Combined workout: strength and swimming

Nordmarka-Skjersjøelva

Good to finally be able to start working on establishing muscular strength and resume my swimming sessions again. Today I had a very easy strength session first in order to let the body adapt after 1,5 months of just running. I'm going to consentrate on a very small number of exercises this winter. Two basic exersises-squats and deadlifts. In addition I'm going to use much time on seated rowing. My aim is to strengthen both my core and back. Todays session went fine. My muscles are still a bit sore after to demanding competitions, but my condition is improving. Naturally I've lost some muscle-capasity, but that doesn't bother me much. It'll be regained after some months of training.
An hour after finishing my strength-session I had a swimming session consentrating entirly on technique. I'm attending an advanced course in front-crawling. Well it's been even longer since my last swimming session-20th of May. Very pleased then to discover that I haven't forgotten how to execute a good technique. My prime target this winter is to establish a better technique and improve on my week point-the breathing. Anyway, it felt excellent to be penetrating the water again and I managed to cower a lot of ground before I got tired. A good workout, and an excellent instructor.

Technicals:

1. Strength-training:
-Warm up: 5 min of running on the treadmill
-Squats: 1) 2 sets/8reps/50 % load, 2) 2 sets/6 reps/60 % load, 2 sets/4 reps/70 % load
-Deadlifts: 1) 2 sets/4 reps/50 % load
-Seated rowing: 7,5 min/low load
-Stretching: 5 minutes
Total time spent: 40 minutes.

2. Swimming: Vestli school in Oslo, length of pool is 10m
-50 reps-total of 500 m
-Total time spent: 50 minutes

Speed run-short interval session

Well, I'm pretty ambitious starting out after just a day of recovery since racing the whole weekend. Interesting experience to really feel what it's like to not have recovered more than just a bit. My fet were heavy, my body didn't respond much when put under pressure during my intervals and I felt generally unfit.
Tomorrow is off. On Thursday it's strength-training. Next running session is on Friday.
Still no problems with my knees-I'm wearing Mizuno Wave Ronin for the time being. I need to buy a pair of other shoes in order to prevent my Mizuno's from wearing out too soon.

Technicals:
-Distance: 6,72 km
-Time:  41m 43s
-Average speed: 6,21 min/km
-Elevation gained: 38 m
-Calories:  491 kcal
-Average heart rate(max): Not monitored.

The GARMIN logfile can be found at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/42056309

Swimming, speed skill, front crawl, workout of tonight

I'm covering greater distance within the same session. I'm up from 150m to 270 m- i.e. 10 laps to 18 laps. Progress is slow but it's there. I'm consentrating on my breath. It's getting better. The trick is to forget the end of the lap and consentrate all the time on my tasks when I'm in the water. My feets are operating on autopilot, I need to improve on my arms, but I'm moving forwards. My biggest target now is to relax in the water, establish a good breathing pattern and work on covering greater distance at the same time. I need to forget to complete a lap. I have to consentrate fully on my tasks when I'm in the water. It's a long and slow work to improve, but I will get better little by little. I have two times left at the swimming school. After that I'm training individually during through the summer. I'm determined to succeed!

Swimming, workout of the day

Another technique-workout tonight.Slowly I'm getting more and more grip of the front crawl. Right now I'm working on my breath. It's paramount to relax in the water, consentrate on performance in every movement and then the distance will take care of it self. My leg work is good, my arm work is adequate, but needs to improve. My breath is not sufficient enough yet. Most important to me now is to establish an adeqate breathing pattern. After that I will work on extending the distance I cover in one lap. Beyond that there is more speed skill work to do in all areas. In two weeks I'm extending to two sessions of swimming a week.

Swimming-tonights workout

My second workout today. I'm continuing to consentrate on the front crawl. Tonight I challenged myself to increase the length of each lap i swim to 15 m. There are two main reasons for that. The first is that I have to breathe in order to complete the distance. That means I will have to practise breathing in order to improve on that point. Second is that I need to cover a greater distance in order to develop greater strength. I wont get better just by svimming the same distance. This evening I finished 10 laps of 15 m. It's the first time I'm logging distance when it comes to swimming. I have three more times left on this swimming course. I need to work individually through the summer in order to develop my swimming skills. In august I'm attending another swimming course-hopefully held by the same swimming school.

Swimming, workout of the day

Working on my speed skills today. Front crawl is still my main area. I'm getting the grip of my feet, have some improvement to do when it comes to the way I use my arms and I'm not able to breathe thoroughly yet. Progress is slow, but I can sense that there is progress. Anyhow, I've been scheduling one session a week for four months now. I think it's time to add one more session. Additionally, I've been scheduling my session on nights. I prefer to keep it that way until I manage to swim by using front crawl at least 200 m without pausing. Today I'm able to cover 15 m. That's not much but the key is the technique-my speed skills. Next week I'm adding one more session.

Swimming, speed skill workout tonight

Gradually I'm improving my swimming technique in front-crawl. It takes lots of drills, persisting consentration and patience. I've managed to let my feet work without having to consentrate on their contribution. Later on I adjusted my heads position in the water in order to maximise my drift in the water. Beyond that I've been working on the way I use my arms. The last step is to incorporate breath. At the end of the session tonight I managed to accomplish 15 m of crawling without taking a break. I'm very satisfied. Additionally I'm able to relax more and more in the water and that's some of the secret to succeed.

Swimming-progress

Since the beginning of this year I've been participating in svimming courses. One was held before the Easter and I've just started on another one right after Easter. In total I'll attend about 18 times-9 sessions on each course. I've consentrated on crawling and some backstroke(back crawling) as well. These two tend to work well together. I must say though that I have in my eagerness been spending the most time om front crawling. The more I exercise the more relaxed I feel in the water. Front crawling has three different levels. First I have to master to float and get my feet working properly. Secondly I have to use my arms in the right manner in order to get maximum progress forward. Thirdly I have to breath regularly. So connected with back crawling there are three different tasks to attend to while swimming. The first two I'm quite comfortable with. The third I got to work some with. The main approach to develop swimming skills is patience. I have to establish a set of drills, carry them out in planned order and relax when fatigue occurs. Most important is to consentrate on correct performance. Speed and distance will automatically fall in to place later on. I'm confident that I'll develop sufficient swimming skills in order to train regularly and compete in a triathlon if I feel like it. During this period I've been swimming once a week in connection with attending the swimming course. In order to develop further I think it's time to extend the weekly swimming program with one more swimming session. I have to fit that in my training program starting no later than the beginning of May. Swimming is a fantastic alternativ to running, cycling and strenght training. I feel completely relaxed and recovered after a session. It's a good thought to make use of that experience in scheduling a weekly traning program. If scheduling swimming on Thuesday and Thursday morning I have three windows to train other sports.

Swimming-speed skills

I've participating in a svimming course since the beginning of January this year. The main purpouse was to improve my speed skills. A total of 9 times I've been working on my crawl- technique. Has there been any improvement? The answer is yes. I've come across an excellent swimming instructor and he's been able to comment on my week points, allow me to practise and correct when necessary. I'm very satisfied and have decided to attend a new course with the same instructor starting right after Easter.
Most important to me is to carry out a set of drills, work on my technique and challenge my self when progress is identified. Today I was a bit tired and didn't gain as much effect of the lesson as usual. That's because I carried out a workout on my bike earlier today. I'm not going to repeat that on later occasions.
To be spesific I have sufficient leg work, need to work more with the way I use my arms and must improve more on my breathing. I have to establish a pattern of drills and consentrate on my performance on every session through my next course. When tired it's essential to take a break. It's paramount to focus on establishing the right technique. Speed and distance is no subject at this stage. When it comes to drills for arms I think that consentrating on one arm at the time could be useful. I'll practise that on my next session. First right, then left and so on.
After establishing that I'll attend to my breathing. All the way I have to consentrate on relaxing more and more in the water.