Pipe mask

Today we had a luxurious 2 hours a the pool, so I did some static first. With the 1.5mm suit, which is not really optimum for static, I managed 6:45 which was ok. I then proceeded to dynamic hoping that the static would serve as good warmup. Well, not really. I did make a new pb of 2:33, beating the old one I guess by a whole second again, but it didn't feel any better than without a static first. In fact worse...

I then did a few dives with stereofins. 100m in something like 2:20, then 85m in 1:30 or something irrelevant.

I build a pipemask yesterday. I've been meaning to make one for ages, but just haven't had the time. It worked better than I expected. My biggest worry has always been that if the pipe slips out of my mouth, the mask will flood with water. But in fact, this one does not. The whole for the tube is located near my forehead, so if I dive down without even placing the tube in my mouth, as the mask squeezes against my head, it seals the hole! Pretty cool accidental design flaw :) So I can use it just like normal goggles in the pool. Don't even have to put the tube in my mouth. But if I want to equalize it, it's easy using the tube. Too bad I can't take it for real testing in deep water, because it's so damn cold...

Quickies

2:17/110m
2:45/130m
3:07/150m

I was feeling very acidic today. Very early and heavy breathing relfex. Perhaps eating all those carbs last night? Or just training a lot...

Anyway, the last one was ok...

3:20

Cool, so I was able to improve, to 3:20. Now 3:30 doesn't seem that far away at all...That's the way it goes.

Today was much more optimum than yesterday. Empty stomach, no exercise before etc.

I did some FRC statics prior to walking. 3:30 and 4:15

Then:
2:50/110m (going really slow)
3:20/143m (still really slow)

What can I say. It felt absolutely horrible, but no samba. I continued with the "low ventilation" approach, on the final walk taking 5 deep breaths before starting (which is clear hyperventilation, but much less than usual)

A whole second...

Allright, apnea walks today:

2:33/130m
2:45/150m
3:10/144m

So beat my pb by a whole second. This was so close though, that I don't see how I could ever beat that. This was gym day etc, so maybe under optimum conditions I can squeeze in a second or two, but it's very hard to imagine ever passing 3:30

I was experimenting with hyperventilating less. It's something I always have to conciously come back to. I know my best results have always been made with very little ventilation, but I still catch my self taking those 5-10 deep breaths before a start, especially after having resuming training after a while.

Today I did just normal, neutral breathing (watching tv to keep me distracted from breathing). Then before the start 2 deep breaths on the first, 3 on the second and finally 5 on the last...Sure the urge to breathe came earlier, but it didn't really seem to have at least any negative effect on the final result.

Samba challenge

I had a small cold/flu thingy and took some time off from all physical training. Today I was feeling ok again, so I tried to do the same old routine in the pool.

On the first attempt, I used my small crapfins. I dove something like 80-90 meters in 2:31 and had a small samba.

Not discouraged by that, I tried the another one with the monofin. Slightly faster this time. 100m in 2:02 and another samba.

I then wanted to do one "normal" dynamic. I dove 100m in normal speed, no idea about the time, and again samba.

Now then now then...I'm actually pretty pissed at my self. Not because I had a samba, that's to be expected when trying to find your max time. But that I pushed 3 sambas in one session. Not much of an example to others. Also, after recovering from a cold, perhaps a wiser way would have been starting slowly building up again, and not rushing for a pb right away.

Oh well...At least I was feeling physically ok and strong, so I can start excercise again (I haven't been writing about it, but I've been doing quite a bit of physical fitness trainig too).

New pb, 3:09

I did my normal series of 3 walks again. After the last one, I for some reason decided to try a static. It was horrible and I could barely fight to 5 minutes.

I then remembered that on cw dives, a short static makes a huge difference for me in tolerating the breathing reflex, so I thought I'll try walking again. This time I walked as slowly and relaxed as possible. I reached a time of 3:09. It felt horrible, but there was no samba, so I expect that under right conditions, I can still do more.

2:28/150m (no packing)
2:45/156m
3:00/143m
3:09/137m

The distance of the last one is of course horrible, but that is not my goal currently...

Pool progress

Made it to 2:28/100 today. Not huge leaps, but still clear progress. I did the first dive in 2:02/100. This was with very little packing and I had problems with my balance. For the next one I packed relatively full and managed to dive slowly all the way.

This was very close to samba though, it will be interesting to see if I can still increase...