Great East Swim - Alton Waters - July 17 2012

Postponed from the Saturday due to this horrendous British weather we are having, at least a dozen Redcaps set off for the Great East Swim on 17 June 2012.  

The camaraderie shared by our club is fabulous, we all share a love of the Great Open Water and are all genuinely interested in one anothers performance.  So here's Barbara, me, Michaela, Shaun, Andy and Jane just before our 1 mile race. 

Barbara, me, Michaela, Shivvers, Andy, Jane.

It was extremely windy so the conditions were not perfect but compared to what the weather has been doing, it was going to be a great day.

Having met some personal training targets that I had set myself for 2012, I was still yet to achieve my racing target.  To complete a mile in the open water in sub 25minutes. 

Me and my new suit.

This was my first race in my new Zone 3 Aspire suit.   I had given it a trial at Burnham during the week and it felt so comfortable.  I suffer from severe cramp when I race due to poor circulation (and probably nutrition), but I am working on it.  

This suit doesn't hug my legs as tightly as the Blue Seventy, so I was praying for a cramp-free race.

 I had failed to break the 25 minute target at the Great London swim, which again may have been down to the strong head wind we had to swim into, but, as all us open-water swimmers know, anything can happen on the day.  

I never usually go off fast as a mile is a long way, but this being my last chance to break the 25min, I was battling with my personal demons.  I just kept saying to myself, what have you got to lose, just go out fast and see what happens.

So, kept all to myself, I had decided I was going in amongst the front-line and going out hard, no matter how many knocks I took from the men.  When that gun went off, right at the front, I ran for dear life.  

I kept hurdling over the water until I felt I had enough depth to take a dive, and then I launched myself into the pack.  For a split second, I thought to myself, 'God help this ole dear - whatever am I thinking of', but then in another split milli-second, I think 'Come on girl, you can do it'.  

I just love it that Chris takes part in my sport - its great having him there at the end.
And I secretly think he loves wearing the rubber too !

And I did - 24.12, I smashed the 25min barrier.  Not sure whether it was the suit or my determination not to hold back at the front, but who cares, I did it.  I also came 2nd in my wave which was also a brilliant result having just one man in front of me.  

So now I can relax knowing that all my 2012 targets have been accomplished.  I now have two 3.8k races ahead of me and another two 10k races booked so next week I will be adjusting my training accordingly.