Hi All, we are heading to the white loch for the south side open water debut. I think its about 12-14c but not really sure. Hoping to get in the water btw 4-4:30pm. All welcome!

Training peaks is the most commonly used and mis used software in the endurance world. It has amazing functionality and making use of it more fully will help you maximise training outcomes. Time is a major constraint for many and there is always lots of chat about how best to use the time. The subject can be confusing and in depth and the 'answers' are not the same for everyone. This post will tackle the 'big picture' using data from athletes that we coach. This may spark some interesting chat! Lets take a look at CTL ( Chronic Training Load) as a marker or an estimate of 'fitness'. I would say that its more a measure of consisteny mainly driven by volume - hours spent vs intesnity. So you can drive a huge CTL with copious volume and be vey consistent but that doesn't always mean you are fitter than someone with a lower CTL. CTL will of course move at different times of the year but the guys that built the idea have attributed labels to the levels : Beginners <40 Recreational 40- 80 Competitive 80-120 Elite 120 -150+ Ironman (sic) 145 -185 ( with Kona Qualifiers regularly 175+) This is fairly one dimensional so rather than using this as a rigid blueprint it can be a useful guide and it is multifactorial if we consider race distances, level of a race and of course age of the competitor. When I first came across this number the Ironman one kinda disturbed me - 175 CTL would be the equivilant of 17.5 hours at threshold intentsity which is a tad nuts so looking at it another way 25 hours of zone 2 work. Still pretty hefty. So unless you are a professional or have the time to train like one then you aren't doing that. I took a look at our stable of athletes and split it into broad categories in a mix of runners, cyclists and triathletes and looked to see where the CURRENT CTL values are overlayed with where it would be in peak season from historical seasons. March Peak Juniors - Older juniors 100-124 130 Effectively elite athletes Youths 65 - 75 90 All still at school 14 - 17

A wee while ago I was really struggling to get my swim sessions done consistently- I live over half an hour from the pool so it’s a right faff. So I came up with an incentive: get the swim done early-ish (but not too early) then treat myself to a coffee and bacon roll for breakfast afterwards. Chance to sit and listen to an audiobook for a wee bit, and just chill, something I basically never do otherwise. I’ve been listening to this brilliant book, (Swimmingly, by Vassos Alexander) but I’ve almost finished it, so I need another one! https://open.spotify.com/show/13zsVDHeEsn2trxMRbVcCZ?si=zp7uIbcqR4uiDqCpK-9Lpw So - sport-related adventurous books you enjoyed… recommendations?

That's 5 times in 2 weeks that type of question has popped up. Gordon ( my dentist and client) asked me ' what are you training for?'. I had to pause for thought. The answer has changed over the years but part of the answer always has to be for fun. Most of the time..just cos I love it. There may be a race or two in there but now there is a ticking clock..training for retirement!

Hi folks, any recommendations on the best way to manage sets of varying pace without a working Intermatic timer at the pool, and without needing to constantly look at my watch? My watch can’t report on the pace of my last lap so overall the whole process feels challenging. I feel like I’m missing something.