Mind Games - w/c 13/07

I thought I was only going to have a 5 hour swim on Saturday, so was pretty surprised when the Channel General gave me 7 hours in choppy waters (what is going on with the wind this summer!?!)

We, the swimmers, never know what swim length we are going to be doing until 5 mins before the swim - this training technique is called Total Body Confusion and is designed to make you more mentally agile to deal with unexpected issues during sport. Although the theory sounds great its pretty demoralising when your standing on the beach with drizzling rain at 8.30am and your told you're going to be in the water until 4pm!

The swim however was okay. I swam the whole way with a partner, Rob - something I've not done before - and it helped make the time go quicker, probably speeded me up a bit and made me realise how important the support swimmer will be on the channel attempt.

Sunday was a bit more leisurely as just did 4 hours, however I actually found that pretty hard as with some of the shorter swims you sometimes don't give them the 'respect' they deserve and are always checking your watch.

However the Channel General said for me the long swims are now done - time to start tapering down (great news......) and start getting things together for the swim on the second week of August.

Split Swim - w/c 07/07

Did the big split swim this weekend.

Before swimming the channel you are meant to spend almost as long in the water over the course of the weekend as the channel swim will take (didn't quite manage this as think the swim will take 15hours+).

On saturday I did 7 hours getting in at 9am and out at 4pm. The weather was chilly, the sea was quite choppy and all in all it was pretty hard work, but got it done. On the sunday I did 6 hours which i was dreading as shoulder muscles were in all sorts of trouble, but the swim was surprisingly okay - I'd almost say enjoyable! It was much warmer and seem to go really quickly. Its amazing how when you are doing long swims you fall into some sort of 'zone' and the time just disappears.

No real interesting happenings this week, although more people have started to start their attempts and the atmosphere is a bit more excited around the beach.

Only 4 weeks to go now, before my turn which i can't wait for. My motivation that I keep thinking of at the moment is to walk into the water one end and walk out the other - that would be brilliant!

Back on Track... w/c 31/05

After the excesses of the past 2 weeks it was good to get back on track with a good weekend of swimming. The warm weather training in Portugal (as per picture) did not turn out quite as expected....

After an earache during the week (swimmers ear!?!) I did 6 hours on Saturday and 4 on Sunday down in Dover Harbour. It was pretty gusty both days as well which I would estimate makes it approx 30% harder and means and the end of the swim your arms are really tired.

The current was also so strong that it was taking me 20 mins to swim one way and 45 to swim the other - in fact got caught in a strong current for about 20 mins at one point without actually moving which was pretty demoralising!

The first channel swimmers of the year went off last week with the first successful attempt by a German guy in just over 17 hours. Things are starting to get interesting now as the business end of the swimming season rolls on - very exciting and very nerve wracking. Giving up a summer and not completing the challenge is not worth contemplating, but this weekend did highlight just how important in this task, opposed to other events, you are at the mercy of the elements.

Anyway one more weekend in the bag and back on the journey.....





Getting ready to go in on saturday with my sister, Katy

Last Pre-Swim Blowout - w/c 16/06

Poor week on the training front this week.

Couple of 2 hour swims during the week, but then out for an old rugby mate's stag do in Albufeira for a long weekend.

3 x 18 hour drinking sessions not ideal training apparently.

Good luck with the wedding preps Massey and Jess.....

Champion of Champions! w/c 09/06

A bit of a break from the long swimming slogs this week as had the Champions of Champions races on Saturday (a very auspicious title given you don't have to be in any sort of champion swimmer to participate!), and a short 2.5 hour swim on Sunday.

The champion of champions (photo of getting vaselined up prior to the 5 mile race) is a series of 5 mile, 3 mile and 1 mile races with about an hour inbetween. It made a good change to do a bit of speed work, and actually felt more knackered after the event (which lasted from 8.30am to 5.30am) then after the 6 hour continouous swim the weekend before. Some really impresiive swimmers participating though especially one of my Malta crew, Peter May, who came 2nd overall in the mens and was rewarded with a 7 hour swim on Sunday (which incidentally was also his 40th b.day and Fathers Day!!).

On the Sunday I only did 2.5 hours as went for a Fathers Day Meal at lunch - felt pretty bad about this though as all the rest of the guys were doing 6 and 7 hour swims, and next weekend I am away on a stag do.

Interesting Things that Happened This Week....

- Went for a work day trip to Marbella and managed to get a swim in the sea for 40 mins - I had forgotten that in some open water you can (a) see where you are going; (b) swallow water without instantly retching; (c) see fish and other marine life. No hard feelings though Dover harbour!

- Got stung by a jelly fish on finishing the second race - in response I instictively lashed out at the guilty jelly fish and hit in with my hand..... it stung me again - Jelly Fish 2 Me 0

- Missed my Physio on Thursday as too busy at work, and realised just how important it is, as shoulder felt pretty sore all weekend

Endless Swimming w/c 01/06

Found it pretty hard to balance work and swimming this week as been pretty busy, so only did a couple of short sessions during the week. However made up for it in Dover on the weekend with a 4hr 30 and 6 hour swim on Saturday and Sunday respectively. The Sunday swim was my longest ever swim so that was a nice milestone to hit, and although the last hour was a real struggle it was a good feeling of progression.

During the week also went down to have an endless pool session. This is a pool about the size of 4 jacuzzis which has a constant stream of water for you to swim against. The facility is called Swim for Tri and is located at Brick Lane for anyone interested. Coaches analyse your stroke and tell you how to improve - not unsurprisingly my stroke was ripped apart, but took some interesting learnings away:

• Need to keep water level on top of head to take pressure off the lower back and aid bouyancy/body position - I always thought water level should be just above eyeline
• Kicking should be lower depth but higher frequency, and especially with the roll when breathing the feet must not cross and should be kicking at an angle (to support the glide)
• Arm should come out the back of the stroke after accelerating past the thigh
• Stroke should alwayss be Long and Strong

I will put up the video of my stoke that they gave me in due course!

Only other point of note was the ultrasound that the physio gave me which seemed to really help and my dodgy shoulder felt much better this week.

Last Week's Swimming

Tuesday - 2km - Speed Session
Thursday - 2km - Technique
Saturday - 11km - Endurance
Sunday - 16km - Mega Endurance

Long Cold Weekend w/c 25/05

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......

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