10 seconds rest
1 minute of plank followed by 1 minute of crunches - 10 seconds rest
45 seconds of plank followed by 45 seconds of crunches - 10 seconds rest
30 seconds of plank followed by 30 sessions of crunches - 10 seconds rest
Let us know how you got on.............remember pain is strength and pain is your friend!!!
Monday, 5 July 2010
eugh....
I think we have 'swimmers itch'...
Jayne at Absolute Tri has done a spot of investigation and this seems the most likely cause!
nice!
Jayne at Absolute Tri has done a spot of investigation and this seems the most likely cause!
nice!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
