60sPanda Member

Yep, swam 500m breast, 500m back then 1km crawl (total 45 mins). Enjoyed that so might repeat tomorrow.

Had a good swim this morning - 1 mile in 31 minutes! Followed by leisurely breast/back/crawl to complete the 2 km swim (I am odd - I count my distances in both miles and km).

That's brilliant Bruce. Well done.

Mine is just past my shoulders. I put conditioner on dry hair, then put in a ponytail and its easy to get the cap on and tuck any stragglers up and under the cap.

Apart from the usual chips/crisps/fries/sizing/biscuits thing, I always tell friends who are US visiting that if they see bacon on a menu its usually rock-hard crispy streaky bacon. If they see Canadian Bacon then that's the UK back bacon rasher equivalent. Also agree on the plastic cheese thing. Kraft has a lot to answer…

I am probably a mixture of a clubber and outdoor swimmer in my attitude - I just need to get outdoors!

It worked Macdtraw-head is fine so got up for my normal 2km swim this morning. Thanks for the finger crossing.

I am someone that will try everything once - I love oysters, offal, game and all sorts of other stuff including snails and steak tartare. There are only a couple of things I will not ever eat again - oranges/mandarins/satsumas (the pith makes me want to vomit), undercooked egg whites, but a raw egg on steak tartare is…

Good one GreenN - always good to get advice where you can. Swam my normal 2km this morning. That was fine, but then in the gym showers I had a slight accident which resulted in me banging my forehead on the edge of the shower door. Now I am at work I can see a lovely mini-egg bruise has appeared and is starting to throb.…

Well done - that's great.

2km this morning (3/4's crawl and 1/4 mix breast/back). Pool was busy for a Monday (normally its the quietest day of the week). Never had elbow pain whilst swimming - hope you get that sorted soon Aquatic.

Unfortunately, red hair dye is the quickest fading anyway. Swimming won't make any difference - it would fade on its own accord. I used to be red (before I took up swimming) and it only stayed proper red for a week or a couple of washes, then would fade to a lovely gingery colour. All hairdressers will tell you the same…

Planned on a 3km swim this morning and ended up doing a 5km one. 3.5 km free and 1.5km mix back and breaststroke. Feeling shattered now, but in a good way.

I am a winter lover. I can not wait until the clocks change and the evenings become darker. My body clock prefers it and I feel so much better, much more energised and focused. I also find it much easier to control food in the winter as I make loads of warming low-cal soups and stews.

CW - that's brilliant. Just keep at it and before long you'll be wanting to try out a 50m pool! I use a 20m pool and wish it was bigger, but that would mean leaving my nice, plush gym with great showers and free towels to go to the local leisure centre without those amenities. Plus, I did the math and the amount I swim…

I wish I was an outdoor swimmer. Living in central London doesn't give much opportunities for that, but I know that I could go to Hampstead ponds or Hyde Park's serpentine so maybe I will. I love the cold, cold water as well.

Over the summer I spent about £50 a week (two of us) - lots of salads (salad veg just seems to cost more than winter veg), meat and fish for me. The winter tends to be cheaper (about £40-£45 per week for 2) as I make a lot of stews in bulk with cheaper veg and freeze meals. Weekly shopping includes frozen veg, fresh veg,…

Nice to be back this morning (last swim was Wednesday last week). Did 2km total in 45 mins - 400m free, 100 back, 100, breast - repeat 3 times then finish with 200 free. Felt great.

Hairy Dieters for me all the way. Love their Chicken Jalfrezi.

Thanks Macstraw - the lessons I had over the summer advocated a slight rotation down the whole body into the hips and legs (and she gave me drills for kicking on rotation). Your suggestion makes sense though so I will try that too and see how I get on.

I tried the corkscrew thingy this morning as I am aware that I forget to rotate when doing crawl and lapse into a flat stroke when tired. Not sure it really helped, but was fun anyway. The other one I tried was crawl with fists to feel the forearm work and it wasn't! I then tried it on backstroke, and I did feel the…

Back in pool this morning - just a 30 min swim (normally 45 mins) as had to be in work a little early. Felt good to be back.

Back in England last night and back in the pool for a proper swim this morning (versus lazy holiday pool swimming!). 2km mix of back, breast and crawl. Felt good to do proper exercise.

Leisurely swim today after yesterday's exertions. 2km of alternate back and breast stroke in 55 mins.

I like my distances and 5km was always my furthest distance. I haven't managed to go further than that, but looking at the impressive times some people post I am definately trying to get faster. What this board has spurred me to do was have a few lessons to improve technique, learn fly and mix it up when I swim. All good…

1st time in ages that I had the time to do a proper 5km swim - managed it in 1 hour and 43 minutes. Got to do this more often as really want to get below 1 hour 40 mins.

Fantastic Swim!!!

I count in laps of 10 and when I push off I say the number out loud into the water. I am sure people hear me, but I think they are just used to me going 1, 2, 3 very loudly :) I very rarely lose count.

Better swim this morning - 2 miles crawl in 62 minutes. 2 minutes slower than my fastest time, but I am still happy with that. Finished off with 400m back and 400 metres breaststroke to make it a round 4km.

Swam 3.2 today in equal amounts of crawl, back and breast. Took me 1 hour and 20 mins. Time was OK as for some reason I was really feeling tired, which is odd as I hadn't swum since Wednesday. Oh well. Will be back in the pool tomorrow.