Great Swim Series - Windermere - June 2011

Well what an ordeal this turned out to be!!!!     

Since Chris and I are like ships that pass in the night at the moment, it was agreed many moons ago that the Windermere swim would be combined with a holiday.  Oh yes it was Chris !  And then, having left it all to the last minute, (one of the very few occasions when its my fault! - cough cough), I could not find a hotel anywhere near within our budget.  So we BOTH spent days and nights searching the internet and then finally agreed that we would only go for 2 nights and pick a supa-dupa expensive hotel and live first-class for a few days.   Unanimously agreed.  Oh yes it was Chris !  

So, here we are, beautiful hotel (albeit only 2 nights), but still worth the long drive to Windermere.  I am soooooooooo looking forward to it.

So now I need to back track a bit to the fact that I have just had all my windows and doors replaced and, as usual, we have teething problems with the company who have not been too co-operative in correcting.  So when, (3 weeks after the fitting), I finally get a date, Thursday 16 June 2011, to have the teething problems sorted at 8.30a.m. in the morning - Perfect.  Get up, fitters do their bit, all happy bunnies, then drive to Windermere.  Relax Thursday evening, race Friday, evening out, drive home Saturday.  Perfect (Again).

Ring Ring - "Hi Chris, just to let you know the fitters will be here Thursday morning nice and early so no problem", we can get this sorted and then go off to Windermere.      Then........... came the problem.  "Well, you will have to see them coz I'm in Switzerland all next week on business".  "No honey, you must be mistaken, we are in Windermere --- remember!!   "Is that next week".  "Yes".  "It can't be". "It is, you booked it!". "Are you sure".  "Yes, I'm sure.   *@*@*@* !!!!!!

The following conversation, I will leave to your imagination but suffice to say, Bettsy has the hump - big time.
You may remember if you read the Eton 10k blog, that I had a similar experience with Chris having to change his flight from Heathrow to City Airport at an earlier time, then boot it across to get to Eton for me which was also due to  his lack of organisation skills.

So, dajavou.  Change of plan.  I tackle the fitters, all by myself, I drive to Windermere, all by myself, I spend a supa dupa night and following day in beautiful hotel, all by myself, drive to Bowness, catch a ferry to Brockholm, walk to the race.  I'm still 'all by myself' by they way, in case you're not following the pattern.  No one to zip me into my wetsuit, no one to pat me on the back, no smiling face to wave me off.  Race. No one to greet me, no one to say "Well done".  No one to unzip me. No one to carry my bag while I walk a mile to Ambleside - yeh, you getting the picture - still all by myself, catch a ferry to Bowness, drive back to hotel.  ALL BY MYSELF.

Might be worthwhile mentioning at this point that I have absolutely no sense of direction.  Quite common in women of my age I believe.  I can approach a roundabout every single day for 30 years from one direction, and if I have to approach it from another direction, I haven't a clue where I am.  Getting the picture.

So we are both panicking, how on earth is Bettsy gonna do this - All by Herself?    Ring Ring.  "Ive managed to get an earlier flight out of Switzerland.  Guess, what, I land in Manchester at 2.45pm - what times your race?"  "4p.m".  "How long will it take you", "I guess just under the hour".  "OK, I can do it, I will get a lift from a mate from Manchester to Carlisle, get a taxi to your race and I will be waiting at the finishing post for you.  Awwwww Bless.  soppy soppy.  I've forgiven him.  He supports me so much in my swimming, always gets there if he can and I am so grateful to him for this.  Truly I am.

He set me SatNav up for me, even packed me a little lunchy and drink and constantly rang me every hour from Switzerland on Thursday (probably to check I was on the right motorway).  I got there without a hitch and was amazed at the view from my bedroom.  It was beautiful.

So I had a lovely peaceful evening, not quite to plan but hey-ho.  I was here and he was gonna be here tomorrow.  I even managed all the walking and the ferries and arrived at the race start with a couple of hours to spare. Amazed meself, that's for sure.   As usual, it was a great organised event.  I was in the 2mile wave at 4p.m. and the weather was changeable.  The lake was extremely choppy and it was very windy.  The celebrities were out in force as usual but I decided not to stalk anyone at this event, so no celebrity photo this time.  My race was really tough.  I am not happy in my new wetsuit at the moment, something I am going to sort out with Blueseventy at London Docklands event next week.  It's so tight.  4x smaller than the size chart recommends for my weight and height, but they advised it was the right one for me.  The Helix suit has so much buoyancy in the legs but being very high in the water anyway, I find I have no control on my leg kick.  I can't seem to kick down, so combined with the bad weather conditions, my stroke was all over the place.  But as usual, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Came 2nd by just 3 seconds so a very tight finish.  Overall time 54.15 so considering the bad conditions, my time was not that much slower than Alton (53.33).

This was the wave before mine (in case you had forgotten by now - I am still all by myself) so no official photographer taking my photo today.

I rang Chris just before I start my race to see how he was doing.  Sadly, he was stuck on the M6 in traffic and was not going to make the finishing post for me.  I felt so sorry for him, he desperatly pulled out all the stops to get there, but it wasn't to be.  I ran over the finishing mat to a warm smile from Neil, my swim-trekker guide, which was lovely that I had a friendly face that recognised me and he gave me a pat on the back.

I walked to Ambleside, all by myself, caught the ferry to Bowness - all by myself, and who was there still in his worksuit, shattered, but Chris. x.  We had a lovely lovely evening meal, sat on the balcony drinking wine with this perfect view while I re-iterated to him (over and over and over again), what I had managed to do today - all by myself. 

So, payback time.........Hmmmmm now let me think.  I would love to do the last one in the series.  Scotland, but Essex to Scotland for a 2mile race, it's a bit extreme.  I know what - lets combine it with a holiday!!!!!!  but this time, as punishment, and to make double sure I am not attempting to catch flights by myself, I have so lovingly, so thoughfully, so kindly - ENTERED HIM IN IT TOO.    HA HA HA HA HA HA.   Oh I do love a Happy Ending. x.

11 June Great Swim Series - Alton Waters

Woke up at 4.30a.m. today to head off to Alton Waters for the 2nd in the Great Swim Series Events.  Alton Waters is a fantastic venue in Suffolk for open water swimming and as I eagerly awaited my lift from Dominic, I wondered if my last week in Spain with the girls, drinking far too much wine, was going to affect my swim today.  Ordinarily, I would normally think that a week off would do you good, but as you get older, I can't help but think that if I haven't trained for a week, it's obvious, I will have forgotten how to swim.  It's an age thing you know. How does frontcrawl go again??   I managed a quick dip in the Crouch the previous night and still felt 'hung-over' and lethargic from the previous weeks antics so promptly got out after just half hour firmly believing my swim is doomed to fail.

Before Spain, I was telling myself I would do lot of sprints on my open-water training sessions in order to pick the speed up a bit.  All this channel training has left me somewhat relaxed and a little too complacent.  But now, my only thoughts are completing the two miles without dying!  So once again, I am less prepared than I would like to be and am thinking of all sorts of excuses as to why I won't be happy with my swim before I even get there. With that said, I still have no nerves and am excited that I am a least a participator.  

And I am also in a particularly good mood today because I have just received a text from my little 'water slave' to say that she completed her 6 hour verification swim at Dover the day before.  I unfortunately, couldn't be with her due to work so am particularly thankful to Nick Burley for accompanying her on this epic swim.  6 hours in 13 degrees, non wet-suit.  What a star.  Only 3 weeks to go now to her channel slot so this was a fantastic boost for both of us and I am so happy that its done and dusted and she completed it, albeit I hear she threw up a few times at the end.  Poor Karen. 

The Great Swim Series is a fantastic event and the numbers of entrants are growing each year.  The atmosphere is brilliant and this one was especially good with the venue.  With the huge grounds, there was a market fare, all the grub vans, music, clowns and other fancy dress goings on, and not to mention the odd celebrity or too knocking around.

This is Steve Parry getting ready for another day of commentating for the BBC.  He is a familiar face with the Great Swim Series and has represented GB on many occasions.  A previous commonwealth record holder he also won Britain's first Olympic swimming medal in eight years at the Athens Summer Olympics at 200m butterfly.  And he has also just been announced as the next celebrity to be included in 'The Swim'  Check it out on facebook if you are unsure as to what 'The Swim' is.  Headed by Richard Branson and Ronan Keating, it's a celebrity crossing of the Irish Channel.  58 miles.  Wow.  And all for charity.

The organisation is fantastic.  From the security around the baggage area, the changing facilities, the registration of timing chips etc etc, it all runs like clockwork.

I went with my long time swimming buddy, Dominic and quickly found Colin and Annette Corby on arrival.  There has always been a bit of banter between me and Colin as to exactly when he is 'going to beat me' and today was no exception.  Dominic was in wave 1 which left Colin and I to discuss 'tactics' and try to outwit one-another just before the start.  He's looking in particularly good shape these days with all the extra training he is doing, and here I am, let's not forget, having forgotten how to swim after having one whole week-off.  He obviously cottoned on to this and picked my brain as to how I was gonna swim it - what my tactics were etc.  And that little devil in the back of my head gave an evil laugh - No chance - as if I was gonna let a boozy week in Spain let you beat me.........

Then I bumped into a huge crowd of Chalkwell Redcaps.  This was particularly good for me because I have been a member of this group for over a year now but with all the channel training, I have only managed to meet up with them a handful of times so haven't had a chance to get to know them as much as I would like.  It was lovely to see Helen, Iain, Tongie, Stuart, Cat, Barbara and several others so it all added to the fun day out.  We met later that evening for drinks in Southend so at last, I am finally feeling like 'one of the Redcap gang'.

So back to the race, a quick dip in the acclimatisation area, followed by the tradition aerobic work out (which kills me before I start), and we were off.  2 miles, twice round the block.  Fantastic.  Loved every minute of it.  My time - 53.33, not bad but I was hoping to go under 50mins.      And Colin..... 54.17.  Phew, that was a close shave.  

So a quick pick up of the goodie bag, photo shoot and another win for me.  Came 38th overall and was the first lady in my category so I'm a sort of happy bunny.  I keep telling myself, I'm doing it for enjoyment this time round, no rivals, no nerves, no stop watches, but then when I finish, this little man in my head wants to know where I came, what my time was and most importantly 'Did I win'.  Oh no, sorry - MOST IMPORTANTLY - DID I BEAT COLIN.  So I guess, my background means that I will always be competitive and will never be content to just swim it for the fun.  

So then came celebrity number two.  First Phelps and now Goodhew.  What a truly wonderful man he is.  There was me, looking slightly worse for wear with me goggle marks and frizzy 'lake green' hair when suddenly I turn to see Duncan Goodhew heading straight for me.  I waffled lots of stupid stuff expecting him to remember ME from the one time when I was about 15 years old when I sat at Leeds swimming pool at the nationals chatting to him and bless him, he smiled pretending to remember!!!!   So I waffled a bit more about him being my first hubby's rival in age group swimming (which he was) and he politely said, he vaguely remembered the name.  Well, whether he did or not, he was so obliging and friendly.  He asked me what event I did and how did I get on and then I wished him luck for his race.  A true gentlemen who could quite easily have just done a quick photo then rushed off but he talked to me for several minutes and made my day.  Thankyou Duncan.  

So next week.  The Great North Swim - Lake Windermere, here I come.  Another 2 miler.  It's hectic in our household at the moment.  We both work full time and with Chris being a professional golfer, our events and social calendars are always clashing.  Having spent several nights trying to find a hotel near the lake coz they are obviously all booked due to this huge event, we eventually went upmarket, found a real posh one just on the outskirts and thought it might be nice to have a little holiday while we are there.  4 days in the lake district with my little swim in the middle.  Lovely.   No.     Having booked it and spent a fortune, hubby has realised he has double-booked.  So just shortly after the credit card transaction goes through, he announces he is working in Switzerland next week.  So a bit of dajavou for us. As Eton saw him trying to change his flight from City Airport to Heathrow so he could then get a train over to Eton to join me which he eventually did, albeit exhausted.  And now we are working out how he can catch an early flight out of Switzerland into Manchester, then get across to Lake Windermere in time for my 4pm race.  You have to laugh.  So I will travel the 8 hours myself to Windermere and have a very expensive hotel and peace and quiet for a couple of days and hope he makes it in time.  Poor Chris. And I so need him there to help me into my wetsuit if nothing else.  As per previous blog, it ain't getting any easier.  Two ladies had to zip me in at Alton so if nothing else, I need him there to be on wetsuit duty.  

Eton 10k, 28 May 2011

Realising I need to get my speed going again, I have spent the last two weeks doing sudden bursts in the open-water, peeking under my arm every minute or so to make sure Karen is still in sight.  As a newcomer to open water, I am learning the hard way how hard it is to sprint in wavy windy conditions.  But, after Salford, I know I need to train more at speed.  Thank god Salford was only 1 mile, as my giddy spell at the end was an early indicator that I need to do the right training.  Karen is confident now to be left on her own for a few minutes and is so understanding at my needs to swim a bit faster, not only from the point of view that I need to gain some race experience, but also, I do get rather cold out there when we stick together.  So I sprint off for 100metres or so, then sprint back to her, and then relax a little to check on her condition before I repeat it - for several hours !!!!

Tide's permitting we stick to Southend on Sea or the River Crouch but failing that the River Chelmer always offers icy cold water at all times.  Heybridge Basin on the odd Saturday morning when we can't get to Dover offers little more than distance work.  It's far too warm in that lake for Karen, but she turned the tables on me last Saturday and asked me to do a timed lap, so we could roughly work out the distance round the lake.  I'm guessing it was only about 450metres judging by my time, but again, judging by how knackered I was at the end of it, I have a lot of work to do to get my distance open water going again.  This is the tranquil Heybridge Basin and it offers a staggering 19+ degrees most of the time, so not good.

Friday I headed off to Slough by myself as Chris was in Switzerland on business all week.  He flew into City Airport then struggled to get across to Eton by train to join me ready for my early 10k race Saturday morning.   Once again, I had no nerves, just excitement.

My only worry for this race was my shoulder.  It had been steadily getting worse over the last two weeks, not sure why, don't remember injuring myself but I am putting it down to doing sprints in the sea with high waves. Last week, we couldn't swim back to our car due to the tide being too strong and I remember saying to Karen when we were embarrassingly walking the promenade in our suits to all sorts of 'idiots' remarks from passersby, that a few times when I lifted my arm out of the water, a strong wave took it from me.  So, I guess this is where it stemmed from.  I tried to rest it for a few days but as soon as I got back in the water on Wednesday, the pain kicked in again.  So now I have to do a 10k race, have rested the arm again since Wednesday and I am not sure what to expect.

I love everything about racing, and although I keep telling myself  'I am retired from competitive racing', there's still that little man in my head that tells me I need to win my category.  And, because of this 'little man', this is why I get frustrated and angry when things go wrong.

Only 3 laps !

Final moments of preparation.

As usual, I held back at the beginning - let the big boys get out of the way otherwise they will be responsible for drowning an old lady that can't fight back!  But the mass start, still left me with bruises.

I'm sort off in the middle with the blue back !

So, three times round the lake and I'm done.  From all the pool training Ive done during the winter, I set myself a goal of 2hrs 45 or under and I would be pleased.  First lap was 52mins so I was on target to come in somewhere between 2hrs 30 and 2hrs 45.  Perfect.  But, never take for granted the open-water, things can go wrong in an instance.  My shoulder was hurting and the pain had travelled down my arm and now every pull was pain in my elbow.  I was singing to take my mind off of it, which seemed to work but as soon as I told myself, "my arm's not hurting", so I realised it was hurting more than ever!  Those mind games again!   I wanted to just race the 10k without stopping as the nutrition stations were slightly off course.  There I go again, not wanting to waste a minute as it's all adding to my time.  But never having raced a 10k before, I thought I had better be sensible just in case I passed out before the next station.

Cheese Burger & Chips please - Oh, OK, I will settle for a gel and electrolytes!  And the reason no other swimmers are in sight, because you have to swim aside the racing line to get to the station.  So valuable time being lost.

Great picture Chris!  Took advantage of the stop and had a wee too........  But now, I am already getting agitated because I have added a couple of mins to that 52 by swimming across to the platoon.  The next lap I was in agony with my shoulder and settled on a nice chaps feet that was swimming at the same pace as me.  Then stupidly, after 20mins or so, I'm thinking, "am I too relaxed behind this man", it's time I did my own race and swum past him.  I pulled out to the side, excelerated my leg kick and then "@*@*@" the cramp that shot through my legs was unbearable.  I cried out in agony which brought a kayak zooming over to me and then had to get out of the way while at least 20 swimmers went past.  Don't think I have ever sworn so much in a couple of minutes before.  Why the hell did I do that.  If only I had stayed where I was, this wouldn't have happened, I kept telling myself.  So, kayak man is telling me to hold onto the boat and try to stretch my legs out, then I got cramp in my right thigh too and I had lost so much time so now I am rather cross!

Once I sorted myself out, I was well p*****d off!   Seeing all those swimmers go past me, left me feeling so sorry for myself.  What an idiot.  I had a lot of work to do to get back to my 'man', my cramp kept kicking back in, in my calf and toes, I had lost my time completely and my shoulder and elbow were killing me.  I couldn't be asked to do the next lap.

But I am not a quitter.  When I think back to Lakeside last year when a cried in agony into my goggles all the way round 6 laps because my neck was ripped through the amount of wetsuit training I had done through the week, when I think back to Guildford 24/7 when I cried through the night in the 24 hour challenge, I knew that despite ruining my chance of meeting my 2hrs 45min goal, that I would have to continue.  A statement that I took great delight on underlining to Karen when I spoke to her when I got home.  Don't you ever, for one tiny minute, think about quitting when you are attempting your solo crossing, coz I will be throwing all my experiences of 'not quitting' to you.  Yes Boss !

Final time, 2hrs 56mins.  Position : 1st lady over 50 home.  Lessons learnt : Drink more before I start, it may help delay the cramp; if you are in pain before you start, take pain killers; don't change your stroke rhythm when you are cold; and as far as do I need to stop at the nutrition stations for a 10k, more research needed.

Next race, two weeks time.  Salford Great Swim Series, 2 miles.  Need to take it easy this week because of the shoulder and hopefully, I am gonna get it right for Salford.

May 15th 2011 The Great Swim - Salford

Sunday 15 May saw me in my first 'real' open water race.  Southend pier swim last year was non wetsuit and just to test out my fitness levels having been back in the water for just 1 month and then I did do the Swimfest, but it was disastrous.  I was already injured before the race started and practically cried my way round the course.  I have had 6 months of open water training, have now got used to swimming in a wetsuit and this is the first race of the season for me.

It was lovely travelling to Manchester on Saturday, because I had no nerves whatsoever and was just really excited about the forthcoming race.  I hadn't a clue what the competition in my age category was like having been out of the game for so long so had nothing to lose.  I hope I can maintain this 'attitude' throughout the whole Great Swim Series this year as I really want to enjoy races in my older age rather than get all those butterflies in the stomach that we are all so familiar with when you start learning the names of your rivals.

The morning of Sunday 15 May, the weather was abominable.  It was freezing, windy and raining.

We watched the early waves enter the water and then had to listen to some stories of just how cold that water was.  I have always suffered from 'brain freeze' and this was the only thing that was worrying me.  I would wear two swimming caps and make use of the acclimatisation 5mins before the race start - or so I thought.  I passed our time by trying on a super-dupa blueseventy wetsuit.  And I am not exaggerating when I say it took me about 15 mins to get it past me knees.  They had given me a small/medium and anyone who knows me, knows that I would certainly not class myself in this size.  It took three people to get me into this wetsuit, this can't be right I thought.  I laid on the floor (in a brand new suit that I hadn't purchased yet), while the assistant stood astride me pulling it up from the bottom upwards.  Surely I don't have to go through this each time?  Once properly fitted, I couldn't breathe.  Just relax and you will relax yourself into it.  Yeh right!  But hey presto, 5 mins later, I realised I was comfortable and that they actually did know what they were talking about.  At this point I think hubby took pitty on me.  I was only trying out suits to pass the time but after all the palava, he agreed to buy it for me.  Thank god for that, coz there weren't anyway I was gonna get this thing off in a hurry.

So I stayed in the suit, pulled down to my waist for the next two hours.  We went back and watched some more waves and watched the weather get worse.  At this point Ian Thorpe was being interviewed and we were positioned just at the entrance gate to the celebrity area.  Just as they tried to whisk him away to continue commentary on the course, I saw my moment and grabbed it.  Don't think his security was very impressed, but he was polite and obliging so I managed to get this lovely picture.  How cool was that.

Race time came, and with the help of my lovely assistants once again, they squeezed me back into the top half of the wetsuit.  I never thought for one moment that I would test a suit out in an actual race, but once it was on, it actually really did fit extremely well and I was so comfortable and I didn't have the energy to get it off!

Once over to the start post, I realised our wave wasn't going to get the acclimatisation 5mins due to the real elite swimmers being in there.  So again, I worried how I would deal with the brain freeze.  My goggles were misty and wet from the rain and I had left my ear plugs in my bag, which by now had been carted off to the finish post.  So as usual, a professional start by Bettsy.  I'm so disorganised its untrue.  I didn't map the course out first either, how stupid was that.  God only knows I had enough time!   Live and learn Bettsy.

Our wave started 5mins after the elites and I think the pure adrenalin rush for me just washed away my worry about brain freeze and I'm pleased to say, it didn't happen.  My ears were OK too.  What a relief I felt during the first few strokes when I realised everything was good.

And so that was it, I put my head down and went.  I soon realised I had forgotten how to race.  I went out far too quick and soon got out of breath.  Whilst I have been doing all this endurance training with Karen, I have completely lost my speed and stamina so I had to re-focus, and settle down quickly or I knew I wouldn't make the distance at this pace.

When my feet touched the bottom at the finishing line, I was dizzy.  I knew I had pushed myself hard without the 'race training' and I think it was just down to the sudden blast of energy from nothing that sent me giddy.  I carefully walked through the finishing zone concentrating on not fainting.

I won the 50+ ladies age group, I was the 24th fastest woman overall and came 106th (with all categories/genders taken into consideration), out of 2000.  So I was delighted with the result.  The problems I encountered tho, make me realise, I am capable of better.  25mins 48secs but I know I am capable of sub 25.

Friday 13th !!!!! (May 2011)

Went off to Southend on Sea for a sunset swim with Chalkwell Redcaps.  Although I renewed my membership this year, I had not managed to swim with the team thus far due to channel training with Karen.  So I begged my little water slave for a night off from the River so that I could say Hi to the Redcaps and remind them all what I looked like!

About 15 of us braved the choppy seas at 8.30p.m.  Sun had already gone down behind a dark cloud, it was windy and grim.

As we all chatted on the beach employing our 'delaying antics' waiting for the organiser, Iain, to arrive (and secretly hoping he had changed his mind), the muttered words of 'are we mad' echo'ed all around.

Anyway, as 'dippy duck' went in for his usual temperature check, a surprised 17.5 degrees was recorded.  Fantastic.  The night air was cold, so what better way to get warm quick, - get in the sea.

I swam with Dominic and Mark to start with as my trustee partner Nick had decided to be 'stupid' once again and swim off by himself (obviously he still hadn't learnt from his rapid hypothermic incident in the river last week when both me and Karen had to rescue the stronger swimmer - MEN!), and we were pleasantly surprised at the warmth of the water.

Missed Karen though so hopefully she had a good river swim with hubby.

So off to Manchester now - The Great Swim.  BBC2 2p.m. Really looking forward to racing again - albeit all this long distance channel training has obviously played havoc with my speed but who cares, I am gonna enjoy it.

April 30 2011 - 2Swim4Life

Having made so many friends on facebook and following different blogs, it was bought to my attention that 2Swim4Life were doing a 24 hour challenge.  Swim a mile on the hour, every hour, for 24 hours.  And whats more, the charity was my favorite - Help 4 Heroes.  So with the channel swim only 12 weeks away now, it was perfect timing for us both to have a bash at this challenge.  For the past two weeks, I have done nothing else but prepare for this.  It's been on my mind 24/7, how I would approach it, how could I ensure I completed it.  I decided to ask my sponsors to sponsor by the mile.  To give me a motivational song, to give me a reason for choosing that song and why I should swim that mile for them.  I then downloaded them on a portable player to motivate me between my rest periods and downloaded them on my Splashgear MP3 player to listen to while I was swimming.  

Here we are at the start.  All bright and cheerful.  The water was freezing.  Although the sun was shining, there was not enough time to warm the inner body between miles.  Brian Hammond my swimming coach from the past came to offer his support.  It was lovely to see him, but when I climbed out after Mile 1 and he said 26mins 10secs, we both laughed. Sorry Lorraine, old habits die hard, I couldn't help myself, just had to time you.  Well, it was a bit unfair, a) coz I didnt know he was timing me, b) I was taking it real slow and c) I was in a very slow lane with breaststrokers and allsorts of traffic going on.  Mile 2, he said "that was a minute faster", so now it was my time to laugh, "Yes Brian, old habits do die hard - just look what you have done to me, coz I knew there was a stop watch on me, I went faster".  Well enough of that joking about, I still had 22 miles to go.  Brian put his stop watch away and I settled into 24 - 26 minute miles according to the lane traffic.  

I remember saying to Karen mid afternoon that I was so bored.  How are we gonna keep this up.  It's not that I didn't want to do it, it was just that I was bored.  Thank god I had my songs on my Splashgear MP3 player.  I concentrated on the person sponsoring me, I thought of them, I listened to their song and only thought of that mile, that reason, not how many were left.  Karen had a real mental block at Mile 7 and myself, our two boys and our swimming friend Nick had to work hard in the time available to get her going again.  I'm pleased to say she went on to complete 18 miles.

As the cold night settled in, I settled into a pattern with my husband and son Gary.  They were fantastic.  I had already told them before hand, as long as my health is not in danger, then no matter what excuses I am throwing at you, just keep me going - and they did.  Gary said to me at each mile "What do you want for the next rest period mum"?  I would answer, tea, minstrels, painkiller, hot water bottle or hot chocolate, noodles, dextrose, or red bull, sweets, cereal.   I would come back to a dry bed each time coz I had enough towels, blankets and sleeping bags to keep an army going.  My gloves and socks were hot coz they were wrapped round the hot water bottle.  My bed was made, I would climb in semi-wet, eat, drink then quickly rest till he gave me the 5 minute warning.  And so it started again, he bundled up all the wet stuff and got all my dry stuff for the next break.  Hubby was length counter or they would swap duties.  I cried a lot in the early hours and they both just laughed and on one occasion threw marshmallows at me and told me "they were sooooo tired".  They kept my spirits up by making me laugh when I was crying.

The comraderie at the event was brilliant.  I wish I had time to meet more people, but most important I managed to track down Mark Robson and Colin Hill, my facebook friends that I had never met before.  That was lovely but during the night, no way could I find them.  We all had to concentrate on utilising our rest periods the best way possible to ensure our own success.  My tent neighbours Mark and Lucinda were, by now, people that I just walked past between miles.  The occasional nod had replaced the 'well done' chatter and smile of early afternoon.  As the challenge took its toll, we just looked at one another and I knew she was wishing me luck and she knew I was saying well done.

I took to the big tent twice in the early hours for extra warmth but I needed to lay down more than I needed the warmth, so soon went back to my tent.

Miles 19, 20, 21 and 22 were the hardest.  I couldn't be asked to do them.  I just went on auto-pilot, sang and pretended to be warm.  As I was doing mile 21 I remember thinking by the time I do 22 the sun will be up - but it wasn't so I cried again.  Daft!  I remember trying to get my wetsuit off in the little time I had coz I thought I needed to go to the loo properly - but I couldn't get my wetsuit off coz my knuckles were froze, so I cried again. Daft!  Then when I got the suit off, I couldn't go - so I cried again. Daft!  It was all getting too much by now but my buddies continued to laugh, dance stupid dances to my songs which we played quietly by my tent and continued to lift my spirits. They were my saviour. When I finished another mile, the first thing they said, was "smile Bettsy" or "smile Mum", but this is what I gave them.  And we all laughed again.

Mile 24 was for my late dad.  I listened to Tina Turner 'Simply the Best' before I got in and throughout the last mile. He loved that song.  We once went to see Tina Turner together.  I once marched round the pool when I got my European Masters 1500metres record to 'Simply the Best'.  And my dad was 'Simply the Best'.  And now, once again, because of a Splashgear MP3 player, I was able to listen to our favourite song whilst swimming the final mile for my Dad.  I can honestly say that the music definately motivated me through this challenge. It helped me to focus on something completely different and it makes long distance swimming so much more fun.  I just concentrated on the music and the distance took care of itself.  


I was choking as I was swimming the last two lengths.  And then it was over.  I was smiling, delighted, no more tears, the sun was shining and I had done it.  Finished on 29min miles and suddenly I wasn't cold anymore - how weird was that.  I have raised over £1,600.00 so far.  

'Simply the Best'

April 2011 - The closure of Gloucester Park Swimming Pool

My mum sent me a cutting from the newspaper asking for any 50+ swimmers that had history with Gloucester Park Swimming Pool, to get in touch.  I was pleased to be one of three people chosen for the making of a film 'The history of Gloucester Park Pool'. The first man to swim in the pool, the architect and a 'swimming success story'.   It is intended to be kept in the archives in libraries around Essex so that in hundreds of years to come, it will still be possible for residents to see what Basildon used to look like long after the old buildings have been brought down.  I have also been advised that they are in negotiations with BBC to broadcast the film on 'The One Show'.  So with my scrapbooks under my arm and all my old photo's off I went. It was a very emotional afternoon as I soon learnt that they wanted me to be the very last person ever to swim up and down in the pool.  I was so choked walking around the changing rooms, now in my 50's, and it being completely silent, and remembering when I used to be running around them in my teens with all the laughter and messing about, dodging sessions etc.  Now you could hear a pin drop.  I was the only person in the room and I slowly made the journey back out onto poolside for the very last time.  I cannot even begin to think how many lengths I had trained in that pool as a teenager, all I could think of was, these are the very last lengths that anybody, anywhere will ever swim in this pool.  So with camera crew on me, I did a pathetic belly-flop in from the deep end (never could drive) and swam two lengths.  A mahoosive hose was draining the pool as I was swimming so I swam fast to avoid scraping the bottom.  I was then interviewed outside the building.  It was nerve wracking.  I wish I knew the questions they were gonna ask me beforehand so I could have given more thought to my answers, but I think I did OK.  So another chapter closed.  Next Saturday April 30th, the new Sports Village is being opened by Mark Foster and Duncan Goodhew.  I cannot be there, coz I will be doing a 24 hour swim challenge.