The Channel Swim Story - July 2011.

As you can imagine, the year has been long, sometimes happy, sometimes funny, sometimes sad.  Conditions were against Karen right from the start.  Her first sickness was after just 1.5 hours.  It continued relentlessly for 9.5 hours of 20mins swim, be sick, nutrition, 20mins swim, be sick.......and so on 

It was an impossible task that another pilot referred to as 'Not a day for soloists'.  

But, she is a fighter, she'll be back, I believe in 2013 to give it another go.  Well done my friend and let the photo movie below speak for itself.  Please turn your volume up and allow yourself about 10mins to watch the true courage of an ordinary lady with a full-time job, hectic life, kids, dogs, and an amazing desire to swim the channel.

If at first you don't succeed.........................  

Great Swim Series - London June 2011

Today was gonna be one very busy day.  Great Swim Series in the morning, dash back home, quick change, then to Take That concert at the new Wembly Stadium.   As usual, the week had been hectic with last minute preparations for Karen's little swim across the channel.  Gradually, the pile of things to take is growing so much, you'd be forgiven for thinking I was going on a week long cruise.

Unfortunately though, it meant I was gonna miss Karen's double.  A 6hr swim at Dover Saturday followed by another 6 hr one on the Sunday.  I have missed a lot of the Dover weekends due to my own swimming commitments but there's not a lot I can do for her now other than offer support and security of another swimmer beside her.  Most of my hard work was done in the pool during the winter so now it's all down to just swim, swim, and more swimming.  Once again, her week sessions have been limited due to work commitments so we make the most of what time we get.

So back to London, I was really looking forward to this one as it was only 1 mile and being in the docklands, sighting those buoys would be far easier than the lake swims.  So, off I go to London.  Chris was with me this time which was lovely.  And I had some great news from BlueSeventy that they were prepared to exchange my suit that I had already worn for three Great Swims but was still struggling with the sizing.  Maybe they felt a little responsible since they had insisted the Ladies Small would be OK for me, but either way, their after sales service has been impeccable. I decided to keep it dry and clean and go back to my good old faithful battered and bruised Speedo wetsuit for today's race. I couldn't help wondering whether it would make that much difference.  Here I was in a 'cheaper' suit that's old and fits like a glove and has glue everywhere, when for the past 3 races I have worn a top range BlueSeventy that's been extremely uncomfortable.  If I come in much faster today than Salford, is it because I am more comfortable?

The weather was fab, and once again, as soon as I got there, I was itching to get going. Had a few twinges of nerves this time so I need to get that into check quick.  I am determined not to start putting any pressure on myself to do this or that.  Just enjoy it.   My last 1 mile at Salford Quays was 25.48 so this was the time to beat, I was telling myself, which is exactly why those nerves creep in.  Self inflicted pressure.   The atmosphere was great, hundreds of supporters, the usual tents, lots of music and happy faces.  Bumped into Tongie, Helen and David on arrival from Redcaps who were going in the 9.30 wave so exchanged a few good luck wishes and time to go.  10.00a.m. pink wave for me.


The planes were flying low over the docklands into City Airport which added to the buzz of the day.  And Chris, as usual, insisted on his continued commentary on the video cam that, only those who have had the misfortune to be made to watch it, will know what I mean !

So we were off, I positioned myself about a 1/3 back from the start and on the outside edge coz I'm always worried I am gonna get flattened if I am in the middle.  I've been picking up some good little tips from the OpenWater magazine and these were going through my head as I found my pace.

I soon started to pick off the swimmers one by one as I edged my way up to the front.  Anyone who does these races will know that you have absolutely no idea where you are coming, but I knew I was creeping up.

When I turned into the finishing straight and my feet found the pad, I was gobsmacked to hear over the loud speaker,  First lady home, Lorraine Rate.   Wow, I was chuffed.  Just three men in front of me.  Girl Power!  25.18 was the time and I came 2nd overall in the ladies over 50 category.  And a much more comfortable swim for me this time.

We took ourselves over to the Blue Seventy tent and I felt their immediate disappointment when I told them I had just raced in my old Speedo suit today.  The way they treated my problem truly shows why they head the field in wetsuits.  They were lovely.  No quibble whatsoever.  "It's important to us that we fit you properly.  We will post you a new Women's medium for you to try". Julie even went to the trouble of asking me to phone her when it arrives so we can discuss the fitting over the phone.   Hows that for service.

I noticed the difference straight away so I think I am all set now to break into my new suit.  I haven't raced in it yet but paraded around the house in it for an hour until I had dissolved into a puddle.  

One Happy Bunny !

So, off home, quick bath to remove the green gu from me hair, get glammed up and back to Wembly.  Another brilliant day.  And not that I am a Take that fan and I am even less of a Robbie Williams fan, but I have to say, Robbie stole the show.  He was great.

Sunday was a BBQ round Karen's with the Crew.  Who are : Solo Swimmer - Karen.  No. 1 Coach and companion swimmer - Bettsy
All present and correct.  Discussed feeds, plan of action, shopping lists, rules etc and had a lovely evening so we are all ready and waiting for the phone call now.

Finally, no report of mine would ever be the same if I couldn't give mention to my dis-organised hubby.  So here goes:  First a Recap : Eton, he messed up.  OK, forgiven, just don't let it happen again:   Windermere, he messed up again - big time - our mini break holiday left me ALL BY MYSELF.  (Read previous blogs if you need to catch up with Eton and Windermere saga).   So, you will be forgiven for thinking by now, he will never ever ever dream of messing up again.   Are you ready for this............   July 17th is the Bournemouth Pier to Pier swim.  "Bettsy, I am gonna do this swim with you, please enter me in it. I always wish I was in the water swimming when I come to watch you so I will give it a go.   And Bettsy, is that the weekend the Chalkwell Redcaps are going up on Friday and swimming at Dancing Ledge, Lullworth Cover, Durdle Door etc etc before the ultimate pier race on the Sunday".  Yes it is.  OK lets do that as well then.   Perfect. A weekend with swimmers, swimming in lots of places, lovely.      AAAAAArrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!     "Bettsy, when did you say Bournemouth was"?   "Next Sunday WHY"!     Errrrrrrmmmmm.  Hate to say this, My Senior Golf Qualifier is on the Monday so I don't want risk any injury on the Sunday by swimming and also my practice round is Saturday".

My husband needs sectioning!!  

Anyone wanna do Bournemouth and pretend they are Chris, I have a spare entry and also, anyone know anyone with a shotgun please ?

Channel crossing update : Anytime between 6 -15th July.  I am typing this on the 9th July and the weather is appalling.  Sooooooo windy.   We are 4th in the queue and have just heard that swimmer No. 1 may go on Sunday, so perhaps we may go round about Wednesday.    Meantime, that pile of stuff to take I mentioned earlier, is still growing.  So today, we will swim in the River Crouch and tomorrow head off to Southend on Sea for a sea swim while we try to keep busy waiting for that call.

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.