16 weeks and counting

Considering it was the second of the two weeks belated Easter school holidays, training has been good this week, during all the sessions I have felt really good and my timings have been better than ever. In hindsight this could be down to the lay off at the start of last week or it could be as a result of the increased intensity I have been trying to add to the pool swims, with new varied sets of sprints etc.

The only negative point being that I could only manage one swim outside, that was at Bishopton Lake on Thursday. I swam alone for 34 minutes at 8.5 degrees C, it was rather windy and choppy but very good training. Being that I was alone there are no photos. I must try to get back there or to the sea a couple of times a week from now on. I am happy to sacrifice distance in terms of metres in exchange for more minutes in the cold water. The sea is still around 7 degrees.

I had a good chat with Joni Storer, who, as expected had a brilliant time with Swim Trek last week in Malta, he even completed his 6 hour qualification swim under the guidance of Freda Streeter. Well done Joni. One other thing that transpired from his trip was the knowledge that Freda's father was in fact from Seaton Carew! we both see that as a good omen...Joni is now mad keen to set a training plan for the final 16 weeks leading up to our Channel Swims.

I am now starting a run of 12 days at work without a day off, what impact this has on my training remains to be seen. I still haven't gained sufficient weight/fat, another issue that is stressing me out.

A good week considering everything 27,100m for the week.

Thank you once again to all those donating both on and offline, remember spread the word !