…this is the number that is currently rushing through my mind, my training schedule and my daily freedive training-sessions. 13 not to be mistaken with the superstitious meaning of the number, but 13 as a set number of weeks this training schedule progresses to.

Goals
At the end of 13, Jorg set out a couple of goals that are to be achieved within this set time. These goals are in compliance with the goals I should be capable of achieving this year. The goals that should be achieved are:

Dynamic without fins (DNF): 125 m
Dynamic with fins (DYN): 150 m
Static breath holding (STA): 7:00 min.

How 13 starts…
It all started last week and this week with getting familiar with the exercises and what the exercises should do for me to be working. Without knowing what an exercise should do for me, I will be unable to achieve the end-phase of 13.

Weekly timetable
So how will I plan all these exercises in a timetable to be sure I can meet the set out goals ? Well overall Jorg and I agreed on a set of exercises and technique to prepare my body for the performances. Based on these exercises we set out a timetable, to plan all the different exercises.

Monday: Fitness, Cardio & Static
Tuesday: Dynamic Freedive Training
Wednesday: Fitness, Cardio & Static
Thursday: Fitness & Static
Friday: Dynamic Freedive Training
Saturday: Dry-walk, Cardio
Sunday: Relax & Backup

Prior 13 conditions
As I’ve been training in freediving quite a while now, my current personal bests are my prior conditions to the 13 schedule.

Personal Bests in training
Dynamic without fins (DNF): 109 m
Dynamic with fins (DYN): 125 m
Static breath holding (STA): 6:51 min

After the preparation phase, the first challenge in 13 will be to reach these PB-markers again and start working from there…

I’ll be updating on this schedule 1 or 2 times a week, so stay tuned for more !

Although I have been chosen amongst the chosen few to represent the Netherlands in the Individual World Championships, I have decided to focus on some other projects and challenges, so I’m not going to head for Maribor, Slovenia beginning of July 2007.

Competitions are a benchmark for my training, so when I reach a certain goal in training, the competitions are a good opportunity to put the method to the test. Although I’m not taking part, I will start the training schedule Jorg set-up for me to achieve the overall goal and prepare for future events.

Ofcourse it’s an honor to be asked to take part in this world championship, for more information about it check out the link: http://en.wch2007.h2oteam.com/.