British Masters extra post!

Spent the last three days in Sheffield at the British Masters Long Course. Should be a guide to how my improved training regime and loss of weight is letting me swim faster (or not). In summary the Championships were very successful for Gloucester Masters and me with one or two provisions. My 100 and 200 times are getting faster which is great news, but I am still struggling to get any more speed over 50metres sprints. I have come to the conclusion that I need to change my technique to improve my 'catch and pull' through the water. Overall everyone from Gloucester had at least one medal. I managed two silver and a bronze with two 4th's. In addition I was part of the 4x200 freestyle relay (200+) which won with a new British Record. My fitness is improving but not as fast as I would like. I did manage to swim a 200 free followed by a 200 IM within 30 minutes this morning which for a swimmer who last year would only manage two events in one session if at least one was a 50 and the other a 50 or at best a 100m. In terms of comparison to this time last year my sprints are similar speeds. My 100's about 1-2 secs faster and 200's 5-6 secs faster. Looking forward to a summer of training and improvements through to the Nationals in October. Then will be a better comparison of how well I am doing. My problem is identifying which changes in my life are helping the most, weight, training, change of diet, type of training, stroke technique and so on. Next target stroke technique. Any suggestions let me know please..

Deserted my Blog for nearly three weeks

Well I really did have not much to say!! A quick summay of the last 2 weeks. Held my weight at 15.12/13 for the first week and since then it has crept up to 16.01. A bit pissed at this but won't be doing anything drastic to cure it until after the British Masters this weekend. Training has been good over 10K for the last two weeks . 48K for April and 142,780 metres for the first 4 months of the year. Last week saw an increase in sprinting with this week as a taper for the forthcoming weekend. This is the first time I have had a 'proper' planned taper before an event so time will tell if it does any good. At my last competition I seemed to be lacking 50m sprint speed and as the 50 is normally my best chance of medals I have been concerned. Swimming 50, 100, & 200 Free, 50 Fly, 200 Medley and another 200 free in the 4x200 relay. A busy weekend for me so I had better not get on the beer Friday or Saturday night. (Maybe one or two halves!) The only negative I have is a sore and stiff neck muscle for the last two weeks. Not sure what has caused it but the Doc said today to use heat packs and sports massage, no link to the shoulder surgery which is good news.must make sure I warm up and down well for the weekend. Will post results on Sunday or before if I remember to toe the iPad with me.