1 of 2 photos
Worse yet, once the month is over and our local pool opens I go almost immediately to the TBI Conference and then straight into a weeklong F.I.S.T. Workshop. This means I'll be on dry land most of the time between my pool's closing (December 11, 2015) and the end of the F.I.S.T. Workshop (February 5, 2016).
Something's got to tide me over.
Something's got to tide me over.
2 of 2 photos
There is another complicating factor, which is I'm a weather wimp. All the pools above are outdoor. As I write this it is 35°F at 11:30am where I live. That's unseasonably cold, but this winter it's been unseasonably cold. Even when the pool is open for swimming there's only so much inclemency I can stand.
With advance knowledge of these challenges, this year I planned ahead. Pictured (badly) is my Vasa Swim Ergometer. This device has a lot of electronic and training features, but this is not the sizzle for me. Distance, time, power are nice, but luxuries. The value of this device is a pretty realistic resistance band throughout the stroke.
I'm not going review it here. I promised readers a couple of weeks ago that I would report at intervals throughout the winter how my swim was progressing using limited pool access along with Vasa sessions to tide me over. My intent was to establish a swim set – which I did – that would act as a gauge of in-water speed and fitness. If I could, from time to time, perform this set in the water over the winter then I would reckon myself fit.
This is my proverbial Milo of Croton daily bull pick-up, but I'm not looking to get stronger, only to keep what strength I have.
The set is designed to provide a reasonably stout test of fair speed with reasonable endurance. It's 16x150yd, leaving on the 2:20, that is, every 150yd swum, plus the rest, equals 2:20. Successful completion of the set means a swim accompanied by some amount of rest in between each 150.
With advance knowledge of these challenges, this year I planned ahead. Pictured (badly) is my Vasa Swim Ergometer. This device has a lot of electronic and training features, but this is not the sizzle for me. Distance, time, power are nice, but luxuries. The value of this device is a pretty realistic resistance band throughout the stroke.
I'm not going review it here. I promised readers a couple of weeks ago that I would report at intervals throughout the winter how my swim was progressing using limited pool access along with Vasa sessions to tide me over. My intent was to establish a swim set – which I did – that would act as a gauge of in-water speed and fitness. If I could, from time to time, perform this set in the water over the winter then I would reckon myself fit.
This is my proverbial Milo of Croton daily bull pick-up, but I'm not looking to get stronger, only to keep what strength I have.
The set is designed to provide a reasonably stout test of fair speed with reasonable endurance. It's 16x150yd, leaving on the 2:20, that is, every 150yd swum, plus the rest, equals 2:20. Successful completion of the set means a swim accompanied by some amount of rest in between each 150.
