ASBAH Channel Swim Blog

Eat Drink and be merry while i’m training

manfromatlantis — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:31:18 +0000

Seems to lose the thread of the Blog a little bit when i don’t update regularly however i will focus on the overall update.

Training regular and quite intense. Last week is very much a normal week for me now. Every day swam 150 lengths Monday through to Friday. Except on coach training day, Wednesday, when i focused on Supersets and did about 120. The main aim with this kind of training is to do blocks of lengths at speed with a structured rest in between but all lengths must be at fastest but consistent speed. On the single length sets got my time down to 12 seconds and was averaging 15-16 seconds on the longer sets of say 10 lengths.

Went biking on Wednesday and am starting to really get into the whole idea of the fun of it as well as improving on fitness and ability.

Saturday was a big day, did a 400 length swim which is just over 6 miles. Now looking to start to do the big ones, need to get a few under my belt.

Something that drives me in this challenge is that no matter what i try and do i always want to improve on it. It does not matter that i start out at the back of the pack in cycling or that i wasn’t particular fast when i started the training for the swim but the benefits that have come in so many ways psycologically as well as my general fitness have been great.

Oh why the title i hear you cry. Because i am eating loads, drinking loads not alcohol but isotonic drinks, protein shakes and water and am happy particularly when i have trained.

Birmingham and back

manfromatlantis — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:02:19 +0000

Got up Friday having stayed at my Uncle Noel and Auntie Margarets house and went for a couple of mile run more as maintenece than anything else.

Visited my Uncle Brendan (he lives next to Noel and Margeret)in Birminham on Friday(20th of March). He was my sponsor for my confirmation and i have always felt very close to Brendan and enjoyed his company. He is very ill with cancer and is going through chemotherapy at the moment. Was nervous before i arrived as i didn’t know what to expect and i also didn’t tell him i was coming up as i wanted to surprise him. Must admit we both shed a tear when i arrived but more laughter was shared than tears of sadness. Spent the day with him and was really glad to be there.

Caught up with my cousin, Brendans daughter Margherite and spoke to Brendans other daughter Lisa on the phone and also saw Tony, Brendans son. Went out with my other cousin Seamus and his wife Marie on the friday night(Noel and Margarets son & wife) and spoke to Jackie their daughter on the phone. Was really great to catch up with all of them and left me feeling inspired to crack on.

Said goodbye to everyone Saturday morning and headed home around 9am after a heart breakfast. Will not leave things so long before i return again!!

Higher Ground

manfromatlantis — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:28:55 +0000

No the title dosn’t depict that i’ve changed from swimming the channel to climbing Everest, it’s just a mental note that after my swim on Tuesday where i managed to acheive the 275 lenghts at speed that i feel like i am taking things to another level. Whenever i exceed my regular training it normally leaves me feeling a little bit weird for a couple of days and this is no exception. Double checked the distance as well and realised that it is actually 3.3 miles not 2.76 so that was a bonus as well.

Had a coaching session yesterday needed a double expresso before i started as was zonked from the day before and went for shorter more intense swims, for example started with sprints of 6 x lengths each to be done in 45 seconds, any time under that would be rest time, managed the first few sets to quickly so Leslie shortened the time. After the 6 did 5 slow lenghts then took the sprints down to 5 x 2 followed by another 5 slow, down to 4 x 2 and so on. Ended up please with the session and the results. Was due to meet with Tim(Channel swimmer) but unfortunately he had to cancel and we have re arranged for next week.

Am travelling up to Birminham later on today to visit my uncle Brendan who unfortunately has got cancer. Don’t want to get heavy but more and more i realise what family means to me and it is a large part of why i am doing this in memory of my brother. Life is to short to be sitting on ones arse worrying about things you cannot affect or change. It is much better to get up and try and do something to make a difference.

Train for life

manfromatlantis — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:53:47 +0000

Yesterday, Monday the 16th did 100 lengths, don’t really know why but didn’t power on to the 150. plenty of sit ups and press ups last night, more this morning so feeling good. Today however am up for that and more. Will be looking at the supersets that Leslie gave me. This is layed out as 100m with 1 minute rest followed by 200m, 300m,400m,500m,600m,700m,800m,900m,1000m all with a minutes rest between. The aim is to keep the gas on and maintian a good/fast average speed. 5500m in total which is 2.796 miles. Off to the pool to do it shortly.

Am I mad or just plain crazy

manfromatlantis — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:43:59 +0000

I was given a no’ by my swim coach of a man called Tim Strange who has swum the channel. Decided to give him a call and arrange to meet. In my breif chat with him yesterday afternoon he expressed that a large part of completing the task is in the mind. We had a chat for about 10 mins and i think it was the first time that i realised the enormity of what i am doing.

He used words such as stubborn and childlike to express mindsets that could help me acheive this. He gave me examples of olympic trained swimmers that have failed and average joes that have succeeded. He told me a story of a paralympian swimmer who was pulled out of the water unconcious after 25 hours of swimming just 3-4 miles from finishing.Her mindset so strong that she wouldn’t allow herself to stop and yet beaten by the conditions her body gave out.

Everyday i swim, i love doing it, i love the feeling when i get out of the pool, the way my body has become fitter than it has been for many years but i now know that i have to train my mind as well. This i now realise will change my life in more ways than i realised. There is no turmoil here , just a will to succeed. maybe you have to be slightly mad to even want to do this but sometimes as was expressed by Tim the less you think about the task and just focus on what is ahead of yourself the more like you are to move forward towards a successful outcome.

The time is drawing near

manfromatlantis — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:29:17 +0000

Training going very well. Am of to do my daily train in 10 mins and will be meeting with my coach to look to improve times and stamina. Consistently doing the 150 lengths during the week. Missed a couple of bike rides recently but got a long ride planned for tomorrow. Press ups and sit ups are now daily at 100 and happy that upper body strength is good. Chest/breathing good and finally feel i am managing to get my head clear from this lingering cold/flu!

Looking harder and diet and will seek out some advice on that, Jim if you are reading this please give me a call?

Pushing harder for sponsorship now and will hope that people will get behind this coming up to the latter stages.

Off the computer but on the training

manfromatlantis — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:49:54 +0000

Been a while since i posted but training still very much up to speed. Although i have missed some weeks of biking on a Wednesday with work committments i have replaced those with a 150 length swims during the day. I m out tonight with the guys for a ride so should be putting in a good amount of effort to get the full benefit. Have increased my food intake as was feeling permenantly hungry and was concerned that i was lacking energy particularly in the latter of half of my training/swims. Been adding some weight training once a week now where doing full upper body workout with lightish weights but doing high reps x 3 sets of. This i hope is increasing overall body strength and gives me a bit of extra speed in the water.

Cardio/breathing still feels good and i am looking forward to getting down to Dover(sea swimming) around the end of march.

Lost a week

manfromatlantis — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:26:17 +0000

27.01.09: As you can see by the dates lost a week in terms of diary however training went well last week particularly on Friday(23rd Jan) when i had a coaching session with Lesley and although was feeling a bit jaded accomplished a good level of endurance training on the super sets that i did. Started with 15 lengths to be swam under 5 mins, followed by 2 sets of 8 each with a 15 second gap between them. Then i get a 10 second gap between swimming 4 x sets of 4 lengths and finally finish with 8 sets of 2 lengths each with a 5 second gap between them. This had been preceeded with a 20 lengths warm up and an 8 lengths warm down all done under an hour. The idea is to increase cardio strength and speed of recovery for greater endurance.

Today i will probably do between 120 and 140 lengths but i will check in later today or tomorrow to confirm.

Am starting to be aware that i am continuing to lose weight and maybe need to concentrate on what my calorie intake is. Want to have a good intake to be assured that i have the right amount of fuel to burn up for the distance.

Saturday Slog

manfromatlantis — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:18:28 +0000

Saturday the 17th:Up at 7.30am for an early swim. Always tough getting up first thing and took a while to get in to my rhythm. Pool again quite packed but decided to persevere. Managed 140 lengths before i was kicked out for swim classes at 9am. Not the best but pleased i saw it through.

Go for a bit of think time after and grab a coffe in Nero’s Godalming and read the paper.

Got home and then went back into Godalming with the family and had a lovely day doing a bit of shopping and just hanging out at Grandmas.

Went for a run about 5pm and felt good. Weather was not to cold although it was quite windy. Extended my usual run and found that i was improving my stride the longer the run went on. Probably acheived about five miles and powered on the last half mile. Although i have always stated that i don’t like running , if you hit your stride and feel good the whole thing becomes more addictive and enjoyable.

Enjoyed snuggling up with the kids in the evening and watching a DVD(Prince Caspian). This as part of the Narnia tales was one of my favourite stories that i liked reading as a child and i love being with my children as they experience the modern take on showing the story in film.

Thank God It’s Friday

manfromatlantis — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:57:13 +0000

Friday the 16th: Had a little bit of a lie in as i am meeting with a client to do some demo’s at a couple of my manufacturers and suppliers. Took Ellie to meet the bus and took the twins to school then headed of to meet my client. First Demo was in Cobham and thoroughly enjoyed the time showing of the product and discussing what we would be doing for him. Then took him over to Chalfont St Giles and demo’d a full blown cinema system designed and installed in a clients back garden in a purpose built unit. Finished the demo about 3.30pm and headed back towards home. Swerved in to Godalming leisure centre for a quick swim. ONly managed 50 lengths as the pool was general swim time and there was o many people in the way to crack on. Not very enjoyable but still got some training in.

Had a table meeting in the evening to discuss up and coming events that we are organising. Feeling tired so left immediately when the business was done.