Russian grades for finswimming

Positive moment..

Today I did my session on "one breath"... It is an improvement.
Still, one session a week is not enough.
Also, for the first time I felt that my arms are in correct place behind the head. I've got silicone cap which helped me with this. It prevents arms from sliding down. I use to swim with a fabric cap which doesn't do such trick...

Negative wave

There is a period in training which comes after initial excitement, when you begin expecting more from yourself but your body hasn't picked up the right form yet. Results may even go down comparing to what you had when you've just started. Such a negative wave that can massively reduce confidence and motivation. It is very important not to give up in such period. You need to plan in advance exercises for the training sessions and precisely follow them

First training sessions

It is not going easy...

First session I did some random exercises. Second one I was focused on technique, especially on arms position. After a long gap in training, the shoulders lost their flexibility. To regain it back and force arms into correct position I use kick board.
Exercise: 4x400m. First and third with board, second and forth without - for cementing positive effect.

Overall I managed to cover 2,5 km in one hour session, which is not too bad when using bi-fins

Swimming pool

I have started my sessions in Bradley Stoke leisure centre. It has 25m swimming pool. Lane reservation is £12.85 per hour. I've booked 4 sessions for a start. The pool is not quite suitable for real sport training:

• No starting box
• Shallow side is too shallow
• Pool borders are level with water, so it is not very convenient to make turns
• People swimming on other lanes complain that they haven't been forewarned that one of the lanes will be reserved for training. :-)

Also, I used to swim in 50m pool, it feels like 25m is too short. The nearest 50m pool is in Bath. I'll probably drop them an email to find out what is the price for a lane. Until I find better place, I'll continue to use my local pool.