Training Updates....

After finally cleaning off the horrible virus on my laptop I'm finally able to to put up some posts. Training has been going well and i found a new route to go on my bike sessions. It's virtually the same distance and a much more enjoyable ride that my old route which i was getting bored of. I found many other cyclists on the route which had amazing bikes and looked the part, i was stuck behind a group and thought "I'd better not over take" they looked awesome in all their kit and expensive bikes. After a few miles i thought this is too slow and went flying past them on my £300 bike and £20 helmet from Halfords. I felt good about myself until i got to the back end of the route which was all up hill and they all flew past me at god knows what speeds! Lesson learnt!

Bike stats on the new route are as follows...
Ave Sp - 15.5mph
Dist - 5.16miles
Time - 19.53sec
Max Sp - 21.2mph

Ride two
Ave Sp - 15.3mph
Dist - 5.17miles
Time - 20.13sec
Max Sp - 21mph

My static session last week went great, when i first went back to training after 5-6wks off my times were down to 3min 30sec! After two session back i hit an easy 5min 15sec and i have left my long extended warm up's behind me.

2min NTB (normal tidal breathing)
2min hold no packing, no purging
Repeated again
3min very slow breathing (3 breaths in 3mins)
2min 2/4/2 breath up with packing - 3min 30sec hold
3min 30sec very slow breathing (3 breaths in 3min 30secs)
4mins 2/4/2 breath up with packing - 5min 15sec hold (27 contractions)

My dynamic session in my new FOOR suit was great, i usually kick 4-5 times per length depending on how well i kick off from the turns but with the new suit i was down to 3 kicks. I used a different neck weight with 2.5kgs in and had a 2kg weight on my belt which seemed to work fine. I'll do a full write up on the suit later as i get used to it and make some small adjustments.

Training Updates

Bike stats
Ave Sp : 15.1mph
Dist : 5.26miles
Time : 20.49sec
Max Sp : 21.4mph

Co2 tables went well which i done as soon as i got of my bike so my heart rate was very high, my resting heart rate is still high which i put down to my 5wk break? I moved straight from Co2 tables into pack stretches and reverse packing which seemed slightly easier than before.

FOOR Quantum Suit

Well i finally got round to ordering my suit which I'm going to be using for my dynamic training and performances. I ordered it from http://triuk.com/web/ which delivered it within 1 working day! I was unsure of my size so i e mailed them and let Emma at Tri-UK know what my chest, height and weight was and the suit she sent fitted perfectly. The wrist and ankle cuffs were taped so i could if required cut them to fit. The suit is 5mm in the body, back and bum and 3mm in the arms which taper down to 2mm, the legs are the same.

The suit was well priced £124.99 and looked great and I'm looking forward to trying it Wednesday in the pool.


Here's a quick write up on the suit....

Designed for maximum buoyancy with unrivalled durability and flexibility –
at an incredible price! No other entry level suit on the market offers full
smooth skin neoprene throughout PLUS ultra flexible neoprene on neck,
arm and back panels. With Foor there is no compromise.

Full SCS neoprene throughout to glide you through the water
Exclusive! Nanomoto Cell 40 SCS neoprene arm/lat/neck/back panels
to ensure no restriction on tired muscles
Aqua Shield Superlite 900 lining delivers maximum buoyancy and flexibility
Low cut anti-rub neck seal Flex-i-Panel minimises water intake and chafing
Lower back Flex-i-Panel allowing freedom of movement for entire stroke phase
ARB Panel to maximise core stability and minimise ‘snaking’
S2T Panel to maximise speed of movement out of water
Extended Hydro Friction forearm panel to ‘grab’ the water
Extended internal taped seams allowing a personalised fit
Hand stitched and glued
Taken from the FOOR web site.
http://www.foor.co.uk/

Quick training update.....

Training tonight went well, bike stats are as follows...

Ave Sp : 15mph
Dist : 5.24miles
Time : 20.53sec
Max Sp : 21mph

I came home and done a good ab workout and then went straight into Co2 tables which went fine. I finished of with pack stretches and some negative diaphragm exercises. I've only just got into these and I'm going to keep extending the time i hold them, so far its not very long at all as i am completely reverse packing. Hopefully it will give my diaphragm some more flexibility and in the long term help in contractions? I'll have to wait and see?

I also looked at another tri suit called "Foor Quantum" which I'm enquiring about.

Holiday finished back on to Winter Training!!

Cyprus was a great break for me and the family, we went to out there for 2wks and are now well & truly rested! I also meet up with Simos who was getting hitched to Katie and when we finally met up it was in the middle of the sea outside of Green Bay. It was great to meet up as we only met up for a few minutes at the Camberwell breath hold comp and have been e mailing each other for ages, We took some pics whilst out in the sea and caught a pipe fish and bite it to death (sorry no spear gun) anyway congrats Mr & Mrs Simos!

I went back to training last Sunday and done some cycling and some relaxation stuff, not really my cup of tea but i know it is key to good performances now after my poor static at my fist comp. This doesn't mean I'm going into meditation, yoga, chanting or anything else, just getting my resting heart rate down and finding tune with my breath.

Both sets of cycle stats although very poor are as follows...

Dist : 5.25miles

Time : 19.34sec

Ave Sp : 14.9mph

Max Sp : 22.1mph

Dist 5.25miles

Time 22.10sec

Ave Sp : 14.2mph

Max Sp : 19.9mph

I was smashing these times up to my comp and holding my breath whilst doing so every 15secs so i have to get my base fitness levels up and improve. I went to the pool on Wednesday and and did my first static session for 5wks and gave up after i hit 3mins 30sec!! I could believe that my times were down that low. I managed some DNF over 50mtrs and went home. Today my bike session still felt hard and i stopped poncing around with relaxation and did some Co2 tables and now i feel a bit more confident about going over 5mins at the pool this Wednesday.

I finally got my Orca suit last week but it was the wrong one and wrong size, there are no size 6 anywhere in the world so I'm shopping around for something else. I met with some Tri-Athlete guys today for some advice and they have pointed me in the direction of 2XU suits which fit my budget and will do the job!