Whoo Hoo, I'm on Track for Eton - By Helen Wildin

Who would ever have thought of doing a mile in sets of 25m x 64 in under 25s off 40s ? Yup, Mrs Tyrant. I actually enjoyed it and I came in under time for all of them though I was gasping somewhat at the end of each length.

Mr ‘Splashy’ came in just as I’d finished “You look like you’ve had a hard session” That may be the red knackered looking face then.

I then attempted another speed set the next day. BIG mistake as my times were rubbish. So I had a couple of rest days ready for the big up and down and up and down and up and down at Basildon at 6am for 3 hours. After a 10min delay on my part looking for my goggles and hat ( and at some of the eye candy) off I went.  At 7am we were moved to the other pool (honestly does anyone have a brain at that Centre) and I thought I’ve only done 50mins. I had a pit stop at 7.30am when Mrs Tyrant cheerily said ‘oh look half way’. At my next pit stop (timed by waiting for Shaun to lap me twice, thanks Shaun) it was 8.18am…whoohoo and I counted the last 2k until 9am.

I managed 8.25k in 2hr 49min and as the last handful of jelly beans had kicked in, I felt I could have gone on a bit more.

So I’m on track for Eton 10k in 3hr 30min. I was also hugely relieved that I didn’t break Mrs Tyrant’s nose (so was she).  (Mrs Tyrant typing here - She kicked me in the face, knocked me googles off and I have the black eyes to prove it! - Chris asked me if I had been in a fight - "No darling - just mis-judged overtaking Helen, my fault entirely).

I also realise that constantly pushing myself is counter productive and that I need more time to recover between speed sets and to perhaps look at the core exercise sheet Mrs Tyrant gave us ages ago.   Oops!

8.5 Miles - 13.7k - 412 lengths - By Stuart Athol

 

8.5 miles or 13.7k or 412 lengths. If you say it quick enough then it does n’t sound too far. However the actual doing it does take its toll. For me the worst period of any long pool swim is on the 2^nd mile between the 3^rd and 30^th lengths of a 33.3m long pool. I could easily quit at any point in between even though I swim a mile each weekday before work.

Nothing to do with strength or technique; it is purely mental and the daunting fact that I’ve still got over 10 times that distance yet to go. When I did 7 mile back in November, for the first time in my life I took a 2.5min drink break after 4 miles even though I did n’t particularly want to. My body thought that it was finished swimming for the day and wanted to get out. This resulted in the last 3 miles being an absolute torture. I learnt from that experience and to do the 8.5 miler I realised that I must still take on fluid and protein (I mean you would n’t go without a drink when lying on the sofa watching TV for 5 hours). So I stopped for a 30 second break at the 3 and 6 mile points to quickly neck down as much 4:1 Carbo/Protein drink as possible. Nothing to eat as I found from my trainee navy diver days that does n’t work for me. I just get tummy cramps and/or throw up which would probably result in me being asked to vacate the pool and not return.

I finished the swim in 5 hours 6 mins. This was 17 mins over what I estimated but when comparing my poolmate pro stats with the 7 miler I was pleased to see that my swim speed and stroke rate were identical which signifies to me a steady speed which I can maintain.

Obviously the pool is not the sea but roll on the warmer weather so as to put my poolwork into lake and sea work.