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After writing this I realize some of it is a bit grim, but I'm going to go with it anyway as it captures the grind that goes with training for a big competition. My last hard week of training is now done and it certainly was the toughest. Over the last two months there were... Continue Reading →
The counter in the sidebar of this website shows how many days to go until the European Masters in Slovenia. While I am a little bit behind where I would like to be, I am still on track and I have started to increase my number of training sessions per week. This post will give... Continue Reading →
It’s been a while since I gave an update on my own personal training and swimming. I’m so busy between coaching, training, writing about other topics, and life in general, that it’s hard to get time to write about myself. This is a big year for me in terms of swimming, because of a goal... Continue Reading →
As far back as I can remember, swimming has been part of my life. From galas to swimming birthday parties, it has always been there. However, like every sport, it has had its ups and downs! In this article, I will be speaking about pressure in swimming from a swimmers point of view, but also... Continue Reading →
This year, for the first time since I became aware of it, I qualified for and joined the Irish Masters Development squad. I hadn’t been doing as much training in the pool when I first heard about it. I was still coaching and competing in Martial Arts, so I was training in that for roughly... Continue Reading →
This is a nice tune-up session for IM, it has a nice mix of aerobic work with some drills and sprints. The variety should help to keep it interesting. Warm up 200m Fc 200m IM order kick, 6x50m broken IM (50m Bf-Bc, 50m Bc-Brs, 50m Brs-Fc) focusing on change-over turns -set total 700m Main... Continue Reading →
Trying to pace yourself during a race is difficult, as the race progresses you feel more fatigued so that in say a 400m doing 32 seconds for the second 50m feels very different from doing 32 seconds for the 6th 50m. To try and simulate this feeling of going harder to hit the same time... Continue Reading →
The main set of this session switches between 200m IM and 100m Fc. This makes the session challenging, but not boring despite being 1800m long. The times I use are my own, I would roughly be getting 15 seconds rest on the FC and 20-25 on the IMs. I find the changing between the two... Continue Reading →
There are a few times throughout a season when training can get tough for a swimmer. I don’t mean physically tough, training is generally tough if you are doing it right. I’m talking about those times when you get that “wonderful” combination of training being physically and mentally tough. These times are usually, in my... Continue Reading →
It’s less than a week to my first race in Budapest. I had planned on only doing two weeks taper, but our masters coach, who is also the head coach of our junior club, advised me to start the taper slightly earlier as I’m in my mid-30s. It’s great to have such a resource I... Continue Reading →
Tuesday marked four weeks to my first swim in Budapest and last week I started to really step up the training. Last week included another 7 pool sessions, with one gym session for strength and conditioning and one circuits class that my wife convinced me would be a good idea. I managed to fit in... Continue Reading →
With the World Masters fast approaching, I felt it was time to share with you the taper sessions which I used for the World Masters Games earlier this year. The weeks leading up to the World Masters Games were an exciting time for me. It would be my first time swimming in these games and... Continue Reading →
It’s been a good week training wise for me, 7 pool sessions and one gym session. Also this week, for the first time in my many years of swimming I ended up vomiting after a session, my first anaerobic session of the week. While I made the bathroom for it, I was a bit shaken... Continue Reading →
It’s hard being a masters athlete when you’ve been an athlete most of your life, especially if you’re a masters athlete in the same sport. Every year you become more and more aware that you are fighting the inevitable. Getting those PBs become harder, you begin to simply aim for old times or look for... Continue Reading →
