End of Training...

Today i have been resting up before the competition, no training. I have almost cleared the cold which is great news and my chest feels fairly clear now. Just finished eating a damn good fillet steak and going to get an early night!

My official top time for static is 12:40 and 14:49 for my dynamic so i have been working out my breath up times and hold times so i know when i need to get wet and start preparation before my performance hold. It takes me 46mins to get ready and if i hit the pool at 11:55 i should be fine. I also timed how long it takes to do 5 purge breaths then a full exhale, full inhale + packing. If i start this at -20secs before my OT i will be fine and ready to go within 4secs of my OT.

Here's to an enjoyable first comp, just hope i have done everything i could to be the best i can be?

3 days to go....I've got a cold!

Well i went to the pool last last and took thing nice and easy, didn't want to go over 10 contractions in the last hold but they started early at around the 3min 45sec mark!

I done some technique training for dynamic which went well and practiced my turns again. When i got home i had a very runny nose and woke up this morning sneezing my head off! I've got a cold!


Can't believe my luck, only 3 days out to the comp and this happens. I'm now taking on loads of fluids and going to do double Co2 tables today and again tomorrow just to get my Co2 tolerance up a little as it's now tailing off slightly. Maybe i peaked a couple of weeks ago?

I started taking some garlic, iron and multi-vits to give myself a boost also.

Last Week of Training

It's now only 4 days to competition day, over the last few days i have been training but taking things very easy. Very little dry training and only two bike rides. One of which i tried by breathing through a straw. I have used straws before but never whilst exercising. It was sooo hard! i only managed about 2mins and then gave up.

Bike stats yesterday were...
Ave Speed 14.2mph
Dist 5.28miles
Time 22min.12secs
Max Speed 26.3mph

Not the best stats but the wind was head on all the way and again i done this with 15sec breath holds throughout the first 12mins.

I'm off to the pool tonight to go through my warm up routine and time everything so i get on my Official Top (O.T) dead on time and plan this perfectly? This will be the main aim tonight but also to make this training session have a really positive outcome. Not push things but to take it nice and easy and leave the pool with good thoughts.

It's important not to push hard now and no max attempts until the comp.

Spiro-Meter Test Number 2

It's been a busy few days since training Monday, on top of my training i also managed to get back to the doctors to get my second spirometer test done. Published results at the end of this post, as you can see my FVC (full volume capacity) has gone up from 6.73ltrs to 7.12ltrs. Very happy with the results and also the overall results this week.

Pool session also went great and i completed a good solid 6min 05sec static with only 30 contractions.

Hold 1 : full exhale/ full inhale 2min
Hold 2 : as above
Hold 3 : FRV 1min
Hold 4 : FRV 1min 10sec
Hold 5 : 2/4/2 breath up 3min 45sec
Hold 6 : as above 4min
Hold 7 : FRV 1min 57sec
Hold 8 : 2/4/2 breath up + packing 6min 05sec

As you can see i did not carry out a normal 7th hold but replaced it with a FRV hold this way i get the full 45min in my warm up area before my max attempt when i compete. I was really happy with this performance last night.

Dynamic was hard over only 100mtrs, just could not get into my dynamic tonight but hey hoo, I'm happy with everything else.

Bike Stats (today)
Ave Speed : 14.9mph
Dist : 5.31mile
Time : 21.18sec
Max Speed 24.4mph

Really good bike ride and was carrying out the normal 15sec holds throughout the first 12mins as before.



FEV1 - Forced Expiratory Volume in one second. This is the amount of air you can blow out within one second. With normal lungs and airways you can normally blow out most of the air from your lungs within one second.

FVC - Forced Vital Capacity. The total amount of air that you blow out in one breath.

FEV1 divided by FVC (FEV1/FVC). Of the total amount of air that you can blow out in one breath, this is the proportion that you can blow out in one second.

My results Nov 08....................... My results May 08
FEV1 4.83ltrs (128%)........................... FEV1 4.89ltrs (131%)
FVC 6.73ltrs (149%)............................. FVC 7.12ltrs (159%)
FEV1/FVC 72 (base) 92 (max)........... FEV1/FVC 69 (base) 92 (max)
Lung Age Less than <20yrs................ Lung Age less than <20yrs

Extra Pool Training...

The good people of http://www.swallowsleisure.com/index.html who facilitate all my training needs agreed to give me an additional training session on Monday nights leading into the last two weeks of my training before the pool comp. I spoke to Chris Mortimer who works at the center last week and let him know that i would like to do a write up in the Kent Messenger after the comp to give a big thank you to all at Swallows.

Statics went fine and i completed a nice easy 5min 47sec hold with about 30 contractions. The holds between were not great and all around the 3min 45sec mark at the start of contractions but i did 4 of these with only one minute in between.

Hold 1 : full exhale full inhale 1.50sec

Hold 2 : same as hold one

Hold 3 : FRV (empty lung) 1min

Hold 4 : as above

Hold 5 : 2/4/2 breath up 3.45sec

Hold 6 : 2/4/2 breath up 3.45sec

Hold 7 : 2/4/2 breath up 4min

Hold 8 : 2/4/2 breath up for 3mins 5.47sec

I then practiced some dynamic technique over 100mtrs which i was very happy with especially with the turns.

Another big thank you to swallows for letting me train and lending me some staff to safety!

Crazy Tables....

Well i finally found my bike computer and stats which are as follows...

Ave Sp 15.1mph
Dist 5.27miles
Time 20.56sec
Max Sp 20.4mph

Some really good stats from the ride with 15sec breath holds / 15sec recovery throughout the first 12mins.

I done some crazy tables this afternoon which gave me 4mins of lovely contractions, ouch! Going to use these each day now to get my head consistently into taking them with ease.

Training Updates (blackout!)

The past 4 days training have been o.k, nothing too intense. I done mostly dry static work which has gone well, timing when contractions start. I put in another additional hold which brought the contraction start start time to 4min 15sec. This is good as the first 10 contractions i take, take 1min to go through so by the time this has happened I'm at 5min 15sec already. Still really confident of over 6mins at the competition.

Pool training went well last night, i done a 5min 30sec with all the life guards and instructors in the pool right next to me practicing with the spinal board. This was great as it acted as a realistic distraction. It was hard to visualise my mental routine as they were all talking and splashing about. I also stopped training in between breath up's to talk to the centers operations manager to arrange some extra training over the next fortnight.

Contractions started at 4min 15secs but couldn't get my head around them this time.

Dynamic went really well, no warm up's, no stretching and a very easy 125mtr swim. I planned in my head that when i got to the 125mtr mark would i be able to turn and go for 150mtr? I was happy to find it within me to do this. I'm sure i will hit the 150mtr mark next week!

Training today went o.k, i really pushed my bike ride. I'll post the stats when i find my trip computer (my daughter put it somewhere safe?)

I then went in Co2 tables but pushed hard at the end of them, only taking one exhale before kicking into another 2min hold. I then went into packing stretches which i do standing up. The first stretch i cut short as i started shaking (hypoxia) i took a quick 20sec recovery and then tried again and woke up on the floor with a really sore head....i had blacked out!

Felt like i had a dream about blacking out (if that makes any sense?) and i was still shaking when i come too. This signified to me that i had defiantly B.O'd.

Training Cont...

Quick update this time, Day 25 was spent just doing some dry training and timing when the contractions start and how much time passes from the first to the tenth contraction. It seems that the first 10 take about a minute as they are slow and controlled. With this in mind it would be ideal for the first contractions to start at 4min 15sec then take 10 contractions round to 5min 15sec and then the next 10 would take me round to the 6min mark. Easy to write about not so easy to do. I have had contractions start as last as 4min 15sec so I'm now training purely on delaying this first contraction point.

I'm now entering the hardest 2wks training period and I'm aiming for some extra pool sessions each week (about 3) purely working on contraction start times. Then the 3rd week training up to the Wed prior to competing on the Sun.

Day 26 is rest day....McDonald's, Mmmmm!

Training day 23 - 24

Pool training didn't go to plan on Wednesday night, i experimented with bicarbonate of soda? I took 20gm of the stuff and made myself feel very unwell. Baking soda was used by many athletes at the Beijing Olympics with great effect. It acts as a Ph buffer to acidic problems in the body whilst competing. Unfortunately it did not work for me!

Statics were not great and went like this...




Hold 1: 2min (no breath up)
Hold 2: 2min 15sec (no breath up)
Hold 3: 1min (FRV hold)
Hold 4: 1min 15sec (FRV hold)
Hold 5: 3min 30sec (2/4/2 breath up + packing)
Hold 6: 4min 15sec (2/4/2 breath up + packing)
Hold 7: 5min 35sec (2/4/2 breath up + packing)

The last hold i packed too much and was fighting to keep the air in which made the hold uncomfortable. I took minimal contractions as last week on all the holds but felt really bad stomach pains during training from the baking soda.

Bike stats were
Ave Speed: 14.3mph
Dist: 5.27miles
Time : 22mins
Max Speed : 22.9mph

I am still using the 15sec breath holds for the first 12mins of the ride and came home for some more Co2 tables which went well.

Dynamic training was more like dodge the diver training as the pool was very busy so i concentrated on my turns for about half an hour.

Training day 18 - 22

Training over the bank holiday has been difficult mainly due to work commitments etc but it's gone well. I have carried on with the Co2 tables but changed them slightly at the end. Instead of taking a 15sec break before going into the 2min hold i just breath out at the end of a 2min hold and take one recovery breath and hold again for 2mins. The contractions start very early and are pretty nasty but anything that hurts must be good, right?

Bike stats are as follows..
Ave Speed : 14.5mph
Dis : 5.3 miles
Time : 21.50sec
Max Speed : 21.1mph

Bike stats after this are distorted slightly has i had a puncture and had to walk home but i did this holding my breath in between lampposts....

I carried on doing Co2 tables again today and carrying out repairs to my bike. Training today has been hard as i went out Sat night for my wife's birthday and drank a few old fashions and i don't do drinking well...!