Its been a while

As the title states, it has indeed been a while. I miss writing for the site so a long overdue return is happening. I have some exciting ideas for writings and interviews, but first of all a little of what has been going on in my world of swimming.

For the benefit of those who don't know me in person, I more less took a break from almost all things swim related until the beginning of 2014, starting back with the usual monotonous pool sessions. If I am totally honest these outings did not stand the test of time for two reasons, firstly just as I was getting some form and fitness back the grotty pool closed for refurbishment (it looks no better and is certainly no cleaner) and I was pretty bored.

So there I was festering away whilst attempting to cope with some other testing matters (mostly work related) when out of the blue I was called by Joe Hunter (EC 2011) who, to my horror , asked if I fancied a swim at the lake.

It had been 616 days since I had swam outside, so I knew it was going to be a shock to the system, and indeed it was. I was cold, out of breath and acting like a total new starter. This however proved to be the kick up the backside I needed and I was soon making regular trips to the river, mainly with Amanda Bell who I had promised to help where possible with her up and coming EC swim during the first August neap tide.

Anyway, I re joined the BLDSA and swam the Wykeham Lake Triangular 5km on June 8th in 1h 37m 45s which was more or less exactly what I had managed in previous years with a fraction of the training. 

I was my finis hydro tracker to map swims as above until it gave up the ghost during one of Amandas six hour efforts on Windermere. Its an excellent bit of kit but I am growing increasingly frustrated at the customer services regarding replacement

Next up in terms of events was Sun 20 July BLDSA Coniston 5.25 miles which I swam in 2h 41m 21s thrashing my new found swim pal Gavin Wilde by a full 40 seconds ! (sorry Gav, couldn't resist)

Finally bringing you right up to date was last weeks swim. A 1 way Windermere about which I will add further details on a future post, suffice to say I was delighted to brake my PB by 12 minutes swimming the 10.5 miles in 5h 46m 56s. More to follow very soon.

Getting Serious

A little over due with this post for a number of reasons, but better late than never.

As stated on the last post, Robin and I arranged to meet with Jax Higginson at Seaton Carew on 22 November. She wanted to join our little 'buoy club'. Despite the fog everyone arrived on time and after some brief intros we were headed into the water with the intention of doing a minimum of 60 minutes. Jax gave us some info re her pace, which made us think she would be slightly slower....how wrong we were...a dark horse to say the least, Rob and I needed to put in a very big effort just to keep up...anyway, as we reached the buoy the fog lifted and the sun appeared, rounding our orange friend, we swam south for about 8 minutes in order to complete the first half hour.The plan was then to return to the buoy, have a quick welfare check then back to the beach. This way no matter how much you feel like it there is no quitting before the agreed time due to the distance from shore. Rob failed to stop for the 'check in' preferring to get keep moving, I knew this meant he was feeling a little cold, so I continued swimming with Jax on my left and Rob to the right. 62 minutes later we were all done, the water was 52f /11.1c A great swim, with Rob receiving some stern advice re his post swim routine needing to be muck more slick and coordinated.

After a couple more pool swims I arranged to meet with a few other locals from OWSNEE on Saturday 26 November for yet more individuals who wished to try the buoy swim...It was blowing a gale, however Magic Seaweed predicted no incoming swell. 13 swimmers gathered, we had a safety briefing before heading into what looked like flat water. Before too long we had a wind against tide situation, I reached the buoy in challenging but not the worst conditions and thought I would be the only one today. The fight to get back to dry land was good fun and I fully expected to be the last out. To my surprise around ten swimmers were still in the water. I quickly dressed and waited on the beach as the remainder slowly started to appear..the comments that followed on the facebook group indicated that most if not all found it extremely tough, to the point of being frightened. I was delighted that a safety brief had taken place and that most had swam in groups...slapped wrists for those who did not listen!...yes that's you Amanda Bell.

Yet more pool sessions before December arrived and the prospect of swimming outside into the final month of the year...Another planned session with Rob on the 1st of the month, we agreed to swim to the buoy and straight back as the air temperature was dropping rapidly...out to the buoy in the 50f /10c water, all felt good, we stopped for the standard check in, I moved from the horizontal to tread water and suddenly felt dizzy..I told Rob and we headed back to shore without delay...the spell of dizziness seemed to subside once swimming again. We both made a good recovery and headed off home. I was a little worried for a couple of days afterwards and hoped it was a one off incident.

Sunday 4 December and yet another visitor to join the club, this time in form of Channel Swimmer Dee Llewellyn...now I am not saying we are rubbish, but, Dee needs to wear Tee Shirt and shorts for extra drag to give us the slightest chance of keeping up! She is rapid to say the least. The air temp had dropped to 5c, with the water continuing to drop by the day, today my watch was showing 49f as we rounded the buoy, another great swim with no dizzy spells..I was more than happy. And this time even Amanda listened to the brief ;-) The only negative was me having to head off for an 10 hour night shift.

The following morning after a few hours sleep, I gathered my flask, swim kit and warm clothes, having arranged to meet Joe, Amanda and Katherine for another dip at Seaton. The ice on the road at home almost prevented me getting the car off the drive. That said, a short time later we had gathered in the car park, we began to shiver before we were even stripped. The air temp was around 3c, it was windy and I was tired. The breakers looked big from the safety of the cars, so it was no surprise to find them above head height as we waded into the water. Amanda will not mind me saying she had some doubts, (the breakers are not her favourite thing). However we soon cleared them and began to make our way out to sea in the direction of the buoy. Joe and Katherine (in her wetty) leading the way, the strong wind was helping us make good progress, however the water was only 48f / 8.8c combined with the air and wind made it a bit chilly (see Donals precise temp guide on the link)

I met Joe at the buoy..we laughed about the temperature and the battle that lay ahead to get back to shore, we were in good spirits, it was like being back in April. I could not see Amanda and felt certain she was already headed back. In a matter of moments I was separated from Joe, I was struggling to sight. Making a direct line to safety was almost impossible. I knew from the many swims here with Joe in similar conditions, to just get my head down and swim hard, attempting to keep my stroke long and swim under the oncoming waves and chop.

Surrounded by white horses, I stopped to confirm my position/heading, I had drifted north about 150 metres from the buoy, I glanced Amanda in the distance and was horrified to see her still heading to the buoy. Despite my best efforts I was unable to get her attention, the sea was roaring and the wind made it impossible for my voice to do anything but disappear. Amanda was acclimatised and looked good, however the journey back was going to be far from easy. I began to feel the cold and could no longer sight any of the others, then suddenly I swam into what felt like an icey stretch of water...I was, for a moment, cold to the bone, then without warning something very strange...I felt like I was over heating, I needed to take off my cap, I was burning up. I was able to recognise that this was a danger sign of hypothermia. I felt faint but managed to talk myself into NOT taking off the cap, I began to worry intensely about Amanda, I was convinced she was in trouble. This was serious.

I lay on my back, getting battered my the swell and chop.. I decided the best course of action was to backstroke, this way I could breathe easily, could continue to look for the others without the need to stop and perhaps more importantly could generate some heat and make progress to land.

After what seemed liked an eternity I was tossed about in the breakers and hobbled up the sand, Joe had just landed but there was no sign of the girls, I expressed to him my concerns and was actually pleased to see the arrival of a coastguard truck. I rushed to the car, got dressed and started to get some hot fluids down my neck when to my ecstatic joy I saw Amanda speaking with the coastguard. (a concerned member of the public had called them after seeing us enter the water and failed to see our return) Once dressed Amanda joined me in the warmth of my car, I gave her a hug and almost burst into tears such was my relief that she was safe.

My own recovery took rather longer than normal but soon we were all home, dry and warm. A few reminders today regarding the importance of briefings, safety measures, lack of sleep, air temperature, swimming in groups etc.

A swim that under normal circumstances only ever takes 45-50 minutes had taken me an hour. A short time after arriving home I spoke with the ever positive and poker faced Joe and asked what he thought...his one word reply 'Nasty' said it all.

On reflection I was reminded of Cyrise Sanders post here.

eau de chlorine

Its that time of year when the open water swims are drawing short if not to a close, with it the unwilling re attendance at the grotty swimming pool with the hideous chemicals and associated tedium. Whilst we are attempting to maintain a weekly swim in the sea, the pool will slowly take over and the distances increased on a weekly basis probably til around April/May next year.

Actually last week I managed to squeeze in three swims at Seaton Carew, twice with Channel Swimmer Joe, and once with the girls all of whom made it to the buoy...congratulations and welcome to our little club!!
The water is holding steady around 11-12c though the sea state changes by the day.

My first real pool session was last Thursday (17 Nov) with the familiar 5500m descending ladder, ie 1000, 900, 800 etc. down to 100. I like to use this session as a gauge or benchmark as to my fitness level. I was pleased to see I haven't lost too much yet this year. I just need to be sensible on the build up in order to avoid any overuse injuries. Other than that Charlie and I have been getting in the school pool each Sunday for some drills with Chris Pearson (he swam Windermere 1 way with me back in 2010) hopefully we can continue this til at least Christmas.

There you have the latest update...Im off to meet Batman at Seaton today in the fog...should be fun..brrrrr

More Joe Hunter EC pics

Pete Windridge-France

I have even more fantastic news regarding my mate Pete, some will remember form a previous post that we trained together at Ellerton Lake and Dover Harbour for the Champion of Champions event this year. 

Well, yesterday 24 September 2011, virtually 24 hours after Joe Hunters success Pete made his own attempt to swim The English Channel..I am delighted once more to report Pete landed in France after 17 hours and 55 minutes having been escorted by Lance Oram and the boat Sea Satin since before day break into the night.

Many many congratulations Pete...you and your family should be very very proud

In the presence of heroes, Pete, Me and Joe earlier this year in Dover

So in exactly one month all our targets have been met, My 2 Way Windermere 25 August, Joe EC 23 September and now Pete EC 24 September

NOW WHAT!?

Joe Hunter

I am delighted to announce that Joe Hunter, my training partner for 2011 and all round great bloke, is now officially an English Channel Swimmer, he made it to France yesterday 23 September in a time of 14 hours and 10 minutes...

It has been a complete pleasure to train with Joe, he never once complained, moaned or questioned what I suggested or asked of him, I am proud beyond words, I cannot express how pleased for him.

The student is now the master

Congratulations

Training with Joe

Training with Joe Hunter in The Lakes

Champion of Champions (CofC)

With the familiar road to Dover once again beckoning, we departed from home midday Friday 17 June, we had made arrangements to collect Joe Hunter enroute with a rendezvous of Cambridge services. No sooner had we recommenced the journey from the RV when Joe started reading out emails from his iPhone (posted on the Google Channel Swimmers Group) indicating the severity of the weather forecast, for the first time in history Freda Streeter the Channel General, was advising swimmers that gale force winds together with a spring tide would make it unsafe to swim in the harbour the following day.

This, in our minds, obviously put the BLDSA Champion of Champions event (5 miles then 3 miles then 1 mile) in doubt..it would be a great shame to take time off work, book and pay for accommodation and drive the best part of 350 miles only to find the event cancelled. There was no news from the organisors, therefore we continued south to our lodgings for the night just outside Dover on the A20. Once checked in we headed off to Cullin's Yard for the standard maximum belly stretch, the storm was certainly with us, the windows of the restaurant being lashed with wind and rain as we stuffed our faces.

Next morning after a poor nights sleep, I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a clear blue sky as I packed the car and prepared for the brutal day ahead. The normal early breakfast issues and nerves began to surface, there was little time to worry though as we were required at the safety brief for 8:30am.

Several swimmers had already arrived, we sat, chatted, registered/ numbered and basically became a little frustrated as the start time came and went. Eventually a briefing did take place however it was not entirely good news, the standard 1 mile square course was to be adjusted, we were required to visualise this as the buoys were yet to be placed, suffice to say the square would be replaced by a half mile triangular course, meaning ten clockwise laps not 5! what a nightmare, Neil Streeters boat 'Suva' would be anchored at the base of the triangle, we would simply swim by, shout names and numbers and be ticked off...easy enough...?

Around 10:15 swimmers after downing a litre of maxim, we were counted into the water and off we went, the water was 58f  about 14.5c, the usual dog fight at the first turn buoy before the field spread and clear water appeared, it was a little bumpy you might say, the incoming tide was bringing big swells, and wind brought with it just about every weather type known to man, we had rain, sunshine, hail, cloud, wind all in the space of three hours. The photographs do not capture the water movement sadly.

Neil was unable to anchor Suva on the silt bottom of the harbour which resulted in the first lap being more of a square due to drift, a change of plan emerged as numbers were now being taken by a rib, it seemed to take forever to reached six laps, I was worried I was going to have to do eleven as the rib was away performing a rescue during one of my passes. After what seemed like an age without a feed in the choppy swells, I swam upto the the first turn buoy on completion of lap ten only to be told to swim to Suva and give my number again, after 3hours and 10 minutes I was heading to shore after what felt like more than 5 miles, having battled the breakers at the beach, it was actions stations to feed and warm up before the start of the 3 mile swim in less than and hours time.

After a sit in the car and chat with Joe, being attended to by the motherly KGB we emerged to be given the news that due to several issues (abandonment's, injury to kayak safety crew and the weather conditions) the 3 mile event was cancelled. Most of the experienced swimmers stated the 5 mile swim was nearer 6 so that was pleasing but I didn't know how to feel in truth...the lazy part of me was relieved, the planner in me was disappointed, I felt a little cheated but accepted the cancellation decision and spent the next hour or so catching up with some friends who we hadn't seen for some time.

Several 'legends' for me to introduce to Joe, the likes of Kevin Murphy (The King of the English Channel) Jane Murphy, Marcy MacDonald, Freda, Nick Adams, Nuala, Dee, Liane, Thomas, Rebecca Lewis to name a few.

The course was then re positioned closer to land for the 1 mile event, two laps and that was us all done, we hung around for about an hour for the presentation and then due to delays hit the road for the seven hour drive home.

Tired and a little disappointed due to the lack of the 3 mile swim but overall very happy to have swam for 3 hours without a feed at 58f, something I have not managed before now.

Thank you as ever to KGB for your help and support, to Joe and of course the BLDSA especially the paddlers in some atrocious conditions.

Thick and Fast

The children returned to school last Monday after the the final break of the educational year, albeit will soon be the six week summer holidays. This allowed for a little more training as I continue along the road (or stepping stones as I prefer to call them), enroute to the goals for 2011.

I have developed quite a good relationship with Joe Hunter (EC Sept 2011) and together we have been swimming and laughing at the 'resort' of Seaton Carew near Hartlepool, the water up North is a little cooler than that of the English Channel therefore the time spent on the sessions is obviously nowhere near that of Freda's gang at Dover. That said, we have been making some excellent progress whilst shuffling our everyday work and family issues.

Monday 6 June 1hr 15mins @ 54f/55f
Tuesday 7 June 1hr 35mins @ 53f/54f
Thursday 8 June 1hr 25mins@ 53f

Sandettie shows the Channel in the region of 57f so this is good training for Joe (he recently swam the Eton 10km in 3h:38m and has had a three hour swim at Dover and five hours at Ellerton)

Meanwhile on Saturday I travelled together with KGB, Charlie and Lottie to the Lake District in order to meet with Andy Williams, the purpose of the rendezvous was to have a test swim to assess our pace and to discuss some of the finer details of the planned 2 Way Windermere. We were invited by Thomas Noblett to base ourselves at the delightful Langdale Chase where we were allowed full use of his swimming facilities including kayaks, jetty, changing areas etc.

Andy and I swam for an hour (59f /15c) from the Jetty at the hotel to Holme Crag, accompanied by his wife Ruth in her own sit on kayak, therefore our safety was never an issue, afterwards we warmed up in the the sunshine overlooking the lake from the beautiful hotel grounds where we were spoilt by Thomas providing us fresh coffee with scones, whipped cream and jam..heaven! After some navigation talk and general planning we left for a few hours in Ambleside before the usual 100 mile drive home, before I end this piece I should say a massive thank you to KGB for her continued support and to Thomas who could not have done more to assist....Top man.

Once home I broke most of the pre swim event rules by having a few glasses of red wine, a large hot curry and a late night (for me) watching Forrest Gump..I say pre swim as Sunday I was entered in the BLDSA Wykeham Championships.

Rising early enough to try and fail to eat breakfast, I drove the 65 miles or so towards Scarborough whilst Charlie spent some time with Grandad, it was lovely and sunny with just a little breeze, far better than the prediction. On arrival it was great to see Mark Blewitt, Nuala (Stop Talking) Muir-Cochrane, El Capitan Mark Pashby and his trusty side kick Darren as well as Jo and Amanda from Ellerton who were competing in their first BLDSA event.

I was keen to get started and return home to Charlie and was therefore a little disappointed with delayed start time,  however the 5 laps each of 1000m were soon underway, the conditions were good with the water at 60f/15.5c a little surface chop but nothing like the sea. My goal as with all of these events is firstly to finish and secondly to endeavour to complete in somewhere near to last years time of 1h:41m:12s, (the course is plotted using GPS to ensure accuracy), I was very pleased and surprised to complete my 5km in 1h:37m:45s so age has not taken too much out of me........yet. Thanks to all the safety paddlers and to Dee and Liane for running the show.

Congratulations to Amanda, Jo, Pash and Darren who all completed their swims.

As stated I was in a bit of a rush so departed prior to the awards ceremony, in fact, I was in so much of a rush that I left without my tracksuit bottoms, it was only a few miles up the road I realised I was in fact driving home in speedos with a towel around my waist (I am so pleased I didn't get pulled for speeding!)

The events seem to be coming thick and fast now with The Champion of Champions event this Saturday..so to finish and continue the Tanni GT vocalisation...I am hoping for 2h 50m 5 miles, 1h 40 3 miles, 35 mins 1 mile..fingers crossed.

IFS and BUTTS

The Buttermere swim came and went in the usual blink of an eye, I drove across country on Sunday the 15th May in what seemed like constant rain and low cloud. We had arranged to meet at the ideally located Dalegarth Guesthouse situated a matter of yards from the waters edge, half way up the Lake on the east side, most of the other swimmers were already in attendance having spent the night camping, they looked pretty fed up after cold hours of torrential rain. We gathered at lakeside, had a brief safety chat and eased into ourselves into the water. There was about 15 swimmers with me being the only fool without a wetsuit, which was pointed out to me by a horrified bystander as I entered the water! Did he really think I had forgotten!? Here's where we started from, Charlie had told me about this tunnel/cave on our last trip to Buttermere for the GLG Challenge.

As expected the water was somewhat colder than Ellerton, I swam two lengths of the Lake as the mist descended making visibility rather testing in my already fogged up goggles, not quite the hour and half required, however I was still happy with 80 minutes at 53f 11C in poor weather. The arm held up fine for the first hour with just moderate discomfort from this point.

Recovery was going well and I was taking the rest advised by the medical experts, (not swimming everyday) with just the occasional swim in an attempt to maintain some level of acclimatisation, that was until I aggravated the injury dealing with something unexpected at work last Monday, swelling and crepitus returned with a vengeance, causing me to worry about long term impacts. I therefore made an appointment to see Dr Ishtiaq Rehman who had previously helped me with some rotar cuff issues, he is a GP but has made sports injury his specialism. Without going into details he confirmed what we already know but has pointed me in the right direction for some quality treatment at Body2Fit. The future looks bright as they say!

I don't remember if I mentioned Joe Hunter ? he is a local swimmer with a slot booked to attempt the English Channel this September, he lives even closer than Pete Windridge-France, he is an absolutely ideal training partner for the build up to my 2 Way Windermere Swim. We have had three swims at Seaton Carew in the last two weeks in some quite hideous conditions due to the recent high winds, the temperature has dropped at the coast to 50f give or take 1 degree, therefore we have been particularly pleased with ourselves to complete our 60 minute sessions. On the temperature front, the lake has steadied off at 58f (14.4C) Last Saturday I swam there with Joe for 90 minutes. Fingers crossed  I will manage a two hour effort before the end of the month...well, maybe tomorrow.

After effects and "Magic Cups" !

I remember sitting with Sarah Tunnicliffe before the 24 mile swim, she asked how I felt about the coming event and was I nervous/excited, I explained I was looking forward to it, that it was all part of the journey to bigger things with my only concern being injury in particular aggravating rotar cuff problems purely from over use.

Other than the cold, some mild soreness and fatigue, my body seemed to be holding up under the strain, (the mind is a different story!) only when I returned home did I feel and comment about some discomfort in the right forearm/wrist, as well as the disturbing creaking sounds of crepitus, Further examination diagnosed me with INTERSECTION SYNDROME this is a brief explanation of the condition:

The pain from intersection syndrome is usually felt on the top of the forearm, about three inches above the wrist. At this spot, two muscles that connect to the thumb cross over (or intersect) the two underlying wrist tendons (tendons connect muscles to bones). The two muscles that cross over the wrist tendons control the thumb. They are the extensor pollicis brevis and the abductor pollicis longus. These two muscles start on the forearm, cross over the two wrist tendons, and connect on the back part of the thumb. When these muscles work, they pull the thumb out and back.

The extensor carpi radialis brevis and the extensor carpi radialis longus muscles run lengthwise along the back of the forearm. The tendons of these two muscles attach on the back of the hand. The action of these two wrist tendons pulls the wrist back, into extension. Most of the tendons around the wrist are covered with a thin tissue called tenosynovium. Tenosynovium is very slippery. It allows tendons to glide against one another and the surrounding muscles, fat, and skin with very little friction.

If you overuse the wrist extensor tendons, the slippery tenosynovial lining may become inflamed from the constant rubbing against the two thumb muscles. As the tenosynovium becomes more irritated and inflamed, it swells and thickens. You feel pain when you move your wrist because the swollen tendons are rubbing against the thumb muscles.

As a result of this ailment I am taking NSAIDs, pain killers and wearing a brace in an attempt to keep the wrist in alignment, that together with ICE ICE BABY and Donal Buckley's "magic cups" hopefully this is a short term problem I can overcome soon enough.

The magic ice cup above, keep it moving over the relevant area, hands are warm and insulated by the styrene, direct application unlike the regular bag of frozen peas, cheap and reliable. See Donals page for more details.

The injury has prevented any swimming in full however yesterday I could bear it no longer and accompanied Joe Hunter to Ellerton Lake, he was doing three hours in his Channel build up which made me very envious (and impressed) I needed to get back into the water so as not to loose all of my acclimatisation so took the decision to kick with fins for an hour. It was mighty boring but a must if I am to be serious about the looming events, that said I did see the lake in a whole new dimension. Afterwards I hung around to feed and encourage Joe as he eased to the three hour point. Well done Joe.