Trapped... in The Tees

Since my last post training has been or rather was, progressing really well. Joe, Amanda and I have continued to train almost exclusively outside and quickly built up to the hour at 50f/10c at Ellerton Lake. We had been making more use of the River Tees due to the proximity and the fact that it is still cold and free!

Following some tightness in the upper back (a regular problem) I went for a sports massage with a therapist used by Joe. Usually after such a session I feel great and virtually pain free. However the only thing to report after this uncomfortable visit was nerve entrapment and extreme discomfort, to the extent that I was unable to sleep, drive or swim.

After some forced rest and alternative treatment I eventually returned to training. This last week we have had 5 swims in the River Tees, the temperatures have ranged from 47f/8.3c to 50f/10c. Sunday 22 April Amanda and I decided to swim to the 'pipe bridge' from our start location at Preston Park a distance just short of a mile, we made it to the bridge in around 27 minutes and were happy with the step up to an estimated 55 minutes at this lower than normal temperature. We turned at the bridge and then the problem became apparent, we had failed to notice the flow as a result of which we had a tough time getting back to the start. After 70 minutes and well over due, we crawled out of the water in a bit of a state. We had certainly pushed the boundaries. Amanda drove us directly to the gym where we had a great recovery in the steam room and sauna. Our teeth chattering whilst everyone else was sweating. We had some strange looks that for sure.

We now make a point of checking the strength of the river flow and direction and plan accordingly...better late than never. All but one session since has found the river almost still. That said, yesterday was one of the days where the river had more characteristics of an endless pool. Limited for time we swam for half an hour and hardly covered much more than 150metres.

Charlie walked the river bank and took the picture below

To summarise this weeks outside swims:

21 April River Wharfe Wetherby 35 minutes at 49f

22 April River Tees 70 minutes at 47f

24 April River Tees 57 minutes at 50f

25 April River Tees 55 minutes at 49f

27 April River Tees 25 minutes at 47f

The plan is to hit the two hour mark as soon as possible. Location to be confirmed.

Busy Busy

Its been a little while since I blogged and updated my training for a number of reasons, one of which was advice from an unnamed party who told me "more training less typing"
March was a busy month on the social front with the CS&PF Annual Dinner in Dover closely followed the next weekend by the BLDSA dinner at Langdale Chase. These two events were my last two evenings of drinking alcohol. I am really feeling the benefit of staying off the booze and am even more pleased to say it was easy to do so.

Training wise March was more of the boring pool sessions, the highlights being a 14km set on March 6th alone at Total Fitness and a much tougher 10km session at Leeds 50m pool together with Robin (EC aspirant 2012) and Joe Hunter (EC 2011).

This week saw my return proper to the open water, I had not swam outside (other than a ten minute dip after the CS&PF dinner) since December 28th. Looking back on my 2011 records, it was actually the same date I started last year which is a great omen.

So this week has been:
Monday April 2 North Sea 27 mins at 48f
Tuesday April 3 North Sea 35 mins at 47F
Wednesday April 4 River Tees 25 mins at 44f
Friday April 5 Ellerton Lake 60mins at 50f