A healthy day!

Not sure what has come over me,..but today I managed my five pieces of fruit (wish it was gold!)!!
Stayed within my calorie allowance and also had a swim at Gosport Leisure Centre. I am finding it hard work on my breathing. My asthma is making my chest tight. My swim felt heavy too. I struggled to get going and I think it was due to the way I have been eating recently...hasn't been good! Lots of carbs..you are what you eat and have to say eating carbs makes me miserable and heavy and that has been showing in my swimming lately.

My stats were:

Linda has completed a 1700m swim at Gosport Leisure Centre with SWIMTAG 

Swim Time: 42min 10sec | Ave Pace: 148.8sec/100m | Ave Stroke Rate: 27strokes/min | Calories: 462 kcal | Ave DPS: 1.47m/stroke

Friday Coaching with Bayside Tri....and other matters!

Tonight I moved from development lane to the inermediate one! So yes my stroke is improving greatly. I can feel it has too. Gone are the days where I would thrash in the water making a big 'S' while pulling back! Now My stroke feels much more smooth, long and relaxed. But I am just not very fast...at the moment I do about 2k an hour.

Coaches Erika and Anna both did the 10k on Monday and were very much part of all that inspired me. Earlier in the day, Anna sent me a link to a 5k in September, But the cut off time is 2hours 20mins. This is faster than I swim at present. Its a challenge. I have just under 4 months to get ready. Both coaches feel I can do it.....so I've entered....!!

The big day for the 5k swim is 21st September 2014.

The drills tonight were exhausting....I had to push myself to keep up with the swimmers in this lane. I did lag behind, but these are my stats for tonight:

Linda has completed a 1700m swim at Gosport Leisure Centre with SWIMTAG

Swim Time: 42min 15sec | Ave Pace: 149.2sec/100m | Ave Stroke Rate: 24strokes/min | Calories: 458 kcal | Ave DPS: 1.65m/stroke

Training at Gosport Leisure Centre

Tonights training was to be at Gosport Leisure Centre...ended up being a disaster from start to finish:
Firstly had to dash back home to get membership card and £1 for locker...arrived after session started but that wouldn't be too much of a worry! Then when changed into swimming costume I realised I didn't have my goggles! Dilemma...I know I wanted to buy a new pair...but I didn't have enough money on me to buy the pair I wanted...£4 might have got me a childs pair of something or other...but not the elite ones I wanted!!

To compromise I swam without goggles and didn't take my swim hat either as I thought I would lose the professional look and be a novice swimmer in the medium lane whilst I resorted to doing breastroke!!

Once in the lane...I started off with front crawl as my new habits are hard to break!...but OMG I couldn't see a thing!! Everything was blurred even the black line! I wasn't going straight, my hair was all over my face.... I couldn't breathe!! What an idiot..!

Changed to breastroke and my this is my stats for my swim:

1400m swim at Gosport Leisure Centre with SWIMTAG

Swim Time: 34min 13sec | Ave Pace: 146.7sec/100m | Ave Stroke Rate: 32strokes/min | Calories: 472 kcal | Ave DPS: 1.24m/stroke

So far the training isn't going too well...and there is also the issue of weight that needs to be lost....another two stone...so at the weekend I will look at my diet...in the meantime, tomorrow is training with Bayside Tri...looking forward to that! :)

Swimming at Eastleigh Lake with Bayside Tri

 At last this was a chance to get into open water....my head is still buzzing with inspiration. I change into my wetsuit and I'm raring to go....only when standing at the bank did I start to panic. I have completed the Great London Swim twice before, but both times in breaststroke. I joined the newly formed Bayside Tri in February so that I could imporve my front crawl as my dream was to complete the Great London this year in a faster time and in front crawl.

My crawl has improved dramatically thanks to Erika Tavener, our coach and the lovely members of Bayside Tri. They are all so friendly and supportive...and to think in the few weeks before I joined them I thought they were all intimidating as they thrashed up and down the pool looking so fit..!!

Back to this evening....here I am waiting on the bank looking very apprehensive...well the water looked so cold!

it's all looking very scary!

However I did get in and here I am 6th from the left!

Once I was sort of acclimatised I started swimming, initially doing front crawl but the water on my face felt like a thousand needles....so I did some front crawl, some breaststoke, a lot of treading water and I definitely need new goggles!!! I went round the lake twice...WOW...but it is only 300m a circuit...BUT every journey starts with a single step and this was mine :)

Here is a snap of us all enjoying our tea and cake afterwards :)

And this is the lake 

Tuesday 27th May 2014

Well...today is Tuesday 27th May and I am thinking of how inspired I was yesterday watching members of Bayside Tri and their swim unfold on Twitter. They were swimming in the 10k at Eton Dorney. I so wanted to be there, to achieve that for myself. So I have promised myself that I will do my utmosr to get fully fit and trained, so that I can swim there next year :)