No races in August for me, so a time to get some serious open water training in, whilst the water is still warm. I've been having fun with the Redcaps. We did a 4hr sea swim a couple of weeks ago. This saw us swimming against a fast tide and strong winds for the whole 4 hours. Just when I reached the 1/4 mark and whilst I was frantically trying to keep my head above the waves whilst treading water and taking on fluids, I said to Derek, "God that was hard against the tide, it should be easier going back, shouldnt it", but he reliably informed me that because of the strong surface wind, it will be even tougher going back. Cheers mate. But he was right. My arms couldn't clear the waves and after 2 hours of gulping and struggling to hold it together, the 5 of us, me, Ben, Derek, Tongie and Helen, reached the half way point. Oh how easy it would have been to call it a day. But no, we were on a mission. If we are to succeed in next years Charity Challenge, then we need to practice. Fail to prepare then PREPARE TO FAIL!!!! No doubt the challenge will take us more than 4 hours so before this open water season is out, we had to see what it felt like. Tongie and Helen decided to call it a day at the half way point but the others soldiered on. Ben and I managed it non-wetsuit. Tough cookies !
Been in the River Chelmer a few times and over to the lake at Heybridge too, so getting in plenty of variety whilst leading up to my September races.
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| Chalkwell Redcaps, lazy river swim - Great turnout albeit just me and Ben in this photo. |
August also saw me organising a bank holiday dip in the River Crouch. Just a quick posting on facebook resulted in 15 swimmers turning up. Again, a few were going for 4 hours but as I made the mistake of trying out a new wetsuit, by the 1hr stage, my neck was sore and I knew I couldnt continue. Somehow, tho, just a quick 'Im quitting' statement from me, resulted in all of them quitting !!!!!! Oh the power! So back to mine for a BBQ instead. Great day, great company and great fun.
I've been training with some triathletes on Mondays and Wednesdays down at Burnham on Crouch. This water can be dangerous. I had nightmares last week that the platoon that you have to lift yourself onto to get out, sucked me under. The tide is so fast that you can feel your legs going under the platoon whilst you try to find the strength in your arms to pull yourself out. Its so deep that you have nothing to lever yourself against. It goes without saying, that my exit from the water has to go down as the most un-ladylike exit you will ever get to see ! The triathletes on the other hand just do an almighty press up and they are up. I kind-of do a pull, fall flat on me chest, squeel, then twirl me legs round the sides whilst shouting "I'm OK !
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| I'm sure Andy is asking "Did she get sucked under?" |
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| To all my friends who think I'm mad, - couldnt think of a better way to spend my evenings - thank you. |
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| My travelling companion who is just about to do Henley Full Iron Man this Sunday - Go Andy Go |
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That's it for another night, 5 in and 5 out. Result, didn't lose anyone out there tonight
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September 4th saw me and Chris heading off to Bournemouth for the Great Pier to Pier swim. This is the first race since Chris has decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So instead of a golf bag in the boot, it's a dry bag and wetsuits. Sunday morning when we woke up in the hotel room, his first words were "W.T.F". His normal Sunday routine of a lay in, spot of golf, lunch, and chill had a rude awakening. It was 7a.m., it was windy, it was chucking down with rain, and he is about to run into the sea with 1000 other competitors - all to keep me company. aww, bless.
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| Brave husband, wearing a wetsuit instead of carryout a golf bag. x. |
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| He's off. His first ever open water race. 500 competitors in the yellow wave |
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| Now, where is he ? |
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| By Jove, he beat me to the pier and I was walking! Well done Hubby. x. |
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| My turn now. |
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| Red cap wave, another 500 swimmers getting ready to race. |
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| 3rd lady home. Brilliant. |
And so that't it. First race of September done. Next is the 5k Swimfest at Lakeside this coming Sunday where lots of Redcaps are competing and then off to Scotland for the last in the Great Swim Series. For Scotland, I am going to swim beside Chris for his 1mile at 8.00a.m. and use it as a warm up for my 2mile race at midday. Got a feeling that Strathclyde Loch is gonna be pretty cold so I hope Chris doesnt hang up his wetsuit after this one.
I'm back in the pool now too as I've lost all sense of speed throughout the winter Channel training routine. And only being outside, it's hard to get that speed going again. My goal of 40 x 100m swim and rest off 90 by April next year seems impossible right now. I managed 10 the other day in a 25m pool and then headed off to an old 36 2/3 yard pool to try to do it again. Clearly it wasn't happening. Managed them in batches of 3 and was really frustrated at how bad your speed can get if you don't combine your open water training with pool training. Obviously, I've had an excuse, as I wasn't able to train in the open water this past winter whilst coaching my channel buddy. At the pool, my long time swimming buddy Gray was on hand to give me a ticking off. "Will you stop beating yourself up woman". Give it time. Go back to basics and pick it up from there. Sharpen up with sprints, 50's, do some drills, etc. Take some decent rest whilst you get your speed back, then bring the rest down. Of course, I knew he was right. But I needed to hear it out loud. So I appreciate his advice and now with a slightly amended training plan,once I have these two races out of the way, I will see what October brings.
And just today, I heard from Karen, my water slave. I wasn't sure if she was resting up and trying to forget about the Channel ordeal, or whether she was leaving me alone so I could concentrate on my own swimming. Either way, I knew I had to distance myself and go it alone for a while. And so, now I know. For all our mutual friends out there, having handed her notice in at work, she is spending a few months setting up her own business. Hopefully, once the initial administration is all done, she will be back swimming again. And yes, she's gonna give it another go in 2013 so watch this space.
