Swimming, swimming and more swimming. If you have been reading my bloggs lately you might have gotten the impression that all I do is swim. But in fact swimming is only half of what I try to do these days.

I also try to make my crossfit classes five times a week, I go to spinning class once a week and try to bike on my own once a week, and I have started taking a once a week mobility class to help limber me up. It was a Core class at the beginning of the year, but change to Mobility and I think I am getting more out of that class. Mondays are my light days, and Sunday after swimming are my recovery days. Right now I feel like I am having a performance top.

I can see how my heart rate drops like a fly in spinning class as soon as we let up the resistance. I am lifting heavier weights in almost every exercise in Crossfit. I get positive feedback from my crossfit coaches and push myself a little more each week and I have a really good feeling in the water right now.

It probably helps that I have gone down from 113kg (249lbs) last June to 105kg (229lbs) in Dec to 102kg (224lbs) at the end of January. I would eventually like to get down to 90kg (200lbs), but I am not going to force it, or set any kind of deadline to reach it. I have been up and down since graduation in 1999. I am hoping that when I find the body weight that works for me that I can stay there +/- 2kg, not +/-20 kg. Only diet change has been elimination of soda and that I eat more fruit during the day so that I am not as hungry at dinner time.

One of the best things I have done this year is to practice once a week with a swim coach.  Nidal was a Syrian swim coach before coming to Sweden.  All of my other workouts have an instructor, but when it comes to swimming have been my own coach for 10 years. So now I only write 3 of my swim sessions, and the 4th is always a surprise. Nidal really kicks our butts on Wednesday nights. On the weeks I have a chance to swim on my own I try to get in a lunch swim on Fridays and I use that time for recovery swimming and thinking about my technique in the water.

Having a coach really helps you make targets and hit them. This week Wednesday workout:
200 fr
2×100 medley
200 Max in the red

2x (16×50 st:50) + 50 lös
Swam all around 36.8-37.8, one was 38.1, but I had a bad turn

2x (8×100 st 1:30) + 50 lös
the first one is always too fast 1:16.5 then 1:17.5-1:18.4 for the rest of the 100’s

800 arm 10:40 long and EZ

If I had done this with my swimmers I would have most likely swam the first few 50’s down around 35 – 36 and then slowly died and swim up over 40s for the last few. In the 100’s I would have tried for 1:15 and ended up either swimming up around 1:22 or taken out my paddles. But with a coach on the side yelling out your times and giving you feedback to your swimming it is easier to hit your targets.  I was asked to hold 38 – 39s and I was able to hold all the 50’s to 36.6 to 37.4 the first time through and the second time 37.3 – 38.1s. When it came time for the 100’s I thought 1:20 would be good for the day. But after the first 100 I managed to swim rest of them around 1:18 +/- 0.5s. I was told after the first eight that I swam the 50’s so much better than those 100’s. So in the last eight 100’s I focused on my swimming and let the time be secondary. And to my surprise I was able to hold my swimming time, but was not as tired after each one.

The original workout called for 2x 800 Pull, but because of time constraints we only could swim one. I held :40/50m and touched at 10:40. Since swimming felt so good, it was so much easier to keep count, keep my technique and swim so much smoother than I have been lately. I know that if we had had time for the second 800m I could have managed the same pace and 10:40 on the second one too.

Swimming is starting to feel so good. For the first time since my stroke (July 2016) swimming doesn’t feel like a “have to” any more, but a “want to”.  So much so, that I have even requested in advance to swim during the swim meet breaks at the coming competitions with Iris and Lily. Usually the pools are closed to the public, but I have gotten permission for at least the next meet on the 8th.

Swedish Nationals in 6 weeks
Karl-Oskarsimmet 5km in 17 weeks
Vansbrosimningen 10k, 3x3km, 1500m and 1000m in about 20 weeks