Ben Waddell's Ironman Training

[Ben Waddell]

I've decided to start training for the ironman event. Since it's nearing winter over here I have an entire off-season to prepare myself before re-entering competition. The main goal when I started was to recover as much fitness as possible during the off-season. Since I work in a swimming pool this is easy.

Saturday 10th of April

200m freestyle warm-up

20 x 50m freestyle on the 1 minute cycle

300m warm down

I really wanted to ease myself into it nice and slowly so I didn't just give up the ghost straight away.

Sunday 11th of April

200m freestyle warm-up

20 x 50m freestyle on the 1 minute cycle

10 x 50m freestyle sprints on the 2 minute cycle

300m warm down

The 20 lots of 50 I'm averaging around 40 seconds a lap and the sprints were on average 32 - 35 seconds per lap but the first sprint was down to a 27 - 28 second mark. So far I'm trying to keep it at an interval training protocol to keep the sessions lasting longer. But slowly I will gradually build-up to bigger and longer training sessions.

Monday 12th of April

No swimming today as I had the day off work and I didn't feel like travelling half an hour across the city to get to the pool. I've already noticed a decrease in the small amount of fat I was carrying (I only weigh around 85kg and my nickname used to be stringbean) and my core has started to tighten up. I think I will be swinging my (home-made :( ) clubs this afternoon. I think I will go for a density protocol, probably swipes. But until then I better not post anything.

[Ben Waddell]

Monday 12th of April

I started a density cycle with my home made clubs today with 40 x 5 Swipes in 40 minutes. Got through the swipes okay but I am interested to see how they impact on my swimming performance tomorrow.

Tuesday 13th of April

The DOMS kicked in just as I got to the pool. I don't think the inclusion of the swipes affected my stroke and that any problems I might have had today are merely from the DOMS.

200m Freestyle warm up

20 x 50m Freestyle on the 1 minute cycle

10 x 50m Freestyle on the 55 second cycle

10 x 50m Freestyle sprints on the 2 minute cycle]

300m Freestyle warm down

After a sprint my breathing is quite heavy (obviously) but I remember Scott writing once that when someone is hyperventilating you give them a paper bag to breathe into and the C02 levels normalise their breathing. With this in mind, after a sprint I have been experimenting by cupping my hands over my mouth and raising my rate of breathing until I am hyperventilating into my hands. I let this last for a period of about 15 seconds and my breathing returns to a normal rate.

[Doug Szolek]

Hey Ben I like the way you're thinking about normalizing your breathing after a sprint. Give this method a try and let me know how it works. It has the same effect as your hyperventilation method but requires a bit more self discipline.

At the end of your exertion when your huffin' and puffin':

1. Take one deep full slow inhalation and hold it ever so briefly.
   Exhale slow and completely and hold the control pause for a moment.
2. Take another deep slow inhalation but only half as much air as the first breath.
   Exhale fully and hold the control pause.
3. Inhale again but only half as much as the second breath.
   Exhale fully and hold the control pause.
4. Continue inhaling half as much as the previous breath and holding the control pause until you're down to no inhalation or exhalation. (the more incremental you can make these steps the better)
5. Once your down to as nearly empty lungs as you can have, relax and stand upright allowing the expansion to draw air into your lungs. Relax and enjoy having caught your breath.

This method has work well for me in the past, Coach Sonnon presented it at the CST Alpha, let me know how it works for you.

[Ben Waddell]

Thanks Doug, I'll try that next time I'm in the pool. I decided to give up on the home made clubs. I twinged something in my lower back and have decided not to risk it. There really is no substitute for quality and I will have to save my pennies (I mean really save my pennies!) until I can afford the real thing.

Wednseday 14th of April

Tried something different today (shock horror gasp)

200m Warm up

50m Free with an inward hand circle on the catch
50m Free with an outward hand circle on the catch
50m Free with a reverse pull (back to front) prior to the release
50m Free with a vertical arm raise mid-pull
50m Free with a vertical arm drop mid-recovery
50m Free with an arm undulation on the catch
50m Free with a 180 degree swing from back to front on release
50m Free with a 180 degree swing from front to back prior to the catch
50m Free with a 360 degree longitudinal body roll on release

These were each interspersed with a 50m Free in between. Then I tried some Chaining movement

Chain 1
50m 2x Freestyle strokes, 1x Butterfly Stroke
50m 2x Freestyle strokes, 1x Dolphin Dive
50m 2x Freestyle strokes, 1x Breastroke Stroke

50m 2x Freestyle strokes, 1x Butterfly Stroke, 1x Dolphin Dive
50m 1x Butterfly Stroke, 1x Dolphin Dive, 1x Breastroke Stroke
50m 1x Dolphin Dive, 1x Breastroke Stroke, 2x Freestyle Strokes
50m 1x Breastroke Stroke, 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Butterfly Stroke

50m 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Butterfly Stroke, 1x Dolphin Dive, 1x
Breastroke Stroke

Chain 2
50m 2x Freestyle strokes, 1x Somersault
50m 2x Freestyle strokes, 1x Frog Kick
50m 2x Freestyle strokes, 2x Dolphin Kicks

50m 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Somersault, 1x Frog Kick
50m 1x Somersault, 1x Frog Kick, 2x Dolphin Kicks
50m 1x Frog Kick, 2x Dolphin Kicks, 2x Freestyle Strokes
50m 2x Dolphin Kicks, 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Somersault

50m 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Somersault, 1x Frog Kick, 2x Dolphin Kicks

Chain 3
50m 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Breastroke Stroke
50m 2x Freestyle Strokes, 2x Backstroke
50m 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Rolling Torpedo

50m 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Breastroke Stroke, 2x Backstroke Strokes
50m 1x Breastroke Stroke, 2x Backstroke Strokes, 1x Rolling Torpedo
50m 2x Backstroke Strokes, 1x Rolling Torpedo, 2x Freestyle Strokes
50m 1x Rolling Torpedo, 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Breastroke Stroke

50m 2x Freestyle Strokes, 1x Breastroke Stroke, 1 Backstroke Strokes, 1x Rolling Torpedo

50m Freestyle Sprint

300m Warm Down

Well, it was good for a change. The Sprint was around 27 seconds and my heart rate during the chains was ranging from 138 - 150 beats per minute. The somersaults were the most taxing as they required a complete expellation of air and sometimes there wasn't an opportunity to breathe for another movement or so. This was just a little experimentation, I was trying to see if I could incorporate some aspect of Body-Flow into my swimming. Some movements in the water become quite hard as there is resistance in all six planes of water while you are immersed but there is no gravity and the buoyant force of your body drags you away from where you would sometimes like to go.

[Ben Waddell]

I think my period of "testing the waters" is over now and I'm ready to hunker down into some serious training with a little experimentation to make it interesting. For the next two weeks I'm looking at gradually increasing my training volume. After this I will be focusing on "speed assisted" training (flippers). I'm also looking into incorporating the Control Pause into swimming. Here's what I came up with.

Monday 19th of April

200m Freestyle Warm-Up

20 x 50's Freestyle on the 50 second cycle

500m Breath Control
25m Breathing Every 2 strokes/25m Breathing every 3
25m Breathing Every 4 strokes/25m Breathing every 3
25m Breathing Every 6 strokes/25m Breathing every 3
25m Breathing Every 8 strokes/25m Breathing every 3
25m Breathing Every 10 strokes/25m Breathing every 3
Recycle

500m Freestyle Expelling Air for 3 Strokes and Control Pause for 2 more Strokes before breathing

300m Freestyle warmdown

The second 500m was where I am experimenting with the Control Pause. I want to see if I can find an optimal expelling stroke versus control pause stroke ratio to increase performance. While I'm not swimming it as fast as I can I'm doing the 500m in around 9minutes 15 seconds. It would have been faster but my watch kept hitting the lane rope and coming off. A minor distraction I estimate I could have done it easily in 9minutes and probably under if I tried. Tomorrow I'm going to extend the control pause strokes to 4.