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.

Decision

After a great deal of debate and soul searching it has finally been decided upon which charity to dedicate my Channel Swim effort towards. The newly formed charity J-A-C-K will hopefully benefit from any funds I can raise, the facility to donate online will appear in the first few weeks of the new year. I hope people will agree this is a very worthy cause.

This is a decision Kelly and I have made entirely on our own, we had a couple of responses to our plea for a suitable cause but none exactly fitted what we were looking for. Once we became aware of this research/trial/support programme being established by Yvonne and Richard Brown (Jack Browns parents) we looked a little deeper.. it was then that I felt the almost overwhelming need to assist.

At this stage only the mission statement is displayed on the J-A-C-K web page, though more information will follow very soon, thank you to Yvonne Brown for taking time to speak to me at this very difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with Jack and the many other children suffering at what should be a joyous time of year.

Life Begins.....

I have heard it said many times that 'Life Begins at 40' ...Well I am not there yet, but, I am now in the approach year having celebrated (not sure if that is the correct expression) my 39th birthday earlier this week, (thank you to everyone for your well wishes, cards and gifts x) I am constantly being reminded that 40 is fast approaching. The thought that in a years time this adventure will hopefully be concluded successfully and that another goal will be set in motion is pretty daunting. Its hard to believe that in a few days time it will be 2008 and I will no longer be able to say that 'I am swimming the Channel Next Year' time is flying by and I know it will all be here before I know it. I have the vast majority of my annual leave from work booked now, so I have an idea of when we be able to visit Dover and train in the Harbour.

Christmas is almost with us us too, so its been all go at both home, work and school. Training has been restricted to the pool what with the weather being below zero for a week or so and the fact that Kelly was away in the States.. it would have been a little crazy to swim outside without a watchful eye in the present conditions. The sea locally is around 8 degrees and the River/Lake is now 4.5 degrees. I am at work on the afternoon of Boxing Day but will still have time to make the Boxing Day dip at 11am, hopefully I will get 20 minutes or so in what by then will be about 7-8 degrees.. I was on nights yesterday and noticed that the air temperature didn't rise above minus 3 all night, no wonder the water is cooling off rapidly...brrrr.....

I have spent some time reading Lynne Smiths journal this week and have been quite astonished at her training regime, overall work ethic and positive attitude. It is very motivational and I would recommend any aspirant to read it.

Off to the pool now....here we go again.

P.S. no idea what has happened to the the title picture? It doesn't seem to want to display correctly no matter what adjustments I try.

Just Keep Swimming

Hello again,
Training is definitely back on song, had my longest session to date on Monday the 26th by way of a 10km swim with no side effects, I appreciate it's nothing like doing equal distance in open water be it Sea or Lake, but one thing it is good for is the mental side of training, it can be extremely boring swimming up and down a 25m pool... granted the images on poolside change from time to time, the occasional swimmers come and go, but generally speaking its me and my thoughts for a few hours, and that for me is very beneficial, also after a couple of hours.. parts of the shoulder can ache a little so its good to press on through the boredom and discomfort.

The article I have mentioned previously did appear in the Hartlepool Mail and raised some interest from local charities but we are yet to choose the worthy cause for which I will attempt to raise funds during my 2008 Channel Swim, the above photograph taken whilst swimming in the North Sea on November 8th appears with the permission of their editor, although its not the one that was featured with the article.

I had a pleasant email this week from American Adam Hazlett complimenting the blog and telling me about challenges that lay ahead for 2007, he too is swimming the Channel next year and his training etc. can be viewed at www.10degreeslatitude.com Good luck Adam!

Not a lot else to report, I am still trying hard to gain some body fat but its a difficult process when training hard at the same time, hopefully the Christmas season will add a few extra pounds that will hang around into the New Year. Any ideas are welcome...

All Systems Go...

After seven full days away from the water, today, I returned to the pool. After a very tentative warm up, I had a gentle, exploratory swim for about an hour to ease me back into the training regime and assess the progress of the recovery to my back injury. The spasm appears to be about 90% gone, though despite a ridiculously expensive mattress the pain is still present when I wake each morning. I have worked all week and have nights to contend with this weekend as I slowly get back into the routine. Hopefully by midweek I should be back to some quality work. We have a sea swim penciled in for Thursday, on which, as a result of the article in the local newspaper we may even have the company of another English Channel Swim Aspirant. I am still awaiting the photographs that appeared in The Hartlepool Mail which I will post on the blog on receipt.
We are also close to selecting the charitable cause for which I will try to raise some funds too, so slowly things are coming together. A couple of posts ago I also mention AquaSphere, they have very kindly donated a quantity of swim products for my use through the coming year, thank you to them for their generosity.

That Hurts !!

Just when I thought things were going really well...

Had a day off training on Monday after the tiresome weekend at Dover. Easy swim Tuesday, followed by my longest swim to date on Wednesday (8km), felt really good after this with no real aches or pains. On Thursday, having dragged myself out of bed after a night shift, we had a trip to Seaton for two reasons. Firstly a local newspaper (The Hartlepool Mail) wanted to take some photographs to accompany an article they are soon to publish regarding my Channel Swim/Training. Secondly to have another swim outdoors.

It was extremely windy with gusts up to 60 mph, the temperature was 11.5 degrees and the sea was a little rough, however the photographer managed to obtain the required action shots and I had a relaxing swim with no side effects.
Then what felt like a disaster!.... Friday morning whilst just commencing my very easy pool warm-up, the upper left quadrant of my back went into spasm. I had to stop immediately I could barely breath let alone swim. I was, and still am, in a great deal of pain, sleeping and driving is nigh on impossible. Hence Charlie is typing this blog entry.

I am therefore having some forced rest, I am assured the injury is nothing serious and a full recovery will be made. A similar thing happened whilst on holiday with Kelly and the kids in 2006, eventually it settled down after some rest and treatment so I am not too worried at this stage, better for this to happen now rather than next summer. I intend to make the most of the rest and to work on some other aspects of preparation. Fingers crossed for a quick and full recovery.

Dover Re-visited

As planned, Friday 2nd November saw Kelly and I drive the 340 miles to Dover.... no sooner had we arrived and checked in to the travel inn (with a perfect view of Dover Harbour) that we were off to the Marina escorted by Loraine, where we met with my skipper. He had been out working at sea all day with a fishing party yet was ready to whizz us around to Shakespeare beach for a piloted swim. We boarded the boat and motored around to the famous point where many swims start. I was really excited but also nervous, the Channel was flat as a pancake and Andy stated the conditions were the same well out to sea. Andy steadied the boat, I took a deep breath, gathered my thoughts and jumped over the side into the green water. I was closely followed by Loraine, we initially swam together for a short period then the skipper asked her to exit the water so that he could concentrate on me and my position beside the boat. It was so good, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to practice alongside the actual boat that would support me in 2008 together with my support swimmer and Kelly on board, it was perfect practice... I had taken the prototype feed pole that had been made ready the previous day by George Vickers at Caletrim Fabrications Ltd, so we took the chance to test the feeding procedure too. I should take this opportunity to thank George for his support, generosity and good wishes...thanks to you George and Carl, the pole was more or less perfect.

After my swim we returned to the marina where Andy went through a typical swim route/scenario and explained many things to me with the aid of a Dover Straits chart. Then it was off to the Chinese Buffet for a nice meal. After a long day at work Andy headed off home, we continued our debrief and had far too much to drink at one or two Dover watering holes including The White Horse, where I looked in awe at the many signings on the wall from literally scores of Channel Swimmers. I understand that Loraine got to bed about 3am!! but we were long since tucked up I hasten to add!.

The next morning feeling slightly delicate, we had breakfast and took a brief trip to Dover Castle before again meeting up with Loraine for a nice hour in the Harbour, the sea was more or less flat and was, by our wrist watches around 14 degrees. We swam a nice anti clockwise squarish lap before heading in for more Chinese food.

Following a brief power nap it was time to prepare for the CSA Annual dinner at the Town Hall, we again had a great laugh with Loraine and Nicole and also bumped into Becky Lewis, after the many presentations and speeches we headed back to the hotel, for insufficient sleep before another long drive home.

(Above the terrible twins)

Overall it was an excellent trip... jumping over the side of the boat was simply fantastic, it was Awesome (that's a Loraine ism) to swim next to the boat and great to get back into the harbour for another dip. Big thankyou to Loraine for braving the waters again with me, not forgetting Kelly for your continued encouragement and support. Thank you all. I had a blast.

No Hassle @ Half Term

Half term school holidays generally result in a distinct lack of training, however this week has been very productive in terms of quality pool swims, including a very beneficial 7000 metre session. I understand it is pointless trying to attain targets with 'garbage yardage' hence I am swimming sets of sprints, pyramids, 200s, 400s, 800s etc all against the clock, as well as a number of drills for technique and breathing etc.. That said...this week did omit any outdoor swims due to other commitments (it is unsafe for me to swim at sea alone without a watchful eye, (its about 12 degrees at the moment) I am expecting to address that in the next few days prior to travelling to Dover. Still, 25,000 metres of quality pool work is right on schedule for the training plan at this stage.


Other things this week,, had a nice email from Freda Streeter regarding my plans for next year and training in Dover Harbour. Also had some positive feedback from AQUA SPHERE which I will expand upon in the next post... oh, and a local stainless steel fabricator (Caletrim Fabrications Ltd) has set to work on a prototype feeding pole for me, again further details to follow.

The Channel Swimming Association Annual dinner is taking place next weekend at Dover Town Hall Saturday 3rd November, we will be attending together with Loraine Verghese, Nicole Gallon and the. We are leaving immediately after the school run on Friday morning with the intention of swimming on arrival, 'round about 4pm either in The Harbour or maybe off Shakespeare Beach, and hopefully similar on Saturday morning.



I am sure we will have a lot to report on our return, as I am excited about getting back to Dover for what is sure to great weekend of discussion, planning, training and yes maybe a little socialising!

Windermere workouts..

Sunday 14th October 2007, just before noon, we attended Darlington Railway Station in order to collect Loraine Verghese (who we new had been on nights and was quite likely to sleep straight though the stop and awake in deepest Scotland), much to our surprise she was in fact awake and arrived bang on time, after brief intros, we grabbed coffee and headed for the A66 to drive around 100 miles cross Country. This passed uneventful, we quickly checked in to our house hotel (The Smallwood Ambleside where we stayed with Swim Trek).

No sooner had we ditched the bags, we motored off to Windermere only a stones throw away, the weather was fresh, not raining and the water was 13 degrees. We had decided to swim as soon as possible before dark to let Loraine check out the conditions on this her visit to the Lake District, we swam from the North End of Windermere in a kind triangular route.. out to Seamew Crag, the water was almost flat though it was cloudy with the amount of recent rain, however the weeds and underwater plant life sometimes reaching the surface were something completely new to Loraine, she was quite spooked at first but soon got over the initial shock....Honest!
We swam the same route back and were greeted by Kelly with the warm towels and hot chocolate drinks. Round about 45 minutes just short of 3km.

We more or less headed straight back to the Hotel, got changed once we had warmed through and spent the night talking about Loraine's Swim and My future Channel swim whilst re hydrating on the usual Irish beverage...Back to the hotel for more gossip and more socialising before hitting the pillow.

Saturday we awoke to the sound of heavy rain on the windows, a peep outside showed it to be typical Lakes weather, it was misty, rainy and cold. After breakfast we drove to a couple of nearby lakes (Rydal and Grassmere) but decided we would stick with 'Big W'. Kelly then hired a sit on Kayak and became our safety boat, which as it happened was just as well, the lake was as rough as the sea, with waves and big swells, let alone the wash created by the passing steamers. As Kelly battled the elements on the kayak we swam from the east side of the lake across to the crag again and returned via the same route, well..we tried to go the same route... but we were pushed well of course by the conditions. At the outset I had planned to swim for at least a couple of hours, but Loraine was sure that the mental gains and acclimatisation would be greater if we split the swim in two parts. Thus warming up after swim number 1. Once we more or less stopped shivering we headed back to the waters edge from the comfort of the Lakeside cafe, to do mental battle and force ourselves back into the water. By now the conditions were worse still, it was tough going and was definitely like being at sea but for the salt water in the mouth, we fought against the wind and currents again out to the crag and followed Kelly back to shore. Between us we had the temperature at 12.5 to 13 degrees. The prospect of returning for the second swim was not nice but once submerged the worst was over. I was glad we had done the swims this way and felt that I had won a psychological battle. Though I doubt either of would have returned without our safety kayaker.

Sunday morning after another late night of forced alcohol (Loraine you are a bad influence) we returned to Lake Windermere in what was quite the opposite conditions, yes the water was the same temperature but it was pan flat and the sun even began to shine, another swim out to the crag and back to shore, a really nice refreshing swim compared to that of yesterday.


To summarise we had four swims over a 48 hour period, in around 12 to 13 degrees in various conditions, had a great time with our guest, and seemed to laugh non stop for the whole duration. A very worthwhile trip indeed...Loraine was great company for us. To the point that on the journey home I asked Loraine if she would consider being my support swimmer next year. She was delighted to accept. We had big hugs at the station and headed or separate ways.

Above: that is infact Loraines head not a lettuce or a football next to me at the end of our final swim.

Update

Had an easy week in the pool by way of recovery for not only for the shoulders but also the ear..which seems to be fine, last day at work today before we drive across to Ambleside tomorrow for three days training in probably Windermere, Grassmere and maybe one other lake. We are collecting Loraine at Darlington Train Station Sunday midday, then we will have the drive across country to the hotel.

The plan is to have a little swim Sunday afternoon...easy night with not too much Guinness, then up to eat early Monday and hopefully a good swim (anything more than 90 mins will be good but all depends on conditions )followed by a swim down Monday evening before a little more socialising !!

Another swim Tuesday morning if timings and weather permit... then home to drop Loraine for the train again. We are expecting the water to be 13 or 14 degrees (if we are lucky). I have some advice too from Ned Denison of Cork Masters of what to try to achieve for a data gathering point of view, so I will update on our return hopefully with plenty of photos and a tale to tell.

What do we have 'ear'

About two weeks before attending Austria to take part in the Ironman in July 2007, I was blessed with a very painful ear infection in the right ear. I had a series of ear drops prescribed after having a wick soaked in tar packed into the canal for a week (not nice). Eventually the inflammation eased and the drops could reach the source of the pain. I was told no swimming and that the only prevention was to never ever let the ear get wet. Great…some advice that was to a Channel Aspirant. Anyway, I used the setback to begin my swim taper for the event and swam through it albeit keeping the sessions very brief so as not to loose the feel of the water.

I mentioned at the end of the last post that I had been getting some grief from the left ear, well on Friday (05.10.07) I visited my GP and received some drops, but as usual it didn’t help due to the swelling and the canal being more or less closed, so today I popped to the ENT at hospital where again I had them suctioned and guess what …they told me the only cure was not to swim. Some help that is. I do have some moulded swim plugs that cost me a small fortune, but I have also learnt that the hospital will provide me with a set free of charge !! Well that’s got to be a result.

I can still swim, though it is kind of fortunate that I had planned a easy recovery week before a tough weekend in the Lake District. I have another appointment next week when hopefully I will get the all clear. I know swimmers ears can be very problematic so I just wanted to sort early this time and continue to take as much prevention measures as possible.

Typical students !!!!

On Sunday 30th September, as previously mentioned we were planning to meet Becky Lewis (Eng-France 9hours 35 mins) in order to have swim chat and rack her brains. It seemed silly not to grasp the opportunity to speak with her being that she is living so close whilst she studies at Teesside University. We communicated initially via sms and arranged to meet at Lloyd's (that's David Lloyd's gym after a pool session). Kelly, Charlie and I arrived in good time, the RV time came and went.... then I received a text! crossed wires meant she was in Lloyd's wine bar in Middlesbrough.. typical student heading straight for the alcohol !! Not something you would ever catch me doing I hasten to add.

Becky and her boyfriend eventually arrived at the gym where we had a very informal chat about her swim, feeding, training and future hopes. She has been swimming open water for about five years and before her Channel Swim this August had been to Gozo with Swim Trek and had also completed a Windermere 2 Way swim through the night. She obviously has huge talent and I expect her to have a crack at the British ladies Channel record in 2009. She was very helpful and I wish her luck. Thanks for your time Becky.

Another nice action shot by KGB.

As you can see from the training diary below I didn't quite manage the 20km last week but that's not a worry at all, I was more content that we had made a trip to the beach for an outdoor swim. This week has been all go as usual, today is my first day off work after a full seven day rota of shifts (days, nights and afternoons). Training is ticking along nicely and will easy get the 20k in this week.

Bi-lateral practice at sea

We went to Seaton again yesterday (Thursday 4th October) for another dip at 13.5 degrees, oh how refreshing! we were kind of limited time wise what with work etc so only had time for a 45 minute swim, it was much calmer than it has been for a long long time, the swim was at a good speed and there were no safety issues due to the good conditions. It seems that sometimes on the morning of a sea/lake swim that I get quite anxious, this is always much worse than the act itself, yes, getting into the water can still take my breath away but after that initial entry I seem fine and wonder what all the nerves were about. I also find myself desperate to go again the next day once its all over. That said I know by next week it will be the same story all over again. I think the secret is just more of the same and come next May we can be there much more frequently.

When I think about how many hours I spent riding last spring and early summer it should be easy enough to get to the sea at least three times a week, whilst still working on drills and sets etc at the pool.

The only negative is that my right ear has been playing up a little this week, I had an infection in the left ear the week before Austria and it has been fine since having obtained some moulded plugs, I am going to get it checked shortly so fingers crossed its nothing to worry about.

Before I forget Happy Birthday to Loraine for today (Friday 5th October) from the both us. See you next week in Ambleside for what is sure to be a chilly experience!

The pictures are from yesterdays trip to Seaton as usual courtesy of KGB. Thanks Kell x.