Back on track

All things considered it has been a reasonably productive few days. I resumed normal pool training after what I will term a recovery period. I only swam 10.5km last week as I was letting my right shoulder rest. The injury is going to be a long term issue, it is under control, with a few adjustments, some treatment and a little luck I can keep it in check.

I eased back into things with a couple of shorter sessions Monday and Tuesday then had a nice steady swim of 10,000m yesterday, no real issues after this longer swim which lasted about 2hour 45 minutes. I did not get to the sea on Tuesday either, I dare say we could have squeezed in a visit, but it would have been a mad rush so I opted for the pool instead.

A week or so ago, Jonathon Storer (top violinist) emailed the Channel Group asking for suggested swim locations in the Tyneside area, now whilst we in the region of an hour south of that location, I thought it reasonable to invite him to Sunny Seaton when we made our next visit. We arranged to meet at 9.20 am today (Thursday 13th) weather permitting. At 08:15 I called Coastwatch Redcar to be informed it was a lovely day and the sea was slight but more or less flat. I sent Joni a text and before long we met up in a desolate car park to have what would be Jonathon's first sea swim of the year.

He was very positive in the car park and new the conditions were do able, we entered the water under the watchful eye of KGB, at which point Jonathon realised just what he had let himself in for...it was showing 44 degrees (6.7C) on my wristwatch...after a little verbal encouragement he began to breaststroke and before long we were both front crawling parallel to the shore. I was very aware this was going to be tough (for us both) and was a little more relaxed when Joni was back on terra firma being looked after by KGB. I swam for fifteen minutes then joined Jonathon and Kelly on the beech where we dressed before returning to the cars for hot drinks (and shivers) before we parted. Joni made and excellent start and promised to return soon.

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.

Every Cloud.......

At the start of the week I decided to allow my shoulder a little respite and made the firm decision to stay away from the pool for a few days, maybe even the full week. Not that it was going to be a complete lay off you understand....I read/heard somewhere that cold temperatures be it cold water or air affect the body in may ways, one of which is the increased blood supply and associated accelerated healing which can result.

So with this in mind and the shoulders more or less feeling OK, I fought the urge to return too quickly to the pool. Instead, Kelly and I took the first window of opportunity to travel to Seaton and re commence the acclimatisation process proper. Now Tuesday was not warm, there was a possibility of snow forecast and the wind was strong and bitter. See below..

When we arrived at the coast it could clearly be seen that the westerly wind and the sea were in battle as a result of which the conditions were far from ideal. I got into the water for the planned dip, with the figure of ten minutes in mind, I had great fun diving under the breakers and swells though I almost lost my goggles a few times and the ice cream head was a killer! I had a reading of 43 degrees (6.1C) on my watch, and exited the water after 12 minutes. My hands were painful as we walked back to the car, but the warming didn't seem to take long at all and soon the hands were fine. A good start...........

Wednesday was Charlies club night at the pool, where all the young ones were doing a sponsored session to raise funds for the club. Charlie swam his first full kilometre, so I was really pleased and proud for him..Well done son x

Today (Thursday the 6th) I managed to get away from work a little early and again we made a visit to Seaton. The conditions were far calmer, though the water was much the same temperature wise, I obviously had the previous twelve minutes in mind, so entered the water hoping to stretch to 15 on this occasion. After twenty minutes I swam to shore feeling great, my body/core was fine though my hands and feet were telling a different story. The warming took a while, probably not helped by the fact that as we returned to the car for some hot sweet tea, the HiFi turned itself on and began to play the 'Foreigner Track' 'You're as Cold as Ice !' now that was funny..I was delighted to have swam for longer and figured out how to fight the brain freeze after advice from Ned Denison last night on the phone ...cheers Ned, it works a treat.

So there we have it, the cloud lying over my head regarding the shoulder that was causing some concern was indeed silver lined, it feels normal again now and two cold swims as an added bonus..more next week as and when other commitments permit..

Thanks again to Kell for watching over me and listening to my moans and groans that you are so quick to point out !!x

February Fly By (23 weeks)

February 2008 seemed to arrive instantly after the New Years celebrations to the extent that I wondered what on earth had happened to the first month of the year, feeling a little seasonally affected with the depths of winter upon us, even the surface of the river and patches of the lake were frozen a couple of times. Then, in the blink of an eye, whoosh.... February is gone too, its still rather fresh, but Spring is without a doubt on its way, the daffodils are flowering really early so I guess its been a mild winter. I have been watching the sea surface temperatures which would appear to have bottomed out around 6.6 degrees. I do expect plenty more cold snaps but looking at the statistics, the averages say the temperatures will now slowly begin to climb...oh yeah, those stats can be wrong and averages are exactly that.....just averages. That said, the charts show a balmy North Sea of 7 to 8 degrees so you never know. The wind chill is still a factor but we hope to make more of a concentrated effort of restarting the acclimatisation process.

My shoulder still isn't 100% but its not a show stopper at this stage. I had an easy week, after advice from Forest Nelson decided to train, but not hard, more just to keep a feel for the water and hit the showers at the earliest sign of pain, I kept the distances and effort to a minimum, which is just as well as I felt really tired all week. 15km over the week is a drop from the figures of late, but I know from last year that its not possible nor ideal to train at a peak permanently, the recovery week should have done my body the world of good ! I have been training for thirty three weeks now since Austria, at times I get a little paranoid if I don't manage to hit my targets, though normally there is a valid reason i.e. an injury/work etc.. so its not all doom and gloom. The 'at a glance' weekly distance graph is below..

I have booked my accommodation at Hubert House for the week of the swim and look forward to the stay, Maggie Kidd also has a reservation, she is no.2 on the same tides as me. There is a good chance we will swim on the same day, her skipper is 'Queen Alison Streeter', to say they have some experience between them is an understatement.

So 23 weeks til the middle of our tides, I think all the logistical plans are arranged now, just need to finalise the crew for the boat, I will do that much closer to the time, I want to be certain to have the best people on board to push me on and not listen to my moaning.

Minor Setback ?

Things have been ticking along nicely with three fairly consistent weeks at 21, 25, and 30km and I have been fortunate enough to get in a few lengthy sessions with no side effects, normally I start all pool swims with a one kilometre warm up, my shoulders usually feel like they are stuffed with rice crispies for the first 15 minutes after which I am sorted...until this morning that is, I had planned to do session before work so was in the pool by 6.30 ish only to have some moderate to disturbing pain in the middle head of the right deltoid. I decided to cut short the swim rather than aggravate the situation. I sat in the sauna a while and applied liberal amounts of tiger balm to the effected area then departed for work. I was on a development day which meant 'death by PowerPoint'. I have now returned home and applied more embrocation and intend to take some nsaids to ease any inflammation and hopefully the pain. Having pencilled in a biggish swim for Thursday before nights I am now in limbo and waiting to see how the shoulder develops over the next few days.

As you might imagine I am disappointed at this set back but hope it is minor...like other injuries, they are inevitable with the amount of training as my body adapts, better for this to happen now than in the summer.

Links....If you want to see a stack of swim related articles you gotta have a look at the website Swim Like a Fish, its packed with interesting stuff... in addition to that, I recently found Anne Steele's website, it is definitely worth a read, she too swam last year with my skipper Andy King. So I was delighted to again see yet more positive comments, her link has been added to the right hand side together with the others. I have also been keeping an eye on Chris Pountney's website who also swims later this year...... more news when I have it.

Sunny Lowry MBE

email from Mike Read :
Dear All,

Channel Swimming Association Limited

President: Sunny Lowry MBE 2000-2007

It is with great sadness that we have to report the death of our President 2000-2007, Sunny Lowry, at the age of 97, she was the oldest living Channel swimmer. She enjoyed life and was looking forward to her 100th birthday. She took on the mantle of President of the Channel Swimming Association on the death of Comdr, Gerald Forsberg, who had been the Association President for 37 years. A wonderful, gentle, kind lady who loved Channel swimming and channel swimmers. She devoted her life to Channel swimming and helping others and only stood down as our President in November 2007. As much as she enjoyed her annual visits to the Dover Regatta and to the CSA Annual Dinner and Presentation evening she admitted that she was finding it hard work travelling by bus down to Dover from Warrington. On her last visit the bus driver kindly stopped outside her hotel.

Manchester born and proud of it, Sunny needs little introduction in swimming circles having been involved in one aspect or another for over 75 years. A visit to the Dover Museum offers a fine display of her Channel memorabilia and will serve as a lasting tribute.

Her knowledge of all aspects of swimming, training, teaching the disabled, lifesaving, pilot lifesaving and long distance was immense and few people today can claim to have been coached by Jabez Wollfe and kissed by Australia’s swimming star, Ian Thorpe. She always said that one of her proudest moments was having the opportunity to present Ian Thorpe with one of his gold swimming medals at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. In the summer of 1932 she undertook her channel training in Dover Harbour always accompanied by the Betts Brothers in a rowing boat. Her first Channel attempt that year was ended after 14 hours when she was a mile from Calais. In 1933 she moved to Boulogne so that she could train in the harbour there. On her second Channel attempt she was caught in a thunderstorm off Folkestone at 03:30 after 9 hours of swimming and the conditions became so rough that her crew decided to pull her out. At her third attempt she was successful landing at St Margaret’s Bay, but not even this was plain sailing. For the final 200 yards across the rocks and to dry land, she had to be escorted by the Betts Brothers in a rowing boat and because of this, her pilot argued that he could only complete her chart to the point were the rowing boat took over. She told us that as a result of this, the very organisation to which she became President, made the days after her swim very nerve wracking. Her swim, from France to England in 15 hours 41 minutes on 29th. August, 1933, was finally ratified and she became the 7th Lady in the world (and the 15th Swimmer overall) ever to conquer the English Channel.
Her success is all the more incredible when you appreciate that these were the days of “leather motoring type” goggles, when communication was by pigeon and local weather forecasts had not been invented.

Sunny married Bill Anderson, both were members of the Swimming Teachers Association. She taught swimming and life saving in Warrington. Bill was particularly interested in helping the disabled and partially paralysed to swim, which he did with great success. With Sunny, he started the Pilot Life Saving Scheme following a tragedy on Lake Windermere.

At the age of 16 she became a committee member of her local swimming club, she was a founder member of three swimming clubs as well as a founder member of the British Long Distance Swimming Association.

In 2005 she was invited to St James’s Palace for the Maritime Reception and had the privilege of being presented to H.M. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family.

The Channel Swimming Association was delighted when we heard that our President had been awarded the MBE in the 2006 New Year’s Honours list for her services to swimming in the North East.

Outside of her Channel swimming activities Sunny was a constant and indefatigable supporter of Manchester’s Victoria Baths, turning out in all weathers and at every opportunity to support it’s fund raising efforts. She was delighted to have been one of the people presented to Prince Charles when he visited the Baths. She can proudly claim to have been a driving force in the success of Manchester’s Victoria Baths restoration success in winning £3.5 million in the first of the BBC Restoration programmes.

She was also extremely proud of her connections with Manchester High School for girls.

Her legendary swimming achievements (not least for being one of the 'Bikini' Swim Costume pioneers!), her consistent contribution to our Sport and her gracious acclaim of her contemporaries and peers endeavours, was her hallmark. She will be long remembered by long distance swimmers around the world and greatly missed.

Channel swimmers around the world join the CSA Board in sending her family our deepest sympathy.

Progress

Progress has been made on a number of fronts this week, firstly and perhaps most importantly I have received confirmation email from Julie Bradshaw MBE, (CSA Ltd secretary) confirming receipt and process of my swim registration. That more or less completes the administration side of things, all that remains is the reservation of accommodation for the tidal dates and training weekends in Dover, the Lakes and Cork. I have emailed a couple of recommended hotels in Dover but am yet to receive a reply.

Secondly I am delighted to say the facility to donate online to J.A.C.K. is now live, I have distributed a number of sponsor forms at work and at the pool, there are a lot of pledges, Thank-you all. I would however much prefer where possible for people to make use of the Justgiving widget thus enabling the J.A.C.K foundation to benefit from the 28% it can reclaim through gift aid, the monetary advantages speak for themselves.

Training wise it has been a reasonable week, I am already over the 20 thousand metres, have had a dip outside at 6 degrees as per the previous post and had a 10km time trial, I wanted to swim the ten kilometres on a specific time, I managed to keep every 1000m within 15 seconds of each other with times of 15:45 to 16 mins. I took 15 seconds rest between each km to feed and flip over the counter. A great improvement on this time last year when I had never swam more than 4km in a session, I felt good afterwards with no shoulder pain.

The most stressful area at the moment is weight gain. It is difficult for me, when training most days burning calories in the warm pool to take in sufficient food to compensate, as well make gains. I am using supplements but don't expect great weight gains until such times as the swims are restricted to long weekend swims only? Any advice on this issue would be appreciated!

Had a little check of the calendar today too, its just 25 weeks til the start of my tides, and about 14 weeks until Cork... to make it worse below is a photograph of the swim start at Kinsale, Cork, do you think Ned is trying to frighten me!?

Naughty Boy!

Tuesday 12th February was a frosty, foggy morning. Kelly had a physio appointment for her spinal problem and I was due to start work yet again at 3pm after a weekend of nights and a quick return on Monday. I was tired out to say the least. Looking out of the window at 7.30am to find the cars frozen solid didn't inspire me to go training, we had arranged to meet at the gym just after ten. I had around 90 minutes to either, go back to sleep, start a session at the pool or just sit and fill my face til she arrived.
Coffee in hand, I had a quick check of my emails and favourite websites to see several pictures and write ups of swimmers braving the cold water. I decided to make use of the spare time and headed to Seaton. It was really thick fog and took much longer to travel the ten miles or so due to the conditions, however, on arrival at the beech, there was not a breath of wind and the Sea was pan flat! it looked so inviting....but I was alone...I could just imagine the reaction of KGB if she knew what I was contemplating, the beech was deserted so I wasnt going to alarm any dog walkers. I 'toe tested' the water through my crocs..Yep it was about the same as expected.. COLD!
Jogging up the sand for 50 metres to generate a little 'inner fire' and get my head together, I returned to my dry bag stripped and walked into the 43degree F water (around 6.5 degrees C) getting to chest height I dipped under to completely submerge, the worst was now over, initially breast stroke followed by regular freestyle, my breathing took slighty longer than normal to control but settled eventually..around the same time as the arrival of my brain freeze! I then spent the remainder of the dip switching between breast stroke and freestyle to save the ice headache. Just ten minutes today after what seems like ages away from the open water, I am completey delighted I made the return and my paranoid guilt has left me once more.
I returned to the gym met KGB and told her where I had been, got the expected reprimand and headed for a pool set, it was worth the telling off, though I would not do it if it was rough. It was just too nice to resist.
Almost forgot, Kelly then had a freestyle lesson and made massive improvements, she will be making waves in the fast lane before we know it!

Just a quickie...

Managed to drag my sorry butt out of bed yesterday after night shifts to get to the GP for my CSA medical, went fine except for the fact that the Doc wanted to send me for a chest X-Ray (I had a chest infection in March 2006!!) So off to the local Hospital slip in hand to get the job sorted, only to find that the Doc hadn't signed the said slip, back to the surgery for the autograph and return to the X-Ray department. I understand it was fine and now await the written report before submitting the papers to the CSA Ltd, I am quite hopeful that my nice understanding Doc might just wave the recommended fee of £165 though there is no way I am going to get away with not paying for the X-Ray and report (I told you it wasn't cheap on the last post).

Ned emailed to state that there are 52 swimmers for Cork ...brrrrrrr

Training has been a bit stop start this week, should hit 20k though and over 100km for the month of January so not too bad.......back soon......just keep swimming, so they say.....

Another Piece of the Jigsaw..

Not a lot I can say in response to that post from KGB, other than to offer my sincere thanks for the help and support I continually receive.

Main thing taking place this week is the doctors appointment re the required medical in order to officially book my swim with the CSA Ltd. I don't imagine any problems but I will be glad when its done so I can get the documents and the funds (it ain't cheap) sent off to the secretary as soon as possible.

It has not been possible to swim today and the same will apply tomorrow (work and school) so I have pencilled in a bigger session for Wednesday (might do the 100 x 100 or a Marcy set depending how I feel) ..I will be free after the morning school run until I begin work at 9pm, so there is plenty of scope and no real valid reasons not to attempt a decent session.
The weekly swim figures (that's numbers not curves) are getting back to normal after the Christmas period and ear issues, I was pleased to do the 24.6km last week and had some real good workouts. The month of January is all but over and the clock is already accelerating at break neck speed.

I must make more effort to improve my nutrition (weight gain) and firm up my plans/permissions for outdoor swim locations. Other than that things are ticking along nicely, I am really looking forward to SandyCove though I know it will be a massive test.

JACK OF ALL TRADES, PARTNER OF ONE

Hello all. I am seizing this opportunity to introduce myself; Mark’s blog being somewhat quiet of late and me being completely out of action due to back injury. I am the proverbial ’kick up the backside’ when Mark’s head, body or both are tired; I am the ear which gets a battering when there’s no one left to take another ’SWIM’ word; I am the parent who makes him sit there and eat his greens, I am the taxi who picks up his son, I am the nag, the unsympathetic coach but more importantly, his second conscience when he doesn‘t listen to his own! I am not a swimmer (for those of you who are part of the ‘group’ I am one of those annoying breaststrokers (though lane etiquette is well and truly drummed in!)) I am not a life coach, nutritionist, physio, childminder, masseur, photographer, life guard or kayaker! Well, what I mean is if I tried to pass myself off as any of those officially, I’d be either locked up as a con artist or certified! Some of you who are acquainted with the blog may know me as KGB.

Andy King, Me and Mark

When Mark, first sewed the seed of doing a channel swim I thought I’d admiringly watch from the side lines, freely spectating at will, armed with popcorn and programme. Oh nooo! I may not have got on the top deck but I boarded the bus! Call me ignorant, but I never envisaged just how involved I would become. Some would call me mad or silly to put so much of my own time and effort into someone else’s dream; I disagree on the grounds I too get something out of it, claims my support is truly unconditional would be slightly misleading. I’ve had the pleasure to meet some inspiring people, visit idyllic locations, and experience new activities and, are yet to encounter many more. I also ENJOY being there for Mark despite being cold and wet when I could be indoors sipping tea; despite doing the dreaded school run when I could be at the gym; despite cooking a mountainous meal when I’m not hungry myself. Believe it or not, I’m having fun too.

To all the partners out there who feel like swimming widows, there are simply two options to be considered, either allow your partner to full fill their dream by taking the Active Support role by the horns or pass the responsibility wholeheartedly to another, without harbouring any guilt (on either part).
For all those who are thinking of attempting a Channel swim, I wish you two things; luck in achieving your task (a mere gesture since there is no correlation between the task and luck whatsoever) and a kick up the backside, nag, unsympathetic ear, …! In other words, I truly wish you a second conscience too! There are always going to be many people around who’ll wish you well, offer a hand out of the water, a lift when you’re stuck or a warm hug when you’re too cold and tired to go on; however how many of these good folk are willing to refuse to pull you out when you think you have had enough? Decline to take you home just because you forgot your trunks? Offer little sympathy to your shivering and chattering after being in 11 degree sea water for a few hours? Not many; chose your support well and understand your partner/best friend/parent may not want to/be able to turn a cheek. We all can’t be Freda Streeter!
As a teenager I had an excellent relationship with both of my parents until it was time to learn to drive! It seemed (though I loved them dearly) they weren’t best suited to being my instructors nor me, their ideal pupil. I am happy to say , a third party was employed and our relationship healed.

I commend everyone who has achieved, attempted and will attempt the massive task of not only the Channel, but dedicating both mental and physical energy, time and commitment to achieving a dream. I too take this opportunity to applaud the families, friends and partners who have hopped on their journey too whether giving their love and understanding or simply combing a beach for several hours in the rain!!
I look forward to meeting some of you in the spring of 2008 where I hope to gain feeding tips, massage techniques and share flasks of coffee; you never know…..I might even get in the water myself and learn front crawl…...NO SPLASHING PLEASE!!!!!!! KGB

This is the year ..

Its 2008 already, I remember making my initial plans for all of this in 2006, thinking it was 'miles' away, and making my first contact with Andy (my skipper/pilot) yet as usual with this sort of thing, the time has flown by and the year in question has finally arrived. Less than eight months now and the big day will be upon us all.

Not sure if I've mentioned this previously, but whilst looking for something or other on the Internet (about a month ago) I came across the website of Kaise Stefan I was a little spooked to read he lives in a town named 'Fairfield' in Australia. (we live in Fairfield in the UK), not only that, he is swimming the Channel this year and his pilot is also Andy King. The reason I mention this now is that today I received a nice email from Kaise. I am sure it will be worth your while to have a look at his website, its on the links or the hyperlink above. Thanks Kaise..

A few days ago multiple Channel Swimmer, Marcy Macdonald from the USA posted and email on the Channel Swimmers Group with a 'New Years' training set, (the details of which I wont go into), suffice to say after a little consultation via email with her, the total distance was going to be 18. 200 km / 11.3 miles, this was to be a jump from the 10km I completed on 26th November 2007 but I decided to give it a go. I was in the water yesterday for 7am and swam the set as arranged climbing out 5 hours and 50 minutes later. The shoulders ached after about 4 hours and the mental boredom followed soon after, so again it was good mental training and psychologically it was of great benefit. In addition to that, the lengthy swim allowed me the opportunity to test out feeding/hydration. I wanted to experience the discomfort once more, which kicks in after a while. Encouraged that my shoulders seemed to last much longer before any pain issues, I remember being pleased the first time I swam 6km ! so all in all it tells me I am on track.
Its not possible to do long swims outside at this time of the year, usually my pool swims are all about a warm up followed by a series of sprints over say 100, 200 and 400 metres. So, it was a nice change and feel boosted mentally by yesterdays efforts; similar to the feeling after a 100 mile bike ride last year. Thanks Marcy..

School has commenced and training can restart fully; everyone at work now knows about the swim as I posted a message on the internal system, hoping for some support for J-A-C-K.

I'm still waiting for bank details etc with regard to the charity but am assured it will be up and running very soon.