Guest Post Ned Denison

To be frank, Ned Denison is one of the most inspirational, motivational, welcoming and genuine men I have ever met. When I first became serious about open water swimming Ned was one of the first people to call me and offer oceans (pardon the pun) of advice, he is a legend in Ireland especially for what he has promoted at Sandycove..I asked him if he would write/provide a guest post for the blog and as expected he responded without delay..his swims include: Channels (English & Santa Barbara), Around the Islands (Jersey, Valentia, Manhattan and Cobh) and Lake Zurich.
BIG THANKYOU to Ned for this and his continuing support.

BEFORE you go and book an English Channel Solo Swim - get in a 6 mile open water swim

Too many swimmers are trying to jump from a 1 or 2 mile open water swim to the Mount Everest of open water swim - the 21 mile English Channel.

Set your goal at a 6 mile distance in the late summer of 2011 - it is VERY DIFFERENT from a 2 miler. Your nutrition and hydration needs become much more important to meet and stay ahead of. These together with stroke rate are important factors in staying warm. The mental processes (or lack thereof!) and disorientation in the open water becomes a bigger issue with longer distances.

1. Plan now to do a 4 mile open water swim early in the summer. Do it safely with a support boat etc. It doesn’t have to be an event. It can be just you and your trusty kayaker (near shore) or Rib and crew further out.

2. Start now to find a carbo drink that you can stomach. Over 6 miles you will need to drink about one litre of liquid before the swim and about 2 litres during the swim. These volumes can double or halve depending on the swimmer and the day. This can simply be something like Lucozade...or a carbo powder that you mix with water (many marathon swimmers in the UK use Maxim). We had a swimmer do a 12.5 mile channel, drinking orange juice and eating mashed potatoes out of a plastic cup - SO it is really only important that you get the liquid and same carbs (electrolytes and protein are advanced topics - worry about them for swims over 6 miles). By March - EVERY swimming workout you do should include drinking at least 500ml of the stuff afterwards or during the workout.

It's really important to get in quality calories that taste good and are easy to digest. You have four options for calories: drinks, gels, beans, bars. It's really important to be happy with your food. "Fueling" with something that you like makes you keep going from feeding to feeding. It will make it mentally and physically possible to keep swimming longer and longer. If you don't like the taste of your fuel and/or it upsets your stomach, you'll stop eating, and that would be really, really bad! Other things people seem to enjoy as fuel on swims: fig bars, bananas, Jaffa cakes, etc. It's amazing the things you'll come up with to try. Only thing – avoid drinks with caffeine during the swim.

If you really want to keep it simple - but drink your carbo drink. "Eating" involves more treading water, more chews and a longed idle period in which to get cold!

3. Figure out how often you need to "fuel" to stay ahead of your fuel and hydration needs. People seem to “fuel” at a wide range of intervals, from one hour to every 15 minutes. You can start with every 30 minutes and see how that feels. If you start to feel low or go through a struggling phase, feed every 20 minutes and then alter that according to how you are feeling. If you wait until you’re hungry or thirsty to fuel, it’s too late!! You have to fuel before you actually want it. (have you crew implement the agreed timing) Many of you will not want to stop to fuel during the swim. Wait until you are much more experienced before you try a 6 mile swim without fuel - trust me fuel for the 6 miler!

Also consider how high your metabolism is. If it's high, you'll definitely need to refuel often. If your metabolism is lower you'll get away with eating less. If you struggle to stay warm in cooler water, you'll also want to feed more often, or take in more calories at each feed. The most important part of this exercise is to come up with a schedule for longer distances and then stick with it, adjusting it only as you discover exactly what your individual needs are over time.

4. Learn to tread water and drink in deep water (you can master this in the deep end of the pool). Do a few marathon pool swims to allow you to begin figure out your ideal feeding intervals sooner rather than later. You can then translate that into your 4 mile training swim in early summer in preparation for the 6 miler.

5. Work up steadily your weekly swimming yardage:

Minimum 8,000 meters per week by March
Minimum 10,000 meters per week by May
These are MINIMUMS....do more. If you are below these numbers - seriously reconsider

6. Do longer pool sessions over the winter. Two hour sessions are much better than 45 minute sessions

7. Plan out your weekly yardage goals and follow your training progress. You can’t fool a daily pencil recording your distance on each day you swim. There are no fudge factors with simple addition.

8. Take a minimum of 1 day/week rest day. This could be as much as a full week every few weeks depending on age and condition. The key is to stay fresh mentally and not get injured. But don’t get lazy, either. The little gnomes are everywhere with their nasty voices of REST and QUIT or THAT’S ENOUGH FOR ONE DAY. Shout them down if you have to. Yep, right there in the pool. You’ve got a plan. You know your rest days. Keep it moving forward.

9. Interval training is important to building / maintaining speed and for being able to maintain a steady pace over long distances. Example - swim 20 times 100 meters each on a 2 minute interval (or faster or slower). Hint 100 times is about the 6 mile distance!

10. Train your brain. You should think about the upcoming swim every day now. Every time you are in the pool – imagine the start, imagine fueling and how it will feel walking (running) out to the beach. This MUST be one of your bigger plans for the year. Make it an important part in your life.

Dream - Prepare - Succeed

The Sandycove Swimmers by Kevin Keane

The Sandycove Swimmers by kevinconradkeane

Sandycove for Dan?

Back in December 2009 Ned Denison circulated an email regarding Dan Martins Global Triathlon, the said event was initially due to commence on 8th May this year. Ned suggested that swimmers around the world enter the water at the exact time as Dan to honour the start of his epic endeavour in a show of solidarity. A swim was planned to start at 9am in Sandycove Ireland last Saturday.

As soon as I was aware of this I booked our flight tickets and Ned kindly offered us some accommodation. All set. As luck or rather bad luck would have it, Ned was then required in the States for the 2010 International Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Not a problem...I contacted Lisa Cummins (the legend of two way English Channel swim fame) and before long we were booked to stay at the Actons Hotel, Kinsale. Sadly due to the economic situation in the UK some of Dans Sponsors were unable to meet their commitments in terms of financial support, as a result of which the Global Tri is now delayed for a year.

Despite the setbacks it was agreed that we would still visit Ireland as planned, it was after all one of my favourite places and the training would be beneficial for Windermere and future plans.

Friday afternoon KGB and I took the short flight from Newcastle to Cork, on arrival we were met by hailstone storms, suddenly it did not seem like a good idea to be swimming in the sea...no sooner had we collected the hire car, that the sky cleared and remained that way for the majority of the weekend. The 20km drive to Kinsale was over in a flash and we were soon settled in the hotel (view from the room above), we had a relaxing evening with an excellent meal at Hobys on Main Street.

Saturday morning and high water at Sandycove was expected for 3pm, we therefore arranged to meet Lisa at the hotel for Lunch beforehand then travel together. Prior to meeting we wandered around town and as usual I grew a little anxious about the coming swim. I exchanged texts with Emma France and ascertained that the solo swimmers training in Dover Harbour had been assigned 60 minutes. I passed this info to Enda Kennedy who was heading to Galway for at least 45 minutes. Well he was doing 30 til I gave him a gentle nudge!

Lisa arrived bang on time we exchanged hugs and began to catch up (it had been two years since we were together) I sat in complete admiration and awe as she answered my questions and told us details of her training and the two way swim the previous summer. You have no idea what massive levels of training Lisa was doing.She is without doubt, unbelievably focused, driven and her mental strength has no boundaries.

Following soup and sandwiches we drove the short distance to Sandycove to find several swimmers including Sylvain (English Channel 2009) already in the water, we chatted with those who had already exited the water and eventually decided to attempt a lap of the Island. Whilst we were getting changed Sylvain swam to the slipway and agreed he would swim another lap with us. Lisa had not swam in the sea this year and tried to pretend (badly) that she was concerned about the water temperature. Sylvain splashing us did nothing for my eagerness.

After much teetering and shrieking we joined Sylvain and headed to corner one, not so bad, yes it was freezing cold but the water was calm enough, until we turned the corner to the familiar walls of water, it was interesting to say the least, difficult to breath, difficult to stroke correctly and almost impossible to sight ahead. Thank goodness for Sylvain he remained in front allowing me to follow in safety. Once we reached corner two it was a different world, I thought Sylvain was taking photos with a small camera he produced from his trunks but it was actually a video! We rode the waves back to the slipway.

I was very pleased with the lap in the slower than normal time of 40 minutes, I had secretly hoped for it to be 45 minutes the same as Enda but it was still a step up from Thursdays 27 at Seaton. Lisa made the tea as we warmed up (she showed not a single sign of a shiver and stood there in a denim mini skirt and vest top laughing like it was the Bahamas!!) We laughed a lot as we chatted and I regained my composure.

That night we dined at The White House (not the Obama residence but a nice pub in Town) drank too much Guinness as usual and I slept like a baby.

Sunday after an easy morning, I studied Lisas swim chart and observers report and we again met at Acton's pre swim.

On arrival at Sandycove, Sylvain stated he was aching from his morning swim in the Inniscarra resevoir but would join us to swim a second lap. Together with Lisa I swam out, again the rear side of the island was tough going, not quite as bad as Saturday but still very difficult. After turning corner three I felt the pace rise and I was flat out to keep up with mermaid Lisa, I could see our escort swimming towards us, after a brief chat the three of us headed off for the second lap. The water temperature was becoming a challenge but I knew it would be all over in no more than forty minutes.  After 1 hour 17 minutes we were back at the slipway, I was and remain very pleased with time in the water which my watch stated was a maximum of 52f.

It took me a while to warm up we laughed just as much as the previous day, after which we had to say our goodbyes head off to the airport and journey home. I had spoken on email with another Cork swimmer called Gabor, he too swims at Sandycove and has an English Channel swim booked for September this year but our paths had not crossed due to his work commitments...So it came as a massive shock when in duty free to be approached by a Hungarian man who introduced himself as Gabor..what were the chances of that..he apparently spotted my CSPF hoody and decided it must be me!

Thankyou so much to Lisa, Sylvain and Ned for making all this happen, we will be back for sure.

Irish Champions

When the alarm sounded at 5am on Friday morning (23th May) I really didn’t feel like getting out of bed, with a flight to catch at 7.35 I didn’t have a choice, other than the early start, the journey to Cork went without a hitch, by 9am we had checked into the beautiful Carlton hotel just outside Kinsale. You may recall that the flights and hotel reservations were a Christmas gift for me from KGB.

Following breakfast we drove the hire car into Kinsale town where we met up with 2009 Channel Aspirant Lisa Cummins, after intros chat and coffee we headed off, following her to Sandycove itself. It became obvious that thanks to KGBs planning we were absolutely ideally situated, with the venue for the swim being no more than fifteen minutes from the hotel.

However as we rounded the corner Sandycove Island came into view and my immediate thoughts which I voiced aloud were, along the lines of “Good grief, look at the size of that!” the Island looked massive, way larger than I anticipated it would be.

The tide was almost at its lowest and as such the visible area of the island was at his greatest. After a bit of a safety brief by Lisa, we decided to get in and swim despite the low water levels. It was sunny and the wind was moderate. So nothing too severe ...I thought. Entering the water it felt a little warmer than at home, though due to the shallows we were forced to walk through patches of dense seaweed which under normal circumstances would be well below the surface, when we turned the corner to swim the back side of Island we were met with large swells and white water, we stopped regularly to check each others welfare and for Lisa to give advice on the route to follow as she pointed out various hazards as we got battered by the waves. Turning the next corner we were pushed nicely along before the home stretch where again the water levels eventually dropped to the point that we walked to shore.

My watch had been reading 60F, the lap took in the region of 35 mins for around 1700-1900 metres. Making our way to the slipway, Kelly was waiting with our towels as always, she took the opportunity to tell us off for chatting too much instead of swimming! I made an excellent recovery due to the good temperature and the fact that it had been a brief swim. Lisa showed no signs of being cold whatsoever either in the water or afterwards. I was over the moon that we had took the opportunity to scout the area and felt confident for the following day, though I prayed that the conditions would improve on the other side of the cove.

Back to The Carlton to shower away the salt and take a ‘power nap’ after which we had probably the best meal ever in the hotel restaurant. We then returned to Sandycove to view the scene at high tide, a completely different picture greeted us with all of the rocky outcrops now under water. A drop of the black stuff then off to bed ..it had been a long day.

Breakfast didn’t start til 7am so we were more or less waiting for the staff to open in order to eat and get to the swim, to be in time for the safety brief from Ned Denison and to get a suitable parking place. Having forced down some porridge we arrived in plenty of time, got parked and said a few hellos before a thorough group brief and welcome from Ned. Kelly immediately struck up conversation with Jane Murphy (Kevin’s wife) and they were virtually inseparable for most of the day. Ned briefs the swimmers before the start of play/battle.

Swim no.1 started around 9:15am, a mass start at high water, we all made our way, some in Speedos, some in wetsuits, to corner one and then it hit us, it was incredible, the roughest water I had ever swam in, I was finding it almost impossible to sight, breath or get into a rhythm, I was being tossed around and dropped from peak to trough constantly…this was not funny nor was it anything like I had imagined.

After three laps, I approached the feed boat, I was gutted to find my drink was icy, the wind was blowing and I began to feel cold, I had to get moving but I really did not want to face the abuse from the sea again. I headed off around the corner and eventually managed four laps of the Island in what my watch was showing as 58F, I got to the slipway after 2hours and 20 minutes, I wasn’t too cold but did not feel I could manage another lap at this stage. I was paranoid that I was in last place and worried about my performance. Greeted on the slipway again by Kelly I swore to her that I was not getting back into the water under any circumstances, I felt like I needed to throw up and couldn’t believe how rough it had been.

After some soup and a good talking to by Ned, and Kelly and others I decided that I would swim one more lap at the two o’clock start. I dreaded the prospect of turning the corner as did many others, a number of swimmers didn’t face the start and opted to end the day there and then. So at what was now almost low tide we set of for the second swim, I swam the agreed lap, experienced some mild pain in the left shoulder and forearm and returned to shore. I was already devastated that I hadn’t swam the full five laps and my head was not in the right place. I was lifted slighted by the virtue of having gotten back into the water after feeling so low earlier. A number of individuals managed partial swims with a shrinking number completing.

Jane Murphy completed all three laps for her first swim of the day, I was well impressed, Kelly was there to meet her with a towel as she raced and beat Kevin to shore.

Kelly and Jane Murphy

As far as I was concerned I was done for the day, until I was summoned to Head Master Ned who was sat baking in a blisteringly hot car, we chatted for some time about many aspects of the day and my Channel swim, at the end of which I thought I might as well do the final lap at 5pm, this I did together with 8 others in our group (some swam earlier due to the start of the Heineken Cup Final) Ned raced home in 29 minutes, I sprinted the whole way, got battered again of the reverse side of the Island and landed at the slip second behind Ned in 34 minutes, I was pleased but my shoulder was paying the price.

Kevin Murphy (no introduction needed!)

A short time later we said our goodbyes and thank you’s before heading off for food, Guinness and rest.

It was, from the outset meant to be a information gathering exercise, I swam for longer than I have done before in open water, in conditions the like of which I have never experienced, I took some positives from getting back into the sea three times and was chuffed to have silenced the mental demons who were telling me not to bother. Overall I finished in ninth place, only four non wetsuit swimmers completed all nine lap: Ned Denison, Kevin Murphy, Enda Kennedy and Ed Jeffries. It was excellent training. We met some wonderful people and made some friends who we are sure to see again. The weather was on our side, the sun shone and Kinsale Town together with the hotel was a delight.

I learnt a lot about myself and know that with the right support crew I can do more than I think is possible, still disappointed in 6 laps not 9 but am determined to take the positives and build on anything else.

My shoulder is suffering now, I have some treatment booked for Wednesday, I am flapping a bit about the injury but fingers crossed it will repair before too long.

A big thank you to Kelly for organising (and paying) for the trip, to Ned, Lisa and Enda for your help and support, to Jane for looking after Kelly whilst I was away for the first swim. Irish hospitality never fails to impress me, thanks to you all for a memorable weekend…we will be back.

Together with Enda Kennedy 2008 Channel Aspirant before the final swim.

Emotions..

The last 10 days have been painful to say the least, my emotions have been 'through the mill' as a result of a family bereavement, those close to me know to whom I am referring. Today was no different in terms of dealing with grief. I have had some very supportive emails and I thankyou for kinds words and support.

Swim wise... I had few outdoor sessions last week, two in the salty North Sea (one of which was in extremely rough conditions), one in the fresh water of the lake, (which was too warm and very weedy after all the sunshine of late), together with some intervals at the pool it was easy enough to hit 20km...though my state of mind and motivation has been at almost an all time low, so mentally it was very hard to go training.

I am hoping to have a bit of a taper week, leading up to this coming weekend in Kinsale, Cork, Ireland, where I will be taking part in the Irish Champion of Champions event, all in all it should be around 16km in the Atlantic at 9 to 14C, there is a large entry and we are more than ready for the break after recent events.

The trip is and always has been planned as a training event as well as a test, I am hoping that my progress and cold water acclimatisation proves to be on track. Or at least heading in the right direction. I realise it will be a very very hard days 'training' however it will tell me a great deal about my level of fitness etc. The intention is to use the trip as an information gathering exercise as well as a social one. I have always had a great affinity with Irish and used to visit regularly as a child, it will be great to return to the Emerald Isle, from where it is hoped I return with good news and a positive frame of mind.

I will post a report on our return with plenty of photos.

Sandycove and Storms

I received an email tonight from Ned Denison, no script but a nice aerial photograph of Sandycove Island, its only about eleven weeks before we have to swim in the region of 10.5 miles in the Atlantic at 9 - 14 degrees. As you can see below it ain't small and it kind of brings home just how tough a day this is going to be.

I am hoping to get to the coast in the morning (Tuesday 11th) for another little swim, but as I type this post, Britain is being battered by the worst storm of the winter. The south coast is suffering the brunt of the weather, and Dover Port was closed today due to the sea conditions. I will decide in the morning if it is feasible to swim outside, the chart below shows the surface water temperatures; around 7 degrees for our location, 8 for Dover and 9 or so for Cork, fingers crossed for a nice morning after the school run before I have to disappear to work.

Not enough hours in the day...

Busy ..that's an understatement, its been a complete nightmare trying to train over the Christmas period, I had a easy recovery week and hoped to get back to normal this week only to find the opening hours at the gym/pool drastically reduced, so what with that, school half term and of course work I have hardly even got wet !

Boxing Day saw Kelly, Charlie and I visit Seaton for the traditional dip, hundreds of people were in attendance in all manner of fancy dress from Santa's, Smurfs to potential disappearing canoeists making impersonations of John Darwin. The RNLI were manning the event and were rather strict to say the least, they were not happy to allow people to swim or even paddle outside of their cordon, hence I was unable to get a good swim and was really only in the water for about ten minutes at 6.6 degrees. I understand the event has to be regulated with so many taking part.. some of whom where no doubt under the influence !! I am hoping to go back Sunday when there will be no crowds, providing I can handle the the temperature it should be more beneficial. Other than that and the odd pool swim this week has been a non starter training wise.

On a positive note, Santa was very kind to us all, as part of my Channel Training Plan, I was hoping to get to the Irish Champion of Champions (organised by Ned Denison) event in Cork next May, though I hadn't made any arrangements so when Santa delivered our flights and 5 star accommodation I was delighted.

Here is an extract from Ned's confirmation email regarding the weekend .......

"We meet May 24th to swim around Sandycove Island: 5 laps....get out and rest...then 3 laps get out and rest then sprint one last lap...and YOU WILL BE HELPED OUT! The tides are perfect on the day....we start exactly on high tide...which make that first lap a bit shorter. Then we swim it down to low tide and our last lap will be with and against the maximum flow. GREAT NEWS!

Here is the running order. Because the shape of the island changes as the tide comes in an goes out....I have given you a range of distances. After a year of cruising around the island with the GPS thing in my cap....I can assure you that a slightly wider loop adds 10% to the swim....no problem!

Start Time .. Max Time.......Laps......Min Miles .....Likely Miles

0900am........4 hours.......... 5............ 4.5 ...............5
2:00pm .......2.5 hours........ 3............ 3.1 ...............3.46
5:00pm .......40 mins ..........1 ............1.1...............1.2

The rules are short and brutal. If you fail to make the distance or fail to make any of the maximum times....you are recorded as DNF.
I will pretty much guarantee water temperatures between 9 and 14C. Those veterans of Sandycove are now muttering: "yeah on each lap"......as we do get substantial variations!"

So ...as you can see it should be a fantastic weekend, as result of Santa's generosity we will most certainly be there.