PAUL PALMER

© ALLSPORT

WEEK 3
Date: August 11

Goody Two Shoes steps forward

In his 1982 number one hit, Goody Two Shoes, Adam Ant sang the immortal line, "You don’t drink, don’t smoke; what do you do?" It’s a great line – I recall many a happy school day spent taunting the "swots" with it – but I never actually gave much thought to the fact that I would one day be able to apply it to myself.

That dark moment arrived, however, just the other day as I drove home from training. It was a warm evening and my drive took me past a couple of rather inviting pubs. Sat outside were groups of people having a pint and enjoying that rarest of British events – a cloudless summer sky. I had had a pretty tough day in the pool and gym and felt like I deserved a refreshing drink, so ... I went home, had some dinner and went to bed.

Marvellous, huh? Blooming marvellous!

Old Man Adam’s wise words have become very poignant indeed. You see, while many of you are enjoying the relaxed evenings of summer I have entered into my habitual seven weeks of total abstinence. Not that I claim to be a dipsomaniac in the William Hague mode, but I like the odd night out as much as any 25-year-old does.

However, despite what Gazza might try to say, excessive revelry and high-level sport do not mix – competing with a pick-axe banging away in your head does not encourage positive results and taking a hip flask to training is only going to upset your coach! So I do away with it all, full stop.

As the big meet approaches (and they do not come much bigger than Sydney) I look for ways to focus in completely on the task at hand. The tee-total exercise is one more way that I can tell myself that I am totally committed to the job and this in itself helps lift my performance during the run-up.

So, while I may indeed be a Goody Two Shoes, and I may grumble about it from time to time – ultimately I think it is worth it. There will be plenty of time to relax after the swimming – and, let's face it: the Aussies have much better summer evenings than we Brits do!

There is also a bit of good news: as there are only a few weeks to go, the training wind-down has begun. During the first half of the year the training is pretty fierce and then things start to get easier.

It is important to hit the big race of the year as fresh as you can, so these last few weeks are spent working on speed and the technical aspects of racing. The intensity and metres decreases and your recovery time speeds up.

This continues until race day, by which time you should be fit, sharp and fresh – ready to take on all-comers. It is called a taper, and swimmers around the world rejoice at its occurrence – for it means that the torture of fitness training is over and the only uncomfortable bit left is that couple of minutes of pain that is the race itself. It is a great part of the year and I love it!

Read Paul's diary for WEEK 1 ...

Read Paul's diary for WEEK 2 ...

Read Paul's diary for WEEK 4 ...

Read Paul's diary for WEEK 5 ...