March Update - Phil Preece

March began with a trip to see a swim coach, where I spent a session being filmed while swimming in an 'endless pool', which is basically a very large bathtub that produces a strong current to swim against. While swimming I was filmed and my technique analysed. This was a useful exercise that highlighted a few areas where my technique needs a bit of fine tuning, in particular some over-rotation when breathing. I was given some technique drills to correct this, and will pay another visit to the coach in April when we'll see how things have progressed.

I was advised last month at my medical examination that I need to put a fair bit of weight on to help cope with the cold temperature of the channel. I have since been eating at a rate I've never eaten at before, involving a trip to an 'all you can eat' chinese buffet, various takeaways, crisps, chocolate, a fair few beers and larger than usual meals, and as a result I have gained a total of......one pound. Not what the doctor ordered, literally. It would seem the swimming I am doing is burning up all the additional calories. At this rate it'll be difficult to avoid losing weight as the swimming ramps up still further, never mind putting it on. Back to the drawing board on that one.

I have started feeling quite tired a lot of the time, falling asleep while sitting on the sofa at about 9pm is becoming pretty normal. I did a bit of research via our friend google, and the general consensus seems to be that running and swimming operate at ratio of 4:1, i.e. one mile of swimming equates to about four miles of running. So in the light of that I suppose it is not entirely surprising that I am feeling tired in the evenings given I am now commonly swimming 2 or 3 miles during the day (so equating to 8-12 miles running most days!) involving a mix of drills, interval training, and longer swims. Not only that, but in a catch up with a Dover Channel Training committee member I was told I should be doing at least 10 hours swimming a week at this point. That's not currently happening, so further ramping up is now needed. Still, the good news is that 2-3 mile swims are feeling pretty comfortable and I'm cranking them out at good pace, so the time is now ripe for extending those distances.

April is the deadline I have given myself for getting into the open water, and the weather on 1st April was....thick ice and snow! So I'll be leaving it for a while, and hoping for a heatwave later in the month. Oh and finally, I have come down with a bit of a nasty case of athlete's foot; must dry more carefully between my toes. But that is probably too much information, so until next month.....

Total distance swum in March: 70,700m

Of which was open water: 0m