Just had a phone call from Richard Pullen at The Altitude Centre. He wants me to take part in a regional news programme ( BBC London ) that's being filmed this afternoon. I'm not sure exactly what they want me to do, but it's worth a shot....
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Monday, November 29, 2004
Tubes stuck again
Sam's planning for the saltFree Christmas party was flawless as usual. The venue was warm and convivial, the company even more so, and the food was Welsh cuisine at its best. Secret Santa
did the rounds, and we all had the opportunity to open our first Christmas presents of the
season. Only November too!
Mystery of the weekend was the red rose someone placed under the windscreen wiper on the car. Was it a rose for me, or a gift for my rose? Who knows??
Saturday's diving was mixed. Weather at the NDC was fairly good, and as always, a delight to get back in the cool green water again. I had the first 'top time' and a depth of 50 metres to
reach. A long warm up, with lots of stretching and 3 'pack stretches', plus 3 dry negative
static holds. The water was 11 degrees at the surface, 6 degrees at depth, so I minimised my
in-water preparations to about 15 minutes. Two free immersions ( 10 and 20 metres respectively ). A slight shiver had set in - probably too big a gap since last food intake. I was fully prepared mentally for the depth, but not having a deep dive since August, meant that physically I can't have been. Somewhere around the 25 metre mark, I slowed my finning into a glide, and transferred some lung air into my mouth. I must have taken too long with the transfer ( or not equalised fully just prior ), because the pressure build-up was much greater than it should have been. A forceful attempted equalisation did not work ( for either ear), and the pain onset was rapid, due to my continued sinking. I had to abort at 33 metres. Most disappointing, as this will have been my last quarry dive until well into 2005.
This may well have been a combination problem - I definitely had some sinus congestion, I was
too cold, and my mouthfill was too early. In future , I need to time my eating a bit better.
Also, it's probably better to use the Cressi suit instead of the Elios one in those conditions.
Cressi is better suited (sic) for 40-50 metre dives in colder temperatures, and the Freedown
Elios for warmer dives beyond 50.
I hope I didn't set the tone for the remaining divers, as very few reached their inscribed
depths, and one unexpected samba ( which should never be unexpected! ).
So now it is time to consolidate and look to the future. I am sure some inspiration will be
gained by reading Umberto Pelizzari's interview with Alun George. Also Phillip Colla's
underwater images, that he captures when freediving. Also, I am curious to find out what
happened to Lars and Leilani, who failed to surface for breakfast on Sunday morning....
did the rounds, and we all had the opportunity to open our first Christmas presents of the
season. Only November too!
Mystery of the weekend was the red rose someone placed under the windscreen wiper on the car. Was it a rose for me, or a gift for my rose? Who knows??
Saturday's diving was mixed. Weather at the NDC was fairly good, and as always, a delight to get back in the cool green water again. I had the first 'top time' and a depth of 50 metres to
reach. A long warm up, with lots of stretching and 3 'pack stretches', plus 3 dry negative
static holds. The water was 11 degrees at the surface, 6 degrees at depth, so I minimised my
in-water preparations to about 15 minutes. Two free immersions ( 10 and 20 metres respectively ). A slight shiver had set in - probably too big a gap since last food intake. I was fully prepared mentally for the depth, but not having a deep dive since August, meant that physically I can't have been. Somewhere around the 25 metre mark, I slowed my finning into a glide, and transferred some lung air into my mouth. I must have taken too long with the transfer ( or not equalised fully just prior ), because the pressure build-up was much greater than it should have been. A forceful attempted equalisation did not work ( for either ear), and the pain onset was rapid, due to my continued sinking. I had to abort at 33 metres. Most disappointing, as this will have been my last quarry dive until well into 2005.
This may well have been a combination problem - I definitely had some sinus congestion, I was
too cold, and my mouthfill was too early. In future , I need to time my eating a bit better.
Also, it's probably better to use the Cressi suit instead of the Elios one in those conditions.
Cressi is better suited (sic) for 40-50 metre dives in colder temperatures, and the Freedown
Elios for warmer dives beyond 50.
I hope I didn't set the tone for the remaining divers, as very few reached their inscribed
depths, and one unexpected samba ( which should never be unexpected! ).
So now it is time to consolidate and look to the future. I am sure some inspiration will be
gained by reading Umberto Pelizzari's interview with Alun George. Also Phillip Colla's
underwater images, that he captures when freediving. Also, I am curious to find out what
happened to Lars and Leilani, who failed to surface for breakfast on Sunday morning....
Friday, November 26, 2004
Low Sodium, High Octane Weekend
Looking forward to the saltFree gathering this weekend. After a brief dip to 50 metres ( he hopes ), then an evening of good food, flowing drink, and much banter is in the offing. I'm planning on taking Simon Morris's sculpture 'The Monofin' along, so that everyone who has had a part in assisting its journey to the UK can see it.
Had a very pleasant evening last night, training in the Richmond pool with James, Theo, Johnny and Laura. Laura successfully coached me to a 6 minute static, so I'm satisfied that the CO2 tolerance tables and apnea walks are yielding results.
Had a very pleasant evening last night, training in the Richmond pool with James, Theo, Johnny and Laura. Laura successfully coached me to a 6 minute static, so I'm satisfied that the CO2 tolerance tables and apnea walks are yielding results.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Mistle-woe
In one week's time it will be December, and in one month's, Christmas eve. This means that I have to buy gifts for other people that they probably do not want, while at the same time have to deny gifts to myself that I do want. Notably Umberto Pelizzari's translation into English of his Manual of Freediving. Also Marillion's 2DVD special edition Marbles on the Road.
I suppose I'll survive.
I suppose I'll survive.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The Lessons of History
To find out what I need to do, I need to know what my target is. The date is 5th March 2005,
the place is Belgium, and the event is the 5ème nuit de l'apnée - Coupe de Belgique AIDA 2005.
My aim is to put myself onto this list.
How realistic is that? I have only exceeded 6:14 ( in the water ) on one occasion, and only by
an additional 3 seconds. A narrow margin indeed. Several failed attempts ( one in competition )
around the six minute mark. So I need a plan for improvement.
The last year - 18 months I have been able to add about 1 minute onto my maximum breathold time. I believe a lot of this has been attributable to weekly pool apnea sessions, weekly 'dry' apnea sessions, and almost daily apnea walks. Although I can continue with this, I think some variation could have positive effects.
My last pool static was a miserable 5m50s attempt, which concluded in a slight loss of motor control on surfacing ( competition disqualifier ). A fortnight prior an attempt to six minutes had been 'clean'. One noticeable difference in the lead-up to last week's pool static, was a period of 2-3 days previous where I had no breath-hold conditioning at all.
On Sunday I abandoned my normal routine of aiming for a 6-7 minute dry breathold, and instead used the Pelizzari / Solomon CO2 conditioning 'table'. This involved 1x3 minute rest ( breathing ) period, 1x4 minute breathold, and then subsequent rest periods that reduce by 15 seconds each time, and subsequent breathold periods that remain constant at 4 minutes. The end is reached when the rest period is reduced to 1 minute 15 seconds. Adds up to just over half an hour of breatholding within a 50 minute session.
Since then I have managed a couple of average duration apnea walks, and hope to complete another tommorrow. Hopefully I will then on Thursday be able to hit 6 minutes without incident, at my pool training session. We shall see.
the place is Belgium, and the event is the 5ème nuit de l'apnée - Coupe de Belgique AIDA 2005.
My aim is to put myself onto this list.
How realistic is that? I have only exceeded 6:14 ( in the water ) on one occasion, and only by
an additional 3 seconds. A narrow margin indeed. Several failed attempts ( one in competition )
around the six minute mark. So I need a plan for improvement.
The last year - 18 months I have been able to add about 1 minute onto my maximum breathold time. I believe a lot of this has been attributable to weekly pool apnea sessions, weekly 'dry' apnea sessions, and almost daily apnea walks. Although I can continue with this, I think some variation could have positive effects.
My last pool static was a miserable 5m50s attempt, which concluded in a slight loss of motor control on surfacing ( competition disqualifier ). A fortnight prior an attempt to six minutes had been 'clean'. One noticeable difference in the lead-up to last week's pool static, was a period of 2-3 days previous where I had no breath-hold conditioning at all.
On Sunday I abandoned my normal routine of aiming for a 6-7 minute dry breathold, and instead used the Pelizzari / Solomon CO2 conditioning 'table'. This involved 1x3 minute rest ( breathing ) period, 1x4 minute breathold, and then subsequent rest periods that reduce by 15 seconds each time, and subsequent breathold periods that remain constant at 4 minutes. The end is reached when the rest period is reduced to 1 minute 15 seconds. Adds up to just over half an hour of breatholding within a 50 minute session.
Since then I have managed a couple of average duration apnea walks, and hope to complete another tommorrow. Hopefully I will then on Thursday be able to hit 6 minutes without incident, at my pool training session. We shall see.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Something of an Introduction
Or an excuse. I should have learnt long ago to never jump into things I don't understand properly. Some people call it the deep end, but that's where I always seem to find myself. So this blogging thing - a week ago I'd never heard of it. I've looked at a handful of other people's blogs, and decided that I can make something that probably has nothing to do with the concept, and yet could be useful to me, and maybe one or two others.
I'm thinking here of sports training, coaching, or a bit of both - specific to the sport of freediving. It's something I do, something I compete in, and something I teach. I now find myself at a junction, where I have arrived at from one route, and have multiple paths leading away. Competitive freediving has brought me to this point, and from here on I can continue in that direction, and/or consider continuing teaching, judging, coaching, or something a bit more creative.
I feel that there is unfinished business in the competitive arena, and some shortish-term objectives to be met. This journal will be my guide on that path. I need to experiment in order to push boundaries further, and I need to keep a record to find what may work, and what will never. A recent period of IHT produced some interesting results, as has the last 12 months of training.
I need to get more detail down, and this I will do in due course. The journey begins here. Along the way there may be deviations into other places - music, books, films, and uncharted regions of my cranial cavity. That way, it might even be interesting to someone else.
I'm thinking here of sports training, coaching, or a bit of both - specific to the sport of freediving. It's something I do, something I compete in, and something I teach. I now find myself at a junction, where I have arrived at from one route, and have multiple paths leading away. Competitive freediving has brought me to this point, and from here on I can continue in that direction, and/or consider continuing teaching, judging, coaching, or something a bit more creative.
I feel that there is unfinished business in the competitive arena, and some shortish-term objectives to be met. This journal will be my guide on that path. I need to experiment in order to push boundaries further, and I need to keep a record to find what may work, and what will never. A recent period of IHT produced some interesting results, as has the last 12 months of training.
I need to get more detail down, and this I will do in due course. The journey begins here. Along the way there may be deviations into other places - music, books, films, and uncharted regions of my cranial cavity. That way, it might even be interesting to someone else.
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