Jaffa Cake Famine!!

Time flies when you are having fun! Today the worst of all worst things happened...........I forgot my Jaffa Cakes! This is a disaster of epic proportions! I am on duty tonight as well so that will be a full 36 hours of no JCs......sniff..........

Training is going ok and I am beginning to master the balance drills in the pool. Today I did an hour of 25m drill/25m swim. As I completed my 25m full stroke length I sort of fell into breathing every 4th stroke on my unnatural side (left). This is really weird for me; however, I was feeling smooth and relaxed, with minimal effort. I know that you cannot gauge much by alternate 25m swims after 25m drill, but I decided to time some of the 25m full stroke swimming. Keeping the effort the same, I clocked the 25m at 22 sec (22:05 to be exact). Not fast, but fast for me at that effort level. The next few timed 25m after a drill length were all between 21:5 and 22 sec. I was tempted to do a 200m time trial to see if I could maintain that pace; however, I decided that would not be wise and I carried on. It bodes well, though, that I am feeling ok in the water. Of course, it could all go wrong come April/May but let’s think positively and reach for the stars!

I dusted off the hurt box again for the weekly turbo/run session. It was short intervals this week: 3 x 6 mins at 300W. During the race season I was doing 6 x 6 mins at 330W, so 3 x 6 mins would be easy? Nope! I was tickling the hurt box again and thinking that the session should feel easier! After the turbo hurt it was out onto the road for 6 x 400m with 1 min recovery. After the initial wobbly leg feeling and a 1:30 effort, I settled into repeats of 1:19 – 1:23. This pace, I decided, was too fast and I would reduce the pace and increase the number of reps next time, as I need to leave myself room for gradual improvement. I will save the real gut-busting efforts for the spring.

Talking of gut-busting efforts, I read an article on the Tabata Protocol today – sounds like a drill to be adopted during a nuclear explosion or something! It’s all about very short and sharp efforts at max intensity, with short recovery periods. Here is an extract:

TAKE THE TABATA TEST
If you think you've got what it takes, here's the drill. First, do a five-minute warm-up by cycling at about 40% of your full effort. For the intervals, work on a stationary bike and alternate 20 seconds of activity at full effort with 10-second rest periods. Each sprint-rest combo counts as one interval. After the intense section, do a five-minute cool-down in the same way you warmed up. Try to do four intervals at first, then gradually work your way up to six. Repeat the workout three to four days a week.

I have done sessions like this before on my turbo and boy does it hurt! I don’t really fancy doing it 5 times a week! However, for peaking in the spring, it could be beneficial. Apparently, fatigue in the legs is minimal after you have recovered yet you feel like someone has set fire to your lungs. If my hurt box sessions remain hurtful, I may just do some of these to wake myself up

8-)