Sunday was an off day (recovering from a Christmas party!)
.
Last night, I got to the pool with a headache from working at the computer all day.
I went first:
4'00" first attempt: contractions were horrible, headache worsened
5'15" second attempt: a little easier, but it was a struggle to make 5 minutes. At this point I was thinking the only good training I would get in would be pack stretches for my diaphragm.
6'17" last attempt: at 4'30" I felt like I was doomed to eek out another 5 minute static, but then at around 4'45" my hands and feet started to feel different and I got a second wind. I did not get this feeling during the first two attempts. The contractions felt fine from then on. When I came up I had ringing in my ears. I'm starting to wonder now if that ringing is not really a sign of hypoxia, but rather is primarily a sign of rising blood pressure (which caused by hypoxia or by acidic blood or both?). I've heard of studies with freedivers and how their bp goes off the scale during a long static. Does anyone have any references or ever experienced this? Another thing I noticed was that when my first signal came, I was so relaxed that I really, really did not want to move my finger. It was funny. I had a little argument in my head about it. But my hands felt so good just enveloped in water and motionless.
Eric went:
6'58" first attempt (new personal best for first static)
6'40" second attempt. Eric only took a 5 minute interval between and felt too depleted after the first one to go further.
My girlfriend Jill came to the pool, too. She is just starting out. She has never felt a contraction and her pb in the pool is 2'40". She has been anxious about going further because the "suffocation just gets worse and worse." It's interersting to me to remember how I felt the first time holding my breath to that point of a first contraction.
Jill breathed up as I do, resting on the pool edge, breathing through her nose, quietly. No forced breaths or purges.
1st static: 2'00"
2nd static: 2'20"?
3rd static: 3'01" She was not sure if she had a "contraction" at this point or not, but she did feel that the usual suffocating feeling that was previously stopping her relaxed a bit and she could keep on going. When she came up she was so happy she jumped on me. To make 3'01" without a "contraction" is a pretty amazing result (yes, I'm biased), especially as it was done without hyperventilation. She is a former competitive swimmer, though, so her buffers are probably higher than most other beginners. As always, it's great to celebrate a new personal best!
Over the holidays, we're going to use an oximeter and find out what saturation she's actually at when she gets to 3 minutes. I'm guessing it will be around 85-90% SaO2.
I really wish I could fast forward to June when we've done 3 or 4 of these sessions and know what the overall adaptations will be from this kind of practice.
Anybody else want to share their practice with no breathe up statics?
Pete Scott
Vancouver, BC
