A better week all round.

I nearly put a BUT in this weeks title but decided I can be a little negative at times, so this should be a positive outlook on the past week and looking forward to next week.
After a struggle with diet and training last week I managed an all round improvement. Another 2 lbs off the Tewson frame (19 in total) tempted to say it should have been better but I won't! Training wise, only made it to Gloucester once as I had 3 days working this week (Good core training) but with two sessions on Thursday and another one later this morning should make it to around 12k for the week. We had an interesting kick session on Thursday. Apart from the 600 warm up and the last 200 of the swim down it was all kick with sprints followed by active recovery. Considering I had done 2k at lunch tome I was quite impressed that I completed the session without cramping.
This coming week will start Sunday with a club session at Gloucester. Have booked a couple of days work at the start of the week leaving me time to swim up to the weekend and the Bracknell Masters meet next Saturday. Looking forward to my first IM for over 12 months. I have also entered the Royal Navy Meet and our own Gloucester Open this week. These will follow the Welsh Open in 4 weeks time.
I just hope now that all the work and weight loss allows me to swim a little faster later in the year.

Piss Poor Preparation, Do Flu Jabs work?

An interesting week. Started trying to double my diet effort as I knew I was in trouble after the previous weekend. As I said last week , I would have been happy to break even but somehow still managed to lose another lb. That's 17 in total so am quite happy. Worked on Wednesday so didn't train and then on Thurs. I really did not feel well, a virus of some description so didn't swim again. Had some work offered for Friday but didn't feel up to it. I did feel a little better Fri Pm so went for a short swim which seemed to make me relapse. Saturday I felt really ill all day. Decided not to swim at Wolverhampton on Sunday. Woke up Sunday morning and felt Ok ish so I went back on decision and drove to the West Midlands to swim my 3 sprints.

Strange week. My training metres were the lowest of the year with only 3 sessions and 8k.
Didn't feel great at Wolverhampton but swam OK. No reaction to shoulder even swimming sprints on Fly and Back.

Hopefully my preparation for Bracknell in 2 weeks and the Welsh open in four will be a little better. Onwards and upwards.

Good and not so Good

Well my blog this week is a few days late for a couple of reasons. Firstly have been away all weekend visiting my grand-daughter and daughter. I did take the iPad but just did not have time to blog. In addition I had my follow up appointment with my shoulder consultant today so thought I could put all the news together. I just just hope this blog does not carry on for too long.
Good training week with 13,000 metres which included a two session day on Tues. I did struggle during the second session at Gloucester so this week my two session day is today with both sessions being in public lanes. Trying to make up for no swimming at all over the weekend.
Diet was a struggle last week but still managed a single lb. With an early weigh on Friday. My diet over the weekend was pretty poor so am hoping I can at least not put weight on this week. It might be another struggle. As soon as I get away from my normal routine I seem to get my silly diet head on and binge. Am now being silly at the opposite end of the scale and eating very little for a couple of days to try and recover the situation.
Will be working 2 x 12 HR shifts this week and have the Staffordshire masters next Sunday. I will be training straight through although Saturdays training may be reduced to Starts and Turns. Will be swimming 50's only to check out how much speed I have in the arms. Should be fun.
Good meeting with my shoulder consultant today. He says my flexibility in the shoulder is better than at any time in the last two years. He was happy to sign me off and wished me luck with the swimming. He also mentioned the very difficult SLAP repair for the first op. He didn't mention it was very difficult at the time !!!!!
Let's hope the shoulders stay at least as good as they are now and I can get fitter and faster over the next 12-24 months. I still feel I should be able to beat my body suit times of 3 years ago. I will need to If I expect any more winners medals at Nationals.
I really can't just wait two more years to move up another age group, I need to compete with these younger guys coming into this age group . If I take a second or so off last years times I might just make it.

Saturday update.

A strange week on all counts. On paper should not really have lost weight but still dropped another 2 lbs. That's the first stone and gives a total of 15 lbs in 5 weeks. Need to sort my self out this week and get back to eating to plan and keep away from daily Market visits. Perhaps the promised snow will keep me in, although I can't afford to miss training.
10,000 metres plus what I manage today if(if any) this week and I swam about 700 metres of backstroke during a club session on Thursday. Not totally pain free but fairly comfortable. I will find out soon how the change in technique will affect my pace. I will be very happy if I can swim backstroke competitively.
Finally I accepted a days work yesterday, a 12 hours shift on my feet which seems to have upset my shoulder a little and given me a sore back. Hopefully a gentle swim session later will ease my poor body.I must find a casual job with a chair but then again I started this manual one to help get me fitter.
Here's hoping the snow does not upset mine and others swimmers training plans too much over the coming week.

End of Month bonus blog.

I have reached the end of the first month of the new year with old challenges, thought I would treat you all to an extra Blog. Managed a total of 48,900 metres in Janurary. I managed to swim 24 days out of 31 which included two weeks of six sessions per week.
I will be working a little more going forward which will reduce the sessions and metres but hoping to keep the higher metres for another month or so. Hope to convert the metres to higher quality sessions later in the year. Might have to plan double session days for days off.
After the slight blow out of calories over the weekend am back to less than 2000 cals per day and working at getting rid of the fat part of fat swimmer.
Finally, after the pain free swimming at the weekend, I followed up with some back and medley training last night. The shoulder reacted well to the backstroke and almost pain free with a small change to my technique. Trying hard to roll from the hip and shoulder and it seems to take the pressure away from the rotator cuff tendon which is causing the pain.
Have entered a 50 Back in a few weeks time which will be the first back stroke for nearly 12 months. Time will tell.