Week 3 Training....

I'm nearly at the end of week 3 of my training for the competition. The last week has been a busy one at work, stock take, investigations, late nights and weekends, it's all work work work! I've had to keep it pretty simple and kept it to Co2 tables all week. I did manage to meet Basildon Diving Club on Friday and they agreed to me using the pool for an hour but they only train in the pool every other week. It was good to get back in the water after 6mths off. I started off with a little stretching pool side and then done some 66mtr DNF. Its a strange pool for dynamics as its 33mtrs long and has a gentle slope from 3ft in the shallow end to 12ft 6in in the deep end! Trying to stay at a constant depth throughout the discipline is hard and i usually end up bumping my head or just narrowly missing the slope as i swim back to the shallows! Big thanks to http://www.basildonsubaqua.com/ Basildon Diving Club (0356) for giving up some of their pool for me.

My BFA renewal came through today and I've booked my freediving medical for next week, so almost all set to go. AD2000 services have sponsored me for the comp so i have decided that i will do the Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is set aside for DNF only, which i have never done before and DYN/STA on Sunday which I'm hoping will go better than last year. Last year i ended up having a samba after my static and was disqualified from the comp. This year I'm pinning it back a lot and not going for a max, balls out attempt. I just need the white cards and the experience this year!

Week 1 Training Finished

There is only one person that knows the significance of two beautiful swans (you know who you are), its a long story but we all have a mental aspect to what we think of during a static breath hold and the two swans signify the number 22! Don't ask, its a long story!!

This week i have been training with Co2 & O2 tables all week, straight after a short but fast bike ride and reeled the tables off one after the other and in pretty quick succession. This was then followed by negative diaphragm exercises and then pack stretching. About two hours each evening. At the end of this week i done some strength training at the gym and also a load of cardio on the rowing machine and x trainer breathing through my beloved straw at the same time...ouch!

Today after training i completed a pretty standard Co2 table as a warm up then went straight into my first max hold in 6mths, i took 20 contractions and ended up on 4mins 11sec. Although this isn't a huge time by anyone's standards it felt okay and i was happy with it. Unfortunately Basildon Sub Aqua Club was not in the pool on Friday night, i found out they only train every other Friday. The local pool is only open till March then they all move over to the new Olympic Pool in April which would be an amazing place to train long term. Fingers crossed they accept and i can move over to the new facilities with them when the time comes.

Normal Training Resumed...

Last week i got news on the Liverpool competition which ran for the first time last year and although it was a disappointing comp for myself, it saw new National Records set and in my opinion, a new standard in comp's for the UK. It was run by Steve Millard and set in amazing facilities, the Great Northern Comp was fantastic and one i could not let pass for this year even if i have had a huge break in training.

I kick off my training on Sunday evening with a good cycle ride on my newly built bike and went straight into some Co2/O2 tables which all went okay. The hold times on these were low but gave me the contractions i needed. I then went into some negative holds followed by packing holds. All this gave my diaphragm a good stretch and my body a chance to experience almost for the first time the effects of the simple breath hold.

Tables on day two were increased by 10secs on both Co2 & O2 and followed by the same diaphragm exercises. Day three and four were also increased and tonight i was almost back to my normal tables (almost!!)

I'm off to see if i can get some pool time tomorrow night at my local pool so i can work on some dynamics, hopefully the good people of Basildon Diving Club at Gloucester Park Swimming Pool will say yes? I only have till the 13th March to prepare so i need to keep my training focused and realistic.