Building up

Had a great week of interval sessions last week which is just as well now that half term is with us, the forced rest has coincided with a slight injury/strain to my right side in the rib/lat/back area. Nothing too serious, though I cannot pin it down to a particular incident.

Other news...I bumped into the awesome Dr Ishtiaq Rehman in the gym the other day and had a great chat about nutrition, stretching, and general sports training/recovery...it was great to know I have his full support.

He recommended the book below, which at first glance is very impressive

Fingers crossed I will be back to normal this weekend just as Charlie prepares to return to school

Last week 31km consisting of the following:
6 Feb 10,000m (500s)
8 Feb 5250m
9 Feb 8000m
10 Feb 3750m
11 Feb 4400m

Guest Post ..Jack Bright

When I found my way to the wintery waters in 2008 I felt like I had arrived in the world. No exhaggeration I experienced a feeling of well being and closeness to nature that I still find hard to describe.

Autumn was closing in and it seemed that I would be confined to the pool when I met Tomas Prokop, a Prague lawyer and president of the winter swimming club 1.PKO. On telling me of a cave swim and the impending winter swimming seasson I was instantly fascinated although I declined his immediate offer to visit the club as I didn’t feel ready. I was a regular summer swimmer in open water and visitor to the swimming pool but the prospect of turning up at a winter swimming club unprepared was not something I was about to entertain. Luckily the pool I was swimming in had an outside unheated pool so I started training in this. After 8 weeks it was mid december and I was swimming 800m in the pool. I felt ready to try winter swimming and attended a training session. 

As I left the club house shivering I was also giggling as I got a real kick out of the swim and felt physcially and mentally better than I had for some time. That first season was interesteing and I will always remember my second race in the partially frozen Bolevak pond near Plzen in the west of the Czech Republic. The water was 1.5c and I was limited by the rules to the 250m distance. At this point I will say that for a new winter swimmer, who has a little experience with water ofa round 4c the drop to 1.5c is quite something. I set off quite quickly but after 70m I seemed to just freeze, I swallowed a bit of water, I was on the ropes and somewhere in front of me I could see the safety boat, at that split I couldn’t move and a voice inside me said „ok, help, get me on that boat I am not a winter swimmer.“ Then another voice said „get on with it and get the job done“ Needles to say I chose the latter option without question. This happenend in a split second but I remeber it vividly. I made it to the finish and back in the changing rooms I felt an incredible pain in my hands that I hadn’t felt since I was a 10 year old boy doing Rugby drills on a freezing Sunday morning when my hands turned blue and at the end of the training session myself and the other boys ran back to the changing rooms crying. 

Back to the swimming and after a short recovery I was elated that I had managed to swim 250m in 1.5c water. Later that day I told many people about it as I was proud but also a little amazed at my achievement. I think this is another example of the power that extremely cold water wields. Little did I know that just over a year later I would be able to swim 1km in 0.8c water!

This first season of winter swimming was an eye opener for me and I reccommended it to anyone. We can all be winter swimmers if we have a healthy heart and the will to do it. Step by step is the best way, respect your body and respect nature.

 As that first season ened and thoughts turned to summer activities and longer, warmer swims it suddenly hit me that I should revist one of the dreams of my teens and become a film maker. Almost 3 years after the initial idea and I released „winter swimming“ the film, an almost completely independent production. I funded 50% of the production from my own pocket and the rest came through crowdfunding along with a donation from the swimming club invloved.

In the 29 minute film we get a good overview of a season of winter swimming in the Czech Republic, complete with training, races and even a wedding in icy cold water. The swimmers speak about why they do it and the health benefits and there is a lot of information conveyed through the images combined with the voice over.

Anyone interested in open water swimming, nature or endurance sports willl surely find this fascinating viewing. It is slowly doing the rounds in festivals and will premier in the UK at  http://www.shaff.co.uk/ in March. 

If you can’t wait for that the DVD is available through my blog www.extremewinterswimming.com

As for me, I am still winter swimming and I just seem to enjoy it more and more as I discover new things about myself, other people and our world throught this activity. I am always open to talk about winter swimming and I believe that it can have a postive impact on our lives in many ways, both directly and indirectly. Enjoy the cold water!

Kickstarted

January was a bit of a non starter for a number of reasons. I did actually make a great start, only to succumb to the dreaded 'manflu'. This together with a two week work related course demanding greater than usual travelling time, and then a weeks holiday in Egypt with KGB.

We both expected me to swim everyday either in the unheated pool or the Red Sea, however my chest and associated 'manflu' put a stop to that. I did get into the jellyfish soup aka The Red Sea, though I did not swim, not even once..

After a great week we returned home, thankfully I was well enough to return to the pool and kick start the training plan. However after an 11 shift I commented to KGB via text message that I wasn't sure if I could be bothered to swim and received this brilliant reply which will stay with me throughout the season: "YOU HAVE A BIG CHALLENGE AHEAD, THE DAYS YOU WANT TO SWIM AND CAN'T SHOULD BE RECTIFIED BY THE DAYS YOU DON'T WANT TO BUT CAN" Suffice to say I went to the pool!

A few people have asked what sets I have been doing so I will include some details at the end of the post. Whilst I am no where near the level of the Sandycove Swimmers ie Lisa, Ned, Donal etc I am still pleased with how things are going.

Obviously I am  training between shifts (which is also about to change but more on that later) and am increasing on more or less a 10% per week basis. In addition I have taken the advice of Dee Llewellyn and have commenced some strengthening exercises for my neck back and shoulders. My diet is also having a revamp, I am off the beer! and trying to remember to consume protein after each swim, both of which are having a positive effect. (Or is it all in the mind)

Without further ado, the last few pool swims have been:
27 Jan 10,000m. 29 Jan 5650m. 1 Feb 5250m. 2 Feb (1) 4000m. 2 Feb (2) 4200m. 3 Feb 7400m.

Should have time for a ten km swim tomorrow before work.....roll on the open water season

Finbarr's Intro to Sandycove

2012 Main Events

The dates for the years BLDSA events have been published and in some cases adjusted, I have had a look at my work patterns and child care plans and hope to enter some if not all of the following selected events, some may be replaced with swims at Seaton Carew or similar depending on commitments nearer the time...a tough year ahead

16 June Cork Distance Camp (TBBC Day) @Sandycove
17 June Cork Distance Camp 6 hour swim  @Sandycove
24 June BLDSA Wykeham Lake 5000 m

7 July BLDSA Torbay 8 miles
14 July Dover Harbour Training 7 hours
15 July Dover Harbour Training 6 hours
22 July BLDSA Coniston 5 or 10 miles
29 July BLDSA Ullswater 7 miles

18 August BLDSA DerwentWater 5 miles
25-29 August You guessed it

Mike Ball EC Aug 17 2009

2011 Stats

As 2011 draws to a close I thought it would be interesting to have a closer look at my training records, whilst I agree that statistics can be manipulated to show a chosen outcome, this post is merely a reflection on the years distances and times..

At a glance it appears that in 2011 I swam a total of 600km, this is broken down to Pool swims amounting to 272km and Open water swims of 328km. The Open Water swims account for 107 hours of training, I could further break the figures down to fresh and salt water swims but have not bothered to do so as yet.

Considering I was injured for about ten weeks (rib separation January, Tenosynovitis May, Road traffic accident July) and took a break for more or less the whole of September I am very pleased with the stats.

It has been a successful year in swimming terms. I have completed all but one session, met the major targets of The 24 Hour swim, Ullswater, Windermere 1 way then The Windermere 2 way in August. The achievements this year have left me with greater confidence to tackle the the challenges that lay ahead.

Whilst my own goals have brought me great satisfaction, I am also delighted to have formed some new friendships not least with Joe Hunter who has proved himself a model student in the build up to his success in The English Channel. Amanda and Jo have also become regular training partners and always provide a laugh.

Thomas, Dee, Sarah T, Pash, Chris, Dave Neal, Andy Williams and many others have continued to inspire me throughout the year. I have been extremely lucky with the help and support from the likes of The BLDSA and my crews (Col, Jo, Dave, Mike) on various swims...there is sure to be some I have forgotten but you know who you are.

I cannot finish without thanking KGB for her continued patience and support and of course Charlie who comes before everything and everyone.

Happy 2012 one and all....the journey continues

Back to it......

Last week proved to be rather testing due to over indulgence on the alcohol front, first of all on Friday KGB and I had our annual Christmas visit to York, where she forced me to drink copious amounts of Guinness, then.. despite my delicate state of well being I was dragged to Amanda's on Saturday where I was once again subject to yet more alcohol in the form of bottled lager and red wine..To say I was rough when we left in Simon's taxi at 3 am is an understatement. It didn't help with Amanda jumping on the spot chanting 'Amanda Bell 1 Robson 0 !! (I jest you not, she was actually doing this, it is one of the few things I remember) All of this binge drinking made me feel guilty as well as ill.

So today I went back to the pool with a vengeance, the plan was to do a set I last swam on April Fools day...just over three hours later I had completed the dreaded 100 x 100 (10km) I was suffering around the 75 point and undergoing a bit of a mental blip. Another 25 repetitions later and I was all done. I drank two 75cl bottles of juice (no carbs) a few jelly babies and courtesy of Lisa Cummins' great idea...a packet of sugar loaded skittles.

Very happy to have completed this 'monster set' and dont feel quite as guilty now after the blow out.

All that Guinness and The Buoy at Seaton talk did however encourage me to post my favourite advert. Enjoy

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

Guest Post ..Donal Buckley (Today is The Channel)

Contradictorily, I'm not a great person for motivational aphorisms, but at the same time I love reading and have a large collection of quotations I like. Many relate to the sea or swimming somehow, and I have a few that I've used a few times on my site.

With the English Channel or any other epic marathon swim, you will be asked "why". Many times this question is asked in a "what is wrong with you that you need to do this kind thing" way. There is rarely an answer that works for those particular people.

We all have both similar, and different answers though. I eventually found an answer that worked for 99% of people. That 99% of people are those who don't do what we do, and the other 1% are endurance athletes, who will not even ask the question, because they already understand. I don't need to ask you why you might be thinking of a marathon swim. You don't need my reasons. So my simple answer became a quotation:

No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.- Socrates

After all, who is going to argue with Socrates?

But that wasn't my motivation.

Another that I use, and have used in advising people about the English Channel is:

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Usually incorrectly attributed to Goethe by W.H Murray. You can feel something in those words. You can feel the urge to sprinkle fairy dust over your life, to step outside.

But the English Channel is not just about dreams, it's far more about grind. About swimming day in and day out, on frosty mornings and when you are sore, hungry and tired, and have lost the love of swimming you had.

And on those days, when there was just me, when the rest of the Magnificent Seven were all training down in Cork, when I had no-one to swim with, when my local pool was treating me like dirt, I needed something else. I really did need motivational help. So on my training log and inside my locker I wrote:

This Is the Channel.

Today. Every day. Every metre. Every stroke. And it helped. The reminder was always there. Everyday when I opened the locker and when I entered my metres into the spreadsheet. It is still there on my ongoing training logs. It became part of my swimming ethos. I began to value the bad days more, to enjoy the good days.

And when I was done with the Channel, I fell back on another quotation, written by Philip Larkin and used incorrectly by me, but to me the only way I can really describe the English Channel and  my own feelings about it.

A serious house on serious earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognised, and robed as destinies.

Ullswater in November

Having swam The 7 mile BLDSA Ullswater event on 30 July this year in near perfect sunny warm conditions I thought it would be a good idea to re visit once the water temperatures had started to drop..with that in mind I invited a few swimmy mates to a planned swim, to take place Sunday 6 November, the plan was a civilised start time of 12 noon and as much or as little effort as each individual wished for.

Despite lots of initial interest we ended up with just four swimmers in attendance, Amanda Bell and Jo Charlton for the girls and Dave Neal and I for the boys, creeping into the inky water just beyond the Ferry at Glenridding we swam around the first Island and up the lake for a few minutes, the sun was shining and the lake was glass like in appearance, it was somewhat cooler than the sea  but not nearly as cool as we had anticipated, 55 minutes later we returned to shore refreshed and buzzing from a pleasant swim with amazing scenery.

After much hot chocolate and cake, Jo (and her Bear Grylls boyfriend Rich) Dave (and his gaffer Sarah) left us and headed home. Amanda and I warmed up a little more before we took the plunge for a second dip, it was really tough to leave the warm clothes behind and to creep into back into the lake, much to the consternation of onlookers who openly questioned our sanity.. 35 minutes later we were back again, fully revitalised and glowing like red lobsters..

It was funny to see and feel the familiar lack of coordination and shakes return, it seems like a long time since we were experiencing these post swim symptoms of cold water back in April...overall a great day with great company..we must do it again soon. Water 51f 10.5c 90 minutes total.