5mins 02secs Disappointed?

After an arduous week of training including walking apnea, dry statics and gym work i felt really strong this week before i went to the pool. I hit my diet well and preparation before hand was great. I felt really strong mentally and ready for a great performance.

I targeted myself for a 5min 45sec which would of been a new P.B and a slow 100mtr Dynamic. I got to the pool and my warm up's were fine hitting 3min 50sec and 4min 10sec, but on my third and final attempt i felt so nervous and just couldn't get comfortable in my body position that i only hit a 5min 02sec hold!! Pants!

If i feel like that when I'm in my comfort zone what am i going to feel like in a competition?

My Dynamic session started with a terrible push off and i ended up having to dodge round most of the divers who were busy training in the pool so i came up at 75mtrs. I don't want to use them as an excuse for not performing well as it's there pool and I'm very grateful to be able to train in there time. The diving club that let me use the pool are a fantastic bunch of guy's who i would give my right arm (not lungs) to stay with. The club are having a big recruitment drive at the moment so if anyone is interested contact them via the web site http://www.woodstockdivers.co.uk/ BIG THANKS!

Saying i was displeased is an understatement but should i really be that upset for only doing 5min 02secs? It's a good time and one i would of only dreamt of a couple of months ago. The main thing is that if i want to compete at this i need to stay more focused and not let me, myself and i wind myself up into a state before hand.

Enough said, back to training!!

Apnea Walking

My training this week has gone great, 3 sessions in the gym concentrating on shoulders and back and i started apnea walking. I went out on Tuesday after the gym and walked along a track near my home whilst holding my breath and managed two 1min hold walks followed by two 1min 10sec holds. The walking pace was nice and slow and i covered around 90mtrs although i will have to measure out a 25mtr track to try and simulate my Dynamic training in the pool.

I went to the pool on Wednesday as usual and again went for an acidic diet but this time 4hrs before i went instead of the two hours i tried last week. Breath up's were the same and i pulled a very easy 5min 27secs hold with 60 enjoyable contractions with no drama.

My Dynamics were fine completing 2 x 75mtrs 2x 50mtrs and finishing on 5x 25mtrs concentrating on technique and gliding. I found that packing 12 times too much and was slightly too buoyant and packing just 8 times perfect for the 2kg neck weight.

Today i went for another apnea walk straight after the gym and managed 2 x 1min walks followed by a 1min 10sec walk and a 1min 12sec walk with 20 contractions. I aim to progress to 1min 30sec next week and 2min walks whilst holding in the next 4wks.!!

A quick weight update (currently 11st 12lbs vs. 13st 7lbs when i started!!)

A good week with good progress....Happy bunny!

Straws.....

Training this week in the gym went well although i must start working on more cardio to lower my resting heart rate, as I've said before "i hate running" so I'm saving up for a bike so i can start cycling. I started training using straws, i found out about this method on these blog sites (freediving explained) and found that 5-10mins a day breathing through a straw really help my lungs work and also build some tolerance up to Co2.

Quoted from freediving explained...
Breathing through straws stretches and strengthens the intercostal muscles which is very good for freediving. Also, while breathing through an airway constrictor we limit the amount of CO2 that is being expelled from our body with each breath - thus building tolerance to higher then normal concentrations of CO2 in our system - also very good for freediving.

I went to the pool on Wednesday as i usually do at 20.00hrs but had a bit to eat before hand (my daughters birthday) but i did manage to have two lemons fully squeezed into some green tea two hours before i went.

Statics were a disappointment and although i tolerated the contractions much better i only managed 4min 46secs on my final attempt! The contractions started early but i managed to slowly go through the first 18 and hitting 60 in all. I guess the Ph changes in blood do help but the birthday cake didn't!!

I then went on to some dynamic work and did a very easy 75mtrs and then set to work on my gliding technique. I used only the 2kgs neck weight and ditched the belt. With some conscious control of my pitch whilst gliding i found myself cutting down from 13 kicks per 25mtrs down to only 6 kicks per 25mtrs. This is what i have been working towards for a few weeks now and managed to crack it at last.

Next week i will try a 75-100mtr DYM using only 6-7 kicks per 25mtrs and see if the total dive time decreasing distance in my performance (it shouldn't as i will be using less energy and O2)

I have been taking my supplements (B Complex, garlic, Vit C, Omega 3 oil) in the evenings but found it better relating to performance if i take these in the mornings so I'm going back to what worked last time.

This weeks training

I took a week off training last week due to being full with cold, snot and lungs that felt like saggy balloons!

I went back to training at the beginning of this week and done some light statics all around 4mins and then done some very light DNF (dynamic no fins) i found i could swim really slowly for around 2mins 40secs which i was pleased with.

I then trained mid week but researched a lot more into diet and blood Ph levels by searching through some great threads on the deeperblue forums. An acidic blood Ph level aids in the way the body copes with Co2 so a lower Ph level is favourable amongst freedivers. I obtained this by eating quite a lot of citrus fruit 2hrs before my training and accompanied this with garlic supplements and green tea to lower BP. I had 3-4 lemons squeezed into my green tea (god it tasted like cr#p) I am going to try citric acid from the chemist next time and mix around 10mg into some juice as i think this will be less painful on the pallet than the lemons.

I trained statics for around 30mins and hit 5min 02sec on my 3rd attempt, taking only 60 contractions so maybe there is something in the research on lower blood Ph. I am only going to attempt to change by Ph on the days that i train and not make it a long term habit.

I tried some different weight this time for dynamic training which i found to be too heavy so i ended up with 2kgs around my neck and 1kg on my belt which seemed to be right although i could still not glide well? Back to drawing board on this one! As i haven't pushed my dynamic training since i hit 100mtrs i am now falling back on performance, i intend a max performance in dynamic next week to keep my goals in sight.