I have a new blog for Triathlete Europe, which is a little odd as I’m not a triathlete. It may interest some of you.

The wine of the week really is a cracker – £4.99 from the Co-op

http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2012/02/22/12-into-70-3-will-go/

Bugger that for a game of soldiers, but good luck! 🙂

And there’s more….

http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2012/02/29/12-into-70-3-will-go-part-two/

Dave, i wrote a few goals down the other day.
a few things to aim for i suppose, one of them was to do a triathlon again.
the last time i did a triathlon was at weardale in 1992.
seems a hell of a long time ago.

hope you enjoy it.

The wife had picked up a bottle of the Rioja in the Co-op and it is very nice indeed.

ton, a friend of mine lost 37kg and did a triathlon. you can do it mate.

avdave2 – sadly the Rioja is back to £9.99

Cool…. reckon 5:30 is achievable

What are your planned split times ?

40min swim
3 hour bike
1:40 run ???

how many hours a week training?

And another nice budget wine recommendation, £4.99 co-op (again)

http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2012/03/07/12-into-70-3-will-go-part-three/

Ro5ey – less than 6.5 hours per week at the minute, but very little is low intensity.

I believe that we’re too prone to converting fructose to body fat unless exercising

I love fruit way too much.

eat it after exercise then?

Interesting read! 🙂

I do. Plus always have a banana pre morning swim. Not a chance I can go the 2 hours between getting up and getting to work without eating.

Oh, and then another bowl of fruit pre evening workout for energy too.

I should add that as a chronic exercise addict you have no need for the full-on iDiet

I know.
I’ve promised myself to stop knocking it and admit that it does work, that I follow a lot of the principles and feel better when I stick to slow carbs rather than mini-eggs.
I’d never stop eating fruit though. Never.

Enough about you, this thread is about me.

Other than avoiding high GI carbs, there are a few other little tweaks I’ve been keeping in my back pocket to encourage fat loss. At the end of this week I’ll know if I have to put them to work.

clenbuterol? spanish beef? amphetamines?

Enough about you, this thread is about me.

LOL. How’s the swimming coming along? What pace are you up to?

I should add that as a chronic exercise addict you have no need for the full-on iDiet

FTFY!

Enough about you, this thread is about me.

Soz! Will catch up on the blog at lunch as penance (and pop out for some wine 😀 )

I’m up from my first swim of 10 x 50m, to 13 x 100m

1’45” per 100m

9 weeks to go

work still to do

That ain’t bad at all!! What rest are you taking between work sets?

I have stuff to say about me but I’ll ask you questions instead.

At the minute I’m doing each 100m on 3 mins. When I get to 2k I’ll start again on 200m on 5 mins. Maybe. I have a spreadsheet somewhere.

Say something about you now.

just feel, instinct and wine

I’m lovin’ that

No. I’m going to keep talking about you.

Do they let you wear wet-suits in the pool you use? Really big confidence boost as it’s so much easier. Is different though, so IMO worth doing before the event.

Are you staying in Cheshire before that sportive?

Not allowed wetsuits in the pool. Will test in a canoe slalom section in town – treadmill style. Or maybe Lake Geneva in April.

I live near the start of the Cheshire thing, spare room if you need it?

1.45 for 100m but allowing 3mins per set.

1.15 rest !!

I know you’re the coach… but that’s too long, far too long to rest.

You should be going off 2mins

1.15 rest !!

I know you’re the coach… but that’s too long, far too long too a rest.

You should be going off 2mins

15s rest? That surely is far too short – bearing in mind that there are additional reasons for doing intervals when swimming, as it helps you maintain your technique. I used to go off 2 mins for 100s when swim training, but then I could bang them out sub 1:30. Not a huge amount wrong with going off 3 mins for him, though he could shorten to 2:30.

Ro5ey, 3 weeks ago I would have struggled to swim 5 lengths in a row. So, yes I am the coach, I know where I’m at and where I’m heading. I’m happy with my stroke, better to rest longer and keep a good stroke than get tired and flail around like a windmill.

At the moment my swim training is all about the stroke and swimming at the speed I want to in the event – not about fitness.

I’ll shorten the rest when I need to. Until then…..

I’m going to see if I can sneak off to the pool this afternoon, I’ll see if I can do the same as Dave 🙂

Fair enough…

Didn’t realise that your swimming had literally come from nothing.

Bugger.. just found out the pool near my house is just a leisure pool.

Surely they have lane swimming somewhere near you Mol?

The training plan I’m on has varying speeds to swim at for different sets / drills. I’ll be damned if I can swim at the slower speeds though, I just keep going at my faster pace and keep knackering myself out.

iDave – the offer of a room has made it a hell of a lot more appealing… I need to sort out some domestic stuff and will get back to you.

I’m trying to swim at one speed only and working up the distance. Swimming really slowly feels wrong.

The room has a big bed etc. 20 min drive from the event. Mrs iDave is doing the 45 miler.

Swimming really slowly feels wrong

For me it feels like drowning.

Swimming more slowly.. I just like to take fewer strokes and really concentrate on gliding as well as possible.

There is lane swimming in Cardiff’s big pool, it’s just 25 mins away rather than 5.

Gliding (IMO) is not a good thing in FS stroke. A long stroke is good, but not gliding per se as when you glide you lose momentum.

Yep … overglider myself…. its a trait of a little knowledge being a bad thing (also see above… :))

But save energy. Isn’t that the point of the slow swim sessions in your training programme?

Anyway you can’t glide for long as you sink, it’s just how I swim more slowly and relaxed.

But you don’t save energy if you’re constantly accelerating as you pull, then slowing as you glide?

its a trait of a little knowledge being a bad thing

The mystery of swimming fast and efficiently is an absolute bitch for this!!

I still want to know how triathletes (even Armstrong) swims 1 min /100m for 1.9km. I can’t swim that speed for a single length of a 20m pool 🙁

You can’t glide for long enough to slow appreciably. And your stroke rate is slightly slower meaning fewer strokes per length, so saving energy.

My point is that the action of trying to glide that split second more results in a more relaxed stroke rate but with more efficient strokes, leading to slightly slower speed but using less energy due to fewer strokes. Which is what you were after, wasn’t it?

Seems to me (although I am a long way from an expert) that there is a linear relationship between the number of strokes/min and the energy you expend, but efficiency falls off sharply as stroke rate increases. So 20% more strokes per minute means much much harder work and not much more speed.

I could be wrong though, please correct me if you are an expert 🙂

Well we know I’m not an expert, but I have a rather smart watch that measures efficiency.

It defines efficiency as a function of time taken to complete a distance and number of strokes taken. For me, at the stage I’m at with my swimming… efficiency improves with the number of strokes I take.