Three weeks until Two Way Windermere; two weeks to tapering (yay).

With only three weeks to go until Two Way Windermere I admit I was ready to start tapering. I was permanently tired, permanently hungry and some might say (although not to my face...) permanently grumpy. I had been training hard, and non-stop, and I was ready for a rest, and I wasn't talking the odd day, but a few consecutive days.

But before tapering could start I had one more week of training to go, starting with a 10k swim in the pool. And this was how crazy training had become, a steady 10k swim had become a normal swim for a Monday morning, which was crazy! This Monday was different though. Coach had sent me this week's training plan, which still included the 10k swim, but it would be all in sprint sets. I admit, I felt a little out of my confirm zone once again. It had been an age since I had done any type of lengthy, fast pace, and I was not looking forward to the whole lung combusting experience that would accompany it. Coach also asked that I wear a heart rate monitor during this week. I informed him that there would be no need because I could just tell him what it was, as I would most definitely be able to hear my heart pounding in my head, to which he told me he preferred a more accurate reading. He reminded me that he had seen what a cock up I could make from doing even the shortest of swims as basic counting skills up to the dizzying heights of four went out of the window... Heart rate monitor it was then!

Swim set done, and accurate heart rate recording completed, and despite it hurting - a lot, I really enjoyed it. One of the things that got me through was the thought of how lovely the following day would be. An actual rest day. Twenty-four whole hours that I planned to do absolutely sod all, apart from watch Killing Eve on catch up from my sofa, whilst eating lots of cake (carb loading obvs). This happy thought kept me going throughout the training swim, but it was very short lived because whilst I had been swimming Coach had sent me through a revised training plan that included another lengthy set of sprints sets for the following day - my rest day. I assumed he had made a mistake, however was reliably informed (by Coach) that it was just a slight change to the program and I would get my rest day... but not yet.

In addition to this, he had planned for me to do a four hour lake swim the day after that, which sadly ended up being three and a half, and this was the bit where I would like to gloss over the reason for this, but in short, there was a road closure, and I decided that I knew a far better, and quicker way there than the way the diversion signs said. This turned out to not be the case, and found myself not where I expected to be, which was several miles away from the lake! One panicked phone call to Coach for directions that would actually get me to the lake, and I was on my way again, albeit later than planned. I wouldn't mind but this was the first warm and sunny day I had had in all of the months I had been training there and was keen to enjoy the unusually summery conditions. Sod's law!

Once again I had packed a huge bag of food. There were still some foods that I hadn't yet, but was wanting to trial. I was keen to try some cheese spread seeing as though cheese and I were not compatible whilst I was horizontal. I had read that in terms of energy that fat gave more than twice as much as glycogen and carbohydrates, and wanted to include some in my feeding plan (1g of glycogen and carbohydrates provides 4 calories, whereas 1g of fat provides 9 calories when converting to energy), and just in case that didn't pan out so well, like the cheese and also one nasty protein bar, I had also packed some flapjack, Jaffa cakes (obvs), two bananas, and despite the lake being over twenty two degrees, a flask of hot Ribena... Just in case the heat wave decided to abruptly finish mid swim.

After the first hour I got out to eat some of the cheese spread sandwich. I didn't want to eat too much because if I was anything like the cheese, it wouldn't be long before I saw it again! At this point, Coach joined me in the lake for a catch up/lesson/advice/discussion. We swam for a short time whilst he checked my swimming, and then combined breaststroke with floating to talk about the plans for Windermere. I was glad about the little swimming part we did because I was experiencing a familiar nauseous feeling, and worried that if we began swimming at all I would throw up. Possibly over him, which would not only be the height of bad manners, but also very alarming!

I was pleased to see at the end of this very slow lap that Shark had arrived - also later than she planned. She too had gone the wrong way at the diversion, and driven on several country roads, missing her planned pre-swim mid afternoon snack, and knowing I would have over packed as usual on the food front, was riffling through my bag for something. I offered her the remainder of the now obsolete cheese spread sandwich, which she ate, along with some flapjack and a banana. I was used to her helping herself, and I really didn't mind. The only food I was exceptionable protective of, and would probably resort to snatching back, was my beloved Jaffa Cakes, but I knew that she didn't like them (this was why we were such good friends. No danger of her expecting me to share them...). I reminded her as she tucked into some biscuits, that we were having post swim chips on the way home, but she informed me that as she would be swimming in skins she would be burning off all of the calories consumed out of my cool bag, and therefore deserved the sandwich, the flapjack, the banana and the biscuits as well as the chips!

Shark and I swam for another hour, only stopping twice as I tried to hold down the cheese spread sandwich whilst Shark waited for me... from a safe distance. I assumed that the reason she got out was because she had finished have swim rather than because she was worried about anything projectile happening. I didn't ask. I couldn't eat at my next stop - too risky, so swam on for another hour on my own alongside Stroppy Swan and lots and lots of Canadian Geese... I said alongside, what I meant was with a very large expanse of water between us, or what's also know as a respectable distance.

As soon as I was out, Coach and I had a further chat about tapering and what I would be doing the following week. This included one final pre-Windermere long sprint set swim set in the pool, and one five hour swim in the lake... a lot like this week really! I suddenly felt a mixture of emotions. On one hand I felt sad because after many, many hours circumnavigating that lake, I had ALMOST learned to relax a bit, despite the forty-seven pound resident pike, the Stroppy Swan, the wheel hub that frightened me every single time I swam past it (despite me knowing it was there) the lake snake (bit of rope on the bottom near the final buoy) and the scary, dark weedy bits! But on the other hand, I was also looking forward to some time where if I wasn't actually swimming, or thinking about swimming all of the time.

Respecting their personal space!

I had of course already planned what I will be doing with all of the spare time I would have because I wasn't swimming, or spending a lengthy amount of time in the shower with some industrial soap, scrubbing away at the chlorine, or hours untangling my hair. I would still go to the gym, but instead I would be in the sauna, or the jacuzzi, or the steam room or the cafe doing my 'tapering' there. Unfortunately though, I would also need to tidy my house, which has been in a sad state of neglect since probably February when my training increased. I told myself that there was more to life than cleaning, however the Monica in me was conflicted. I quickly decided that I wasn't all that excited about returning to 'normal' life, and began looking online for other swimming events that meant I was far too busy to be cleaning again!!!

As well as my blog, I have been busy writing for my new, yet with no title, book about my two way Windermere swim. I've also got more with the times and have been vlogging about my 2WW swim training, Here's the YouTube link.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcGjwT2ZHjUVgSkvkjgy2Dg

Once again, thanks for reading, and if you have enjoyed my blog, my book Open Water Woman Swims Windermere is available in paperback and electronically on Amazon. 

Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Open-Water-Woman-Swims-Windermere/dp/1980614660/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546178539&sr=8-1&keywords=open+water+woman+swims+windermere