One day one photo - 6: Swimming training

I was really glad to be able to to get an evening swimming slot at Crystal Palace Sports Centre on the hottest day of the year! Swimming is an activity I have done for many years, though it's something that I have tended to not talk about much or pay much attention to as a sport in the same way I do with cycling or running. While I will watch professional cycle races or running races, and discuss it with fellow fans, I never do the same with swimming. It's just been something that I get on with quietly in an unassuming way.

It's been more of a Cinderella activity for me. When I do triathlons, swimming is my weakest discipline, and is more like something to just get through before I do the "proper" sport of riding my bike and running. I have still stuck with swimming over the years though, because it is great for soothing sore legs after hard exercise - be it running, cycling. I even like to do it when I go skiing as it certainly helps my knees after a day on the pistes.

So it has tended to be a sport I did for functional reasons and I am sure it has benefited me. In more recent times I have come to really appreciate what swimming does for me. Not only are there the musculoskeletal benefits, but it's also an activity I can do for relaxation. Being in the water can help lower blood pressure too. 

With the significant growth in open water swimming I have found myself visiting lots of venues around the London area - Beckenham Place Park, Middle Dock at Canary Wharf, Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre, Divers Cove, Royal Victoria Docks. I also enjoy visiting the lidos at Brockwell Park, London Fields, and Parliament Hill in Hampstead Heath. I also like to do open water swimming whenever I travel out of town. Recently I swam in Loch Lomond and on Portobello Beach while on a visit to Scotland. I also swam in the Bassin de la Villette, and the Ourcq Canal when I visited Paris

According to the Strava app, for the first time ever, my stats showed that I spent more time swimming than cycling or running during the month of August. 

All this waterbaby activity has led me to actually work on my technique and do some proper training. I haven't joined a swimming club, but I have bought a few training aids which I use to incorporate drills when I swim at my local pool at Crystal Palace. The kickboard and the flippers have been great for improving my leg technique, the hand paddles have helped improve my arm pull through the water and strengthen my pectoral muscles, while the pull buoy is a nice swimming aid to put my legs in the best position in the water.

I definitely feel that my swimming has improved. I am not necessarily swimming much faster, but I find that for the same speed I don't feel as tired as I used to, and I feel a lot more relaxed during a race. Who knows, this may be the beginning of me channelling my inner Michael Phelps!  

Photo of the day - 26: Final SwimRun of the year, at Bewl Water

 

Exiting the water after the first of six swims

The second part of my final weekend of multi-sport races for this year was the As Keen As Mustard SwimRun at Bewl Water, near Tunbridge Wells. There was a choice of three distances - a 5km, 10km, or 21km. I chose to do the middle option, which consists of a total of 1800m swim split over six swims and interspersed with seven runs which totalled 8.2km.

Nowadays I feel comfortable with the swim, especially after all the training I've done and having swum two miles in the Serpentine last week. The run was something to just get around, because I haven't done a lot of training due to me trying to learn to run in minimalist shoes. Because I haven't fully mastered that, I have to take it easy during the SwimRun races to avoid injury as I am running without my usual orthotics - something I wouldn't advise if you're jumping in and out of the water!

It was a very pleasant event, running around the woodland and country trails and then at intervals wading into the water to swim, getting out and running again. I ended up right at the back during the first run as I stopped to properly tie my shoe laces and adjust my pull buoy. But I managed to catch a few women, and we formed a little group at the back. I gnerally feel quite relaxed in these events because they usually start with a run, and by the time you reach the water you have warmed up a bit and so when you get in the water it's quite refreshing. There's no need to take time acclimatising or warming up; you just get on with it. When swimming you need to keep your eye on where you're meant to be going as there aren't any buoys in the water. There's just a flag and a marshal at the other end of the lake, so it's up to you to pick the shortest line. Be mindful that the swimmer in front of you may not be very good at sighting, so it's always good to check for yourself where you're going. I finished fifth from the back, but it was nice to see the women at the finish line, and we congratulated each other as well as talking about our exploits during the race.

I do like these events. There's no argy bargy in the water and people do them at various paces - some people are competitive, especially those intent on qualifying for the major events in Sweden. But then there are other folks who tootle round. I'd say SwimRun is in the same vein as orienteering, where some people are mighty fast and then others just trot round and enjoy the scenery. But whichever level you are everyone feels like they've had a workout and there's a friendly atmosphere. I look forward to doing more of these events next year.

Photo of the day - 12: First sea swim of the year - at Eastbourne

The concert band I play in were due to do a gig at the Eastbourne Bandstand. Given that it is right on the seafront, I decided to get there early enough to go for a quick dip in the sea. I had been wanting to go for an open water swim all week, and with Swim Serpentine less than a week away I was keen to take whatever opportunities I could. It was quite an easy thing to do. I parked on a side road off the seafront road and walked to the sea front to start my swim. Given that it wasn't very warm, I wore a wetsuit - in this case my swimrun wetsuit with calf sleeves. 

As I have gotten into the sport of swimrun I have found that the kit you use for this sport is really handy for swimming in general. The calf sleeves and pull buoy (which is strapped to my thigh) give extra buoyancy to the point that you don't really need to kick your legs when swimming front crawl. The hand paddles also make your stroke efficient and you go that bit quicker than if you had none of these items. 

The other things I have that really make life easier are a pair of swimrun shoes. They are basically minimalist running shoes that are light and don't weigh your legs down in the water, and then they drain quickly when you get out of the water. The ones I wear are Vivobarefoot Tempest. Other brands exist like Salomon or Inov8. They were great because I could walk down the road with them and then just get straight into and out of the water while wearing them. 

This was my first sea swim of the year. I don't know why I'd left it so long. I had made a previous attempt a few months ago in Brighton, after cycling there from London. But I didn't have my wetsuit with me, and even though it had been a hot day the water just wasn't hot enough for me. So I only succeeded in getting knee deep into the water before I called it a day! 

This time I had the gear and that gave me a lot more confidence to have a go and deal with "the challenge". The water was a bit choppy, and that made sighting a tricky as I kept being wafted off the path I was trying to follow; but thankfully The Wish Tower when swimming one way, and Eastbourne Pier when swimming the other way, made life a lot easier. I had a big tow float with me, which is necessary, particularly for visibility among the various paddleboarders and other swimmers. So all in all I felt safe during my one-mile swim. 

When I got out, quite a few people stopped and asked me how my swim had gone and admired the fact that I had been in, given the temperature. That gave me an even greater sense of achievement. I highly recommend a little dip like this, particularly before something like a concert, as I came out feeling quite relaxed, refreshed and ready to jam.