Another big step up in training this weekend - 35km this week.
Did a 4 hour open water swim on both Saturday and Sunday. When doing the longer swims you have to break the session down into hour chunks and get through the each hour, reset your mind and then and start again. We get a warm Maxim Energy drink every hour which normally tastes disgusting but tastes like liquid gold when you are really cold and low on energy! I also try and turn my mind off and set myself little challenges as per below......
Did a 4 hour open water swim on both Saturday and Sunday. When doing the longer swims you have to break the session down into hour chunks and get through the each hour, reset your mind and then and start again. We get a warm Maxim Energy drink every hour which normally tastes disgusting but tastes like liquid gold when you are really cold and low on energy! I also try and turn my mind off and set myself little challenges as per below......
Things I thought about Whilst Doing the Long Weekend Swims:
- 18 first class county cricket teams
- ABC of towns visited and not visited
- ABC of premiership footballers (also done for cricketers and rugby players!)
- 11 four letter countries in the world
The Sunday swim was pretty cold though as there was no sun on our backs and the 4 hours seemed to go very slowly. Also not unsurprisingly given each lap is 2km you don't tend to see anyone else and it often feels like you are the only one swimming and everyone else has got out (or everyone is playing some elaborate Truman Show esque prank on you!). When you are in the cold water for a good deal of time it affects your body in the following ways....
- Hands go numb and set in a claw like position making it quite hard to grab the water
- Feet go numb
- Shoulders seize up a little bit and shoulder blades get really cold
- You start to see things (i.e. seals, other swimmers nearby etc)
However some of the girls who do it are much skinnier than me and have much less insulation and they manage to get through it okay, so shouldn't feel too sorry for myself!
Training Week:
- Monday - 5km in Tooting Bec Lido
- Tuesday - 3km in Oasis Leisure Centre
- Thursday - 3km in Oasis Leisure Centre
- Saturday - 12km in Dover Harbour
- Sunday - 11km in Dover Harbour
- 18 first class county cricket teams
- ABC of towns visited and not visited
- ABC of premiership footballers (also done for cricketers and rugby players!)
- 11 four letter countries in the world
The Sunday swim was pretty cold though as there was no sun on our backs and the 4 hours seemed to go very slowly. Also not unsurprisingly given each lap is 2km you don't tend to see anyone else and it often feels like you are the only one swimming and everyone else has got out (or everyone is playing some elaborate Truman Show esque prank on you!). When you are in the cold water for a good deal of time it affects your body in the following ways....
- Hands go numb and set in a claw like position making it quite hard to grab the water
- Feet go numb
- Shoulders seize up a little bit and shoulder blades get really cold
- You start to see things (i.e. seals, other swimmers nearby etc)
However some of the girls who do it are much skinnier than me and have much less insulation and they manage to get through it okay, so shouldn't feel too sorry for myself!
Training Week:
- Monday - 5km in Tooting Bec Lido
- Tuesday - 3km in Oasis Leisure Centre
- Thursday - 3km in Oasis Leisure Centre
- Saturday - 12km in Dover Harbour
- Sunday - 11km in Dover Harbour
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