report on swim club sessions #15,16 and 17!

Three for the price of one today – sorry about the very long gap but other things seem to have interfered with both swimming and blogging about it. The swimming quality definitely deteriorated over the last few weeks – hope the blogging is up to standard!

Session 15 was just me after 2 weeks with no swimming. I just about struggled through 36 lengths, and the two lengths of front crawl I threw in just about finished me off. It’s scary how quickly you lose fitness for different sports. 

Session 16 was me, Orlando and Danny; I managed 40 lengths this time, including four lengths of front crawl! I was still not in the zone at all. I think Danny did about the same, plus some treading water, and he spent half the bptt bbq that afternoon asleep! Orlando started off well but then got a cramp in his leg and had to be heroically rescued by Danny as the lifeguard couldn’t really be bothered.

Session 17 went much better. David and Sharon were back from their holiday and joined me and Danny. David swam like a man on a mission, but then is he apparantly half man half machine. Sharon thought she would only manage 20 lengths, but did at least 30, if not 36. I was trying to do some research into whether I can possibly beat Danny in the aquathlon at Club La Sexy. However as he refused to race me over 200 metres I am still not sure. I don’t think it’s very likely but I will have fun trying! Anyway he stayed in the pool after the rest of us for some secret extra training.

I did 52 lengths and they felt easier than last week’s 40. And included at least 8 lengths of front crawl. Phew.

No tea and cake this week, so still not back to a traditional session of swimclub. Ah well, maybe next week….

Report on swimclub session #14?

I think it’s session 14, last week I was running the Green Belt Relay  www.greenbeltrelay.org and I don’t think anyone went to swimclub. I could be wrong….

Anyway, today there was only Danny and I and we were both suffering from a case of CBA, eventually we managed to drag our lazy butts out of Costa (not that lazy really, we did do bptt first) and down to the pool.

We were glad we did for several reasons. Firstly we didn’t swim last week, and won’t swim next week because it’s my birthday and we’re going to the Epsom Derby, and so did not want to get into  too much of a habit of not going.

Secondly, it’s triathlon day on Monday, and I wanted to get one last practice in. More importantly, Nicola has kindly lent me her very cool pirate kit for the tri and she said it would be a good idea to try it out in the pool first. So I did and I really liked it. Very comfy and didn’t look too silly. Probably cos it’s not a ‘onesie’ as Orlando described trisuits this morning. This one has two parts!

Thirdly it was a strange experience in the pool today! There was something wrong with their technical equipment so the water was 33 degrees instead of the usual 28. It was actually warmer than the baby pool, quite weird to swim in but very good for stopping for a chat after a few lengths!

Fourthly, we felt better for going than we would have done if we’d missed it, same as every exercise session that you don’t particularly feel like doing. A combination of endorphins, adrenalin and smugness.

Not a massive amount of lengths were swum today, about 36 each, no cake (except the ones in Costa) but nevertheless a successful swimclub.

report on swimclub session #13

Wot no session #12 I hear you cry. Well it did happen (alledgedly) but I was not there to record it. I went out with some *whisper* other friends. And my ghost/guest blogger has been too busy training to write anything either. Or maybe without me it just wasn’t worth writing about!

Low key and brief swim club today, Sharon was at work (boo) the rest of us (me, Danny, David and Orlando) did a mere 35ish lengths as Danny and David have a half marathon tomorrow, and Orlando and I are lazy! We did a bit of treading water too, still not quite sure what it is after doing it for 5 minutes!

David timed himself and me over 400 metres again, we have both improved since last time. I did 10.06 so am sticking with my prediction of 10.55 for the triathlon. David lapped me and did some massively quick time – 8.18 or similar.

No cake today – the clubhouse was shut due to the slackness of the maid. So we went out for lunch in one of Teddington’s less bourgeois cafes. Orlando drank a lot of smoothies, we had some baguettes and stuff and I repeat no cake was consumed by anyone. A historical day in the history of swimclub.

report on swimming club session #11

Forgot to write report yesterday in the excitement of going out bowling at the ‘Chavtunda’ in Kingston. We thought we might get thrown out for wearing far too many clothes, but managed to sneak past security. Mixed results at bowling, but Sharon and I were awesome on the dance machine!

Anyway, swimming swimming swimming. Me, Danny, David and Sharon in attendance today. It looks like Danny and I will be winning the good attendance prizes at the end of term. With the triathlon looming David headed straight for the big boys front crawl lane, no messing about, and proceeded to plough up and down for an indeterminate number of lengths (cos he can’t keep count of them).

The rest of us swam in the lane too (not ‘that’ lane though) as the pool was v busy with ankle biters today. The water looked none too clean today either…. Danny did his usual 64 lengths, I did 70 (got cramp in my finger this time), Sharon unfortunately had to get out early as she had a bad headache.

My triathlon prep is slightly different to David’s – as there is zero possibility of me front crawling 400 meteres I have given up on it for now and am working on my breast stroke technique as it’s still a lot faster and more efficient than my front crawl. I will get back to it after the tri though.

Cake today was a lemon one made by Sharon (lovely but slightly lacking in the presentation department!) and some chocolate caramel crunchy things made by Mr M and Mr S. David once again won the ‘most pices of cake in 5 minutes’ award.

report on swimming club session #10

Not a lot to report today – a very low key swim club which involved a lot of lengths and no cake! Orlando, Danny and I were the only attendees today. We swam and we swam and we swam and we even swam in the lane today because the pool was very busy with pesky kids for a change.

Orlando did 36 lengths (a bit more than half a mile), Danny did 64 lengths (a mile) and I did 80 lengths (2k). We were then very tired and went home to prepare ourselves for the arduous task of watching the London Marathon tomorrow.

That’s it for today really, so I’ll just quickly tell you that David and Sharon both ran beepy teety pbs this morning. Hoorah for the (first claim (in their hearts) Stragglers) Rowes.

Report on swimclub session #9….. and The Grand National

Still no teacher at swimclub, she is recovering after being knocked off her bike by a silly car driver who didn’t realise how fast bikes can go……. get better soon Nic! We did however welcome new member Orlando to swimclub today.

We all managed to arrive at the same time today for a change, despite Orlando’s unscheduled detour to the wifi hotspots of Teddington; he only accepts the sunny ones with somewhere to sit down.

Danny got straight down to business and set off on his 64 lengths to match last week’s effort. Sharon did quite a few lengths but made sure not to peak too early as she has a big race tomorrow. Orlando turned out to be not too bad at swimming, and very good at stopping for a chat at the end of each length! David also has a big race tomorrow but he and I needed to put in some serious triathlon training.

After a 10 length warm up we timed ourselves over 16 lengths, the distance of the triathlon swim. Having both predicted 12 minutes, he finished in 10 and a half and I manged 11 and a half, so it was nice to know we’re not quite as rubbish as we thought.

We then decided to practice the foot-tapping thing, just in case a miracle happened and we need to overtake someone. My first couple of practices on Danny nearly caused both of us to drown due to my lack of technique, his extremely ticklish feet and the fact that it made me laugh while my head was underwater. David didn’t have much success either – he practiced with Sharon who promptly invented a new signal to demonstrate your wish to overtake someone – trying to pull their shorts down. However after a few more goes (thank you to our ‘volunteers’) we soon got the hang of it.

So, swimming over we returned to the cluubhouse where we branched out from the traditional cake and had some fishfinger sandwiches. Plus malteser cake. And Easter eggs.

By the time Danny arrived back from his mammoth swim it was time for the annual trip to the bookies to place our bets on The Grand National. Sharon stayed outside waving her animal rights placard, while the rest of us made good use of the idiot-proof betting slips provided specially for  idiots such as ourselves. Orlando still needed help understanding his, although his ‘close your eyes and pick a winner’ strategy proved to be successful….

By the time we’d wandered back via the Sweatshop and the ice cream place it was time for the race. A shambolic start, they really need to take some tips from bptt, but a very exciting race. Well, some people got excited, jumping up and down shouting and screaming at the tv, I obviously remained completely calm throughout the entire proceedings, even when I discovered I had made a 400% return on my bet!

Orlando and I took a wheelbarrow back to the bookies to collect out winnings, and everyone went home.

report on swimming club session #8

Session #8??? Wow doesn’t time fly. Small select group at swimclub today – me, Danny and David. Which was disappointing as my new swimmng costume got it’s first outing and the boys have no appreciation for this kind of thing. I liked it though.

We went for quantity over quality today, the aim being to swim 64 lengths (1 mile). We did of course focus on having excellent form at all times though. Danny did sets of 10 and then 4, David and I mixed it up a bit and did 10, 16, 20, 12 and 6. With a long chatting break in between each section obviously! We all completed our mile which was a good achievement.

No time for cake today, just a quick stop to adorn David in pink accesssories and we were off on our outing…..

report on swimming club session #7

Hello!

Danny, David, Sharon and I went swimming today – where was our teacher? She has obviously decided we are so good that we don’t need her anymore – it’s not true.  Or maybe she likes the flapjacks on Box Hill better than swimclub cake…. well the cake options were excellent today, big improvement on last week (although we did like David’s brownies).

Anyway, swimming, swimming, swimming. Danny, David and Sharon swam lots of lengths, about 56? I arrived later as usual and squeezed in 36 or so. As we had no teacher David and I did a bit of peer tutoring, mainly checking that we were keeping our legs up during front crawl. Sharon has invested in a nose clip and seemed to be getting on swimmingly (ba doom tish) with that, and Danny continues to make good progress with the head in the water issue. So lots of good work done today.

It seemed to me that the pool was colder than usual but the showers were hotter today.

Back to the clubhouse by car, bike and walking for the essential refuelling on tea and cake. Sharon had made a lovely chocolate cake, iced in pink with a particularly innovative and eye catching design. I think it will catch on in the cake world. I made the promised ginger cake, it was a massive improvement on the apple cake in that it actually tasted of ginger. And was lovely. David did his second pb of the day by eating four pieces of cake.

Next week we are having an end of term outing to the boat race after swimming club.

Kirsty x 

report on swimming club session #6

Present today at swimclub: Kirsty, Danny, David, Jo and new member Vicki. So no teacher again this week (she was cycling up and down Box Hill) but we all had plenty of homework to get on with.

Jo went early to swim a large number of lengths. Danny and David went early to swim many many many lengths and also to put in another rehearsal for their secret water ballet. I will post performance dates, times, ticket details etc when I get them. I believe the costumes are going to be pink with glitter. Anyway I digress.

Vicki and I arrived non-early, I have a big race to run tomorrow so did not want to peak too soon. Vicki was concerned that she might be crap at swimming but I assured her that was the whole point. She seemed ok to me, and was definitely the best at being tanned.

I swam 10 lengths of breast stroke and then starting practising my front crawl. After last week’s eureka moment of floaty-legs, they seemed to be a bit sinky again today. Oh well.

The pool was really nice and empty again today, this is such a good time to go. I recommend it highly. Especially to the people who haven’t even turned up ONCE yet! Stuart, Emma, Orlando, Suze ……. come on in guys the water is lovely!

In the changing rooms I saw some kids I know who were going in to play on the inflatable. One of them explained to me that you have to be eight, but she is seven so pretends to be be eight! She explained this in quite a loud voice with her mum shushing her and a lifeguard hovering around the corner. Her little sister then repeated it all in an even louder voice! I hope she didn’t get rumbled…..

Cakes today were some lovely chocolate brownies home-made by David (in the sense that he did make them in his home) and an utterly pointless apple and cinnamon cake made by me. If it tasted of apple and/or cinnamon there may have been some point to it. I think I should stop trying out new recipes and use the ones I know are good.  Next week – sticky ginger cake with ginger fudge icing.

Kirsty x

report on swimming club session #5

We welcomed two new junior members to the club today, and Ruby and Dylan proceeded to show us up by being rather good at swimming!

Danny and Nicola went early and did lots of warm up lengths before the lesson. I would have been early but got sidetracked in The Sweatshop on the way. When I did finally arrive at the pool I decided to swim in the lane for a bit of breaststroke, because I can do that without constantly stopping and annoying the serious lane swimmers. I did 20 lengths and got lapped several times by Nic, who must have done 120 lengths in the same time.

I then went over to join Danny in the mucking about section of the pool ready for our lesson, first the trauma of crossing the fast front crawl only lane, good grief it was like trying to cross the M25!

I did a bit of front crawl practise, trying hard to remember everything I’ve learnt. However it still seemed like a massive waste of energy to me, being completely exhausting (out of breath and needing a rest at the end of each length) and yet slower than my breaststroke. I explained this to Nic, so she watched me doing a length and said the problem was my sinking legs (obviously caused by muscles of steel!).

So I tried again, concentrating on keeping my legs up near the surface. WOW what a revelation! Ok it was still completely exhausting, but I was actually moving faster than a snail. Very happy with this bit of progress. Next step is to keep it going for more than a length.

Jo, Ruby and Dylan stayed for the inflatable, the rest of us went home, but NO CAKE! Very poor effort, sorry guys, will do better next time. I have made one this afternoon, a special Guiness cake for St Patrick’s Day. Actually that’s a big fat lie, I made it because there was a can of Guiness hanging around the kitchen. It looks nice though!