Sunday Swimming

80 lengths of free this afternoon - not all at once. Mostly sets of 10. Timed the second to last one 6:20. That's slow but I'm swiming slow on purpose! I feel myself getting used to swimming again. I think my speed will pick up some once the endurance builds.

Bit stuffed after the "big" run yesterday.

We made some (roasted) vegetable soup for dinner tonight. A healthy option that tasted great as well. Goes well with some Vogel's original grain toast.

Finally this morning I redid the 100 pushups challenge week 3/day 1, and did the two hundred situps week 1/day 3.

Mike in answer to your question - I'm 6'2" (or 188cm in the new language). Apparently that makes my "ideal" weight 79-80kg (and not 86-87kg where it's hovering right now).

Weekend Wrap

This weekend was pretty good for excercise.

Saturday - Running : 7.53km / 35:20 / 4:41min/km. Local round the block course I do (Dominion Rd / Mt Albert Rd / Mt Eden Road / Balmoral Road) but in opposite direction.

Good pace and a reasonably hard effort. Legs felt good no complaints.

That brought up 41.5km for the week.

Rather than do too much too soon didn't do a long-run this weekend.

Sunday - Swimming: Working on swimming slowly and building up endurance. Turns out Sunday afternoon is a good time to get a lane to yourself.

Did the following sets of freestyle.

10/8/8/8/6/10/8/8/8/6 = 80 lengths of a 25m pool (2km)

2 lengths of breaststroke between each set and 30s rest. Pace was real slow (something like 4:20 for 200m) but that's cool - working on endurance. Pace will come later. Next time I'll try and push the sets out a bit further and start thinking about proper form as well as making it to the end without drowing. :)

A good workout and quite "relaxing" compared to running. Tired now but definitely a different tired.

A 10km race and more swimming

Queen's Birthday weekend here in New Zealand - that means a holiday today (Monday). Not really her actual birthday but each country in the commonwealth has a turn. Can't complain really...

Anyway I had Run Auckland Race 4 on Sunday morning. This was a 10km race in the North Shore of Auckland and it is a hilly course in Milford. There was a short stretch along a coastal wall and a bit along the beach. Went into this quite apprehensively not wanting to aggrevate my left calf. As such I didn't really race it but it was more of a training run type pace - turns out the calf didn't complain in particular but both legs were getting quite tight at the end. Put that down to lack of condition on hills.

The weather had really threatened to pack in but it actually turned out very nice. Cold but sunny. Lots of people at the event and the first couple of km's quite congested. There are no road closures on these events so it's footpath space only or a few sneaky sections on the grass verge.

Results haven't come through but according to my watch it was something like 46:14. Update: Actually my official result was 46:45 - I'm pretty sure this was the gun time. While I ran this thing flat out last year in a time 3 minutes faster it absolutely stuffed me. This time round the run was much more controlled, felt comfortable throughout and could have kept running further at the end. Limited more with holding back on the legs rather than cardio so that is all good. In fact suspect it may have been a negative split. All in all a good run.

The ocean scenery was lovely as you can imagine from the course...


Today I hit the pools again and took Kate's advice on slow swimming being the key to build up endurance. Turns out it was good advice to take because it worked :)

Did 64 lengths of non-consecutive freestyle this time in sets of 4 (100m) with a couple of 6's (150m), and one set of 8 (200m). Still taking some time to get my form back but things are getting better. Did maybe 14 or so lengths of breaststroke in between sets.

Will aim to get along again later this week and see if I can build on this start. Who knows might be a regular thing?

Baby Strokes

Made it to the pools yesterday for what was only my third swim of the year. The Mt Eden 25m one on Bellevue road. Only $4 for a casual admission which is nice and cheap.

I had a whole lane to myself! It was great.

I did 54 non-consecutive lengths of freestyle and around 13 lengths of breaststroke. The plan for every 4 lengths of freestyle to mix it up a bit with one of breaststroke. I ended up doing lengths in ones and twos with rest periods of around 10 seconds. It was hard work! Have stuff all swim endurance at present and struggle to do more than 50m in one go.

Just plodded along although at the end did one "sprint" length for 23:30.

In terms of cross-training it is good. I could get a workout and rest my legs. Lets see if I can make it a regular thing - the trick will be fitting it in at a time when the pools are quiet. My arms are a little sore now but thats all good - means I'm using them!

A walk up Mt Eden and a Sunday swim

Rained much of today. When it finally cleared we all went for a walk up Mt Eden. It also doubled as scouting mission for the Owens Road track up to the summit road. Quite a few steps this way rather than the normal road.

Here is my navigator leading the way:



Good to get out of the house he was getting seriously bored being stuck at home.

In the afternoon I went for a swim. The Mt Eden pools in Bellevue Road were a pleasant suprise. Only $4 for a casual swim, a four lane 25m pool. I don't think its that well known so it was pretty quiet. Ended up having a lane to myself - nice :)

Did 30 lengths of freestyle (750m) but with quite a few rest breaks throughout. Bit of heavy breathing involved and quite hard work. Every four lengths (100m) did a couple of lengths of breaststroke. Total was 1.1km for an overall swim time of 22:56. That doesn't count the rest breaks though - I'm going to work on reducing the rest times and work up to swimming 40 consecutive lengths. Arms quite sore and heavy now so clearly not used to it. It will be interesting to see how the cross training helps the running - I think it should help with general cardiovascular fitness.

Finally here is a good track from NZ band Evermore. Being "unbreakable" is a good training mantra I thought. Well that's what I'm telling my foot - feeling quite good today so perhaps something in it.

It's Been A While

Well with resting my sore foot had to find something else to do.

Took a leave day today it was good to as I had worked through the Christmas holidays. Took the family to Kohimarara Beach far a paddle in the water - great fun for a four year old.

In the afternoon we went to Onehunga War Memorial Pool for a swim. Well I went lane swimming on the indoor 25m while my wife and son went to the kids area. On the way into the pools bought a pair of goggles for around $18 - and they worked just fine.



I think probably a good 20 years since I've done lane swimming. Could tell it had been a while with the stroke all over the place. Didn't attempt a tumble-turn this outing could have ended in tears (or laughter)

Did 26 lengths although not all at once. Out of curiosity timed one length of freestyle on my trusty 200m water resistant Casio G-Shock (I think it *may* be ok for swimming) and clocked at 22s. Not that shabby and got the heart rate up but don't think I could swim very far at present.

The swimming might be a good challenge to build up distance and endurance much like I did when I started running. Expect a few more swim posts in the future!

In terms of location Tepid Baths - indoor 25m - is closest to work (just a block away) but I really like the look of the Parnell Baths. It's got a 60m outdoor saltwater pool which sounds a bit different.

Andrew asked whether my foot hurts feels stiff first thing in the morning. It does a little bit but not always. It hurts if I push down on the back of my arch towards the heel. No pain pushing directly on the underside of the heel though. It could indeed be a plantar arch strain but the symptoms sound like PF. In the past I have got tight calves while running and that can also be a factor. Not much pain today so the swelling is certainly going down. Been some stretching and thats helping. Looks like I'll play it be ear.