Monday 28 September 2020

The pre - Channel Swim essentials test run... or swim as it were!

I would say that the worst time to have a kit or euipment malfunction is just before, or during a swim. Whether it’s costume, of which I have had one that I would consider to be in the completely mortifying category, and won’t ever be repeated, thanks to me learning my lesson, and on the back of it have incorporated a pre-swim rigorous checking regime, or whether it’s a piece of equipment you have planned to use, especially if it was for safety purposes. 

In the pool, for example, if my goggles suddenly started leaking, or I broke my cap (on more than one occasions), I usually have a spare to hand and carry on, or I would get out early and be frustrated with myself for NOT having a spare one to hand when I know better…added to that, if the equipment I used in the pool wasn’t in good working order, it also wouldn’t compromise my safety. The worse would probably happen was I become entangled in my own hair!

 

But swimming in the sea was a completely different animal because in there, having a malfunction could mean there was an increased safety risk, not ony for me, but for the peole I was swimming with. For our Channel relay, the risk of having a malfunction whilst swimming could only be either costume, goggles, safety light, earplugs or cap, as that’s all the Channel Swimming Association (CSA) allowed you to swim in, but I would have a spare (or several hundred spares) on the boat which I was alongside. 

 

Before the actual swim though, I still needed to check that these were all fit for purpose in the first place, after all, there were so many other things I would be worrying about, like had I packed enough food to sustain me for the swim, and probably into the following week as well, and had I packed enough warm clothes to sustain me in case a freak Arctic blast happened in the middle of the English Channel mid swim, and was the boat actually big enough for all my excessive stuff, because you could be sure that as much as I had packed, the swim buddy would have twice as much as I, so I didn't want to be worrying about things like would my costume would break on the day. To make sure, I swam these training swims in the same kit as I would take with me for the relay, with the addition of my tow float, because basically whilst on a training swim, I didn’t have a boat next to me that had spares in it, or could rescue me in the event of an equipment emergency, or indeed a large, grey fish with lots of sharp teeth type of emergency also, and so needed to not only be seen, but to also hold some of my personal belongings, rather than leave them on the beach. 

 

These training swims turned out to be really invaluable. They afforded me the time to iron out any issues, check that my equipment was working correctly and learn some valuable (and sometimes expensive) lessons before my big day. Examples of which were:

 

1) the swim buddy had bought some relatively expensive sun lotion that included a jelly fish repellent. We both tried it, and both got stung. Some (me) more than others (her). Initially, she decided that it was just a fluke, and would give it another try (unlike me, who called it a day after one fail), I admired her determination, but was only after the 3rd training swim, where Shark had been stung on her neck, arm and leg that she decided it seemed to be attracting them, rather than repelling them, and it was most definitely not worth the king’s ransom she had paid for it, and nor the pain she was in! 

 

2) trying out the safety lights as soon as I bought them, meant that I knew they weren’t working in the first place… and whilst I didn’t have enough time to get some replacements for the first training swim, I did have time to get some for the second one… leading on to point 3.

 

3) don’t wear your new goggles (£20) and your new, working, safety light (£15) on top of your swim cap when the waves are successively rolling in, sending you back towards the beach that you were swimming away from. My equipment, and I were to never to be reunited with each other again, after we were separated by one particularly large wave. I spent a lengthy period of time dedicated to looking for them both afterwards, but alas, this maiden voyage was to be our first and last together.

 

4) make sure the waterproof bag you have put your dry clothes in doesn’t have a hole in it, because if you don’t, you will go home wearing wet pants!

 

5) don’t be over-zealous with your Vaseline, whilst it does a great job, it also can get everywhere, including the lens of your goggles if you’re a bit slap dash like I am, a large smear will leaving you unable to see so well – *note to self- pack disposable gloves. 

 

6) Sometimes stuff works when you set off, but malfunctions can happen at any time… like mid-swim for example, as was the case with my trusted tow float became broken. This could have been caused by the quick succession of 4 waves that I really should have anticipated because I’d spent the previous 30 minutes trying to swim in/through/around/over/under. The exact moment I realised it had broken was when I saw it overtake me on the way back to shore without me attached to it. A massive scrabble to get it back followed, because basically it had in it my car key and a small towel. The day could have ended with a long drive home on the 840 Coastliner bus had I not inelegantly launched myself on top of it like I did! 

 

 

Thankfully I’ve had time to replenish my faulty/lost at sea equipment. I have new (different make of) lights, and thanks to the CSA (channelswimmingassociation.com/shop) for the speedy delivery. I also needed to get yet more goggles, despite having a gazillion pairs at home already – just in case… as well as a new tow float (there are so many now!), and I thank www.drybags.co.uk for not only pointing me in the right direction of a floating dry bag that, not only had a clasp that remained closed after some stringent checking, but was also large, and bright enough to be seen pretty much from the moon (basically, I established that only a tow float the size of a barge would be large enough to carry ALL of the clothes that I liked to bring to the beach with me, so opted for one that was a bit like the Tardis as it turned out, had held more than I could have hoped, big enough to hold some of my personal belongings (car key, phone, credit card (for post swim coffee), small towel, a hat and if I'd wanted probably lots more), so that IF the clothes I had brought to the beach with me to change into were taken, at least I would be able to drive home again, with the heating turned up to full, in just my costume and hat, which was infinitely better than the bus option! 


 With my
International Space Station approved
tow float 





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Monday 14 September 2020

Alternative ways of rewarming after a cold swim - on a boat, in the middle of the English Channel...

Our Team Logo

In the last 2 weeks it feels like Autumn has well and truly arrived. The water in the lake has become cooler. In reality it has dropped only a couple of degrees, and yet I’ve been getting out feeling quite chilled. I soon realised, through chattering teeth, that no amount of wishing it would give us the Indian summer I would like for our Channel swim, and I’d just have to get on with it.

 I’ve learnt a lot these last couple of weeks of cooler temperatures, some of which has been invaluable. For example, on Saturday, I spent a chilly hour thinking about the cold, which could be thought of as counter intuitive, as many suggest thinking warm thoughts to help take your mind off it, however actually I actually wanted to think about it. To remind myself of how my body responded to it, and make sure that I had all the kit I needed afterwards to get me warm again, because for me feeling cold would be unavoidable, and so whilst I needed to get comfy with being cold, I also needed to make sure that I was prepared afterwards, and had all the resources I needed on the boat to deal with this. 

 

And so after our swim last Saturday, the swim buddy and I decided, over a socially distant coffee and cake, that we needed to do one of my favourite things- compile a list. This included what you might expect: hand and feet warmers, hot water bottles, Swimzi XK, hoodie, leggings, hats, scarves, gloves, thick socks, fur lines crocs (my contribution and I will not be embarrassed by this, and actually Shark had banned the whole crocs and socks combo, so this was as near as I could get), thermal vests, salopettes (the swim buddy’s contribution – I don’t own any now. They were confiscated by some friends that I went skiing with several years ago, after an incident involving my ski and a snow plough at near enough 0 feet above sea level caused mayhem, and brought one French ski resort to a standstill for 40 minutes!) and a sleeping bag.


In addition to this, Shark had already confirmed with Andy, our Skipper, that there was a kettle and a microwave on the boat for hot drinks and certain food, but refused to ask as to whether their kitchen also included a deep fat fryer for the chips we loved to have after a cold swim. She told me that she was terrified he would think that he had a boat full of divas. I didn’t say a word, although I did look to see if JustEat or Deliveroo was an option, surprisingly, it wasn’t! 

 

We decided that really it should be belt and braces. We couldn’t risk forgetting something important, and so we set about researching alternative ways to keep warm on a boat whilst crossing the English Channel. A good half an hour later we reconvened to see whether some of our findings were actually viable…

 

First, heated camping chairs. I Googled to see if they were a thing, and I admit I was feeling very hopeful that they were after Google revealed 6,500,000 results. I can confirm that heated camping chairs ARE a thing, but there are not 6,5000,000 of them! Shark pointed out that the length of time we would be on the boat, we would definitely need a battery recharger… which would probably be huge and take up half the boat.

 

I did wonder if this was a little – extravagant, and whilst I didn’t rule it out altogether, I carried on searching, and after not very long the search took on a different direction, when completely by accident I found a recliner and, wait for it, a double camping chair (pretty much a sofa then), which when wrapped up in a sleeping bag would probably be pretty cosy, I showed the swim buddy, who immediately reminded me that we were not swimming with a super yacht as a support boat, and also that we would still be socially distancing, and me selfishly rocking up at the harbour with pretty much a three piece suite would leave less than the government’s recommended 2 metre social distance rules… 

 

In our quest for warmth Shark had a top find - fur lined leggings, and just like that, we thought we'd found the ultimate item of clothimg to keep us toasty warm. The hunt was over! And as we were thinking we had pretty much cracked it, I was sent a Tweet informing me of an alternative, and much better option – actual heated clothing. I have to admit, I was sorely tempted by this, and voiced my excitement to the swim buddy, who immediately banned me from getting one in case I blew up. She explained that a) if I was injured by said item of clothing they would pull the swim or b) (she didn't want to frighten me but...) if the boat caught fire because of a malfunction caused by electricity and water, we would all be doomed, or worse would have to jump overboard to save ourselves, and probably into the jaws of multiple sharks that had sensed our panic stricken selves in the water. 

 

We also agreed that a patio heater idea was most definitely dangerous. We finally concluded, after our second coffee, that our searching had become rather outlandish, and our suggestions were rather ambitious and not actually viable after all, and we should really stick to our original list, although there was one other thing that we touched on during our discussions/cake fest. Shark also mentioned the need to warm up on the boat before we each got in. I assumed she meant some stretches (as we would be short of space – especially if I were to be bringing the 2 seater camping chair that I hadn’t altogether ruled out as an option), however the swim bud had a much, much better idea.. to watch 'Mr Motivator in da House' from YouTube and do that instead. Literally THE best suggestion by a long mile…fingers crosses the boat has an internet connection! 




Finally, here are a couple of previous blogs I wrote about hypothermia and the after drop for reference. 


https://openwaterwoman.blogspot.com/2017/09/hypothermia-what-i-needed-to-know.html

https://openwaterwoman.blogspot.com/2017/11/swimming-in-cold-water-and-struggles.html

Saturday 5 September 2020

Whitby training sea swimming #2/3

 

Two weeks ago - The swim buddy and I returned to Whitby for our second swim. I were all too aware that part of our training needed to include more sea swimming, because there are open water skills needed in the sea that weren't the same as in a lake, which was where we had done almost all of our training for the swim, and as we needed to be adequately prepared for our Channel relay, we needed practice more in the sea. 

Thankfully after our last swim in Whitby, Ally, who very kindly offered to accompany us last time, offered to swim with us again. We basically bribed her with the promise of coffee and cake afterwards. Ally, an experienced sea swimmer, was really familiar with the sea in Whitby, so we felt confident that we were in really safe hands. She also happened to mention that she had swum the Channel, something I wonder if she would regret sharing with us later as we chewed her ear off for a whole hour and a half after the swim… 

 

The drive to Whitby was pretty much through pea soup. It crossed my mind that we may not be able to swim after all, and if we were, it was clear (or not as the case was) that this swim was going to be poles apart from the last, very sunny, one. I would be getting no tan lines today! Nonetheless, the swim buddy told me she was taking no chances and would be lathering up in sun lotion regardless (remember, the one with jelly fish repellent in it that didn’t work that we used last time? – well that one). Fortunately, as we arrived into the town the fog lifted and we were good for the swim, although as we walked past the harbour and the RNLI lifeboat, I noted that the wind was whipping up around us and it had become a little chilly. I had to remind myself that the Channel could be like this on the day of our swim, and was one of the reasons we were there. To prepare for the worst.

 

As we arrived on the beach I could see that the waves looked really rather high. We were reassured by Ally that we were fine to swim here. She also added that our relay swim would be likely to go ahead if it were like this on the day, basically, if it was, we had to just get on with it! 

 

I spent the first 10 minutes in the water acclimatising, trying not to swallow large amounts of sea water, being paranoid about jellyfish and trying to not be knocked off my feet, which despite only being up waist deep at the time, I failed at. Rather spectacularly as it went! I’m not sure I’ll live down the face-plant, but it makes me feel a whole lot better about the whole thing knowing that the swim bud took in a mouthful of sea water whilst she stood laughing at me. 


We set off swimming in the shallower water, Shark was already having swim goggle issues, and my new green safety light wasn’t working – despite me turning it on off and on again several times. I was also having a small, okay large, panic after feeling something slimy brush past my leg whilst I attempted to swim. As was usual, before any swim, I had already researched what creatures favoured this shoreline- I researched sharks basically, of which none chose knee deep water under the west cliff of the Whitby shoreline as its home, but despite this, I managed to convince myself that today was the day that a shark would relocate or swim off course and swim right next to me. Finally, after much deliberation, I plucked up the courage to brave a look under the water, only to discover a large tangle of seaweed with my leg in it and not a shark after all!

 

Ally told us we needed to go through the breakers to get to the calmer and deeper water on the far side. Easier said than done. My first encounter with one of the larger breakers did not end well for me… or Shark for that matter. I have no idea why I thought that I would be able to swim straight at it and come out unscathed. I was instead tossed backwards and landed rather unceremoniously on top of the swim buddy. After a quick check that Shark was only shocked and surprised and not injured, and that my costume was still attached and covering everything that needed covering, we set off again.

 

On the back of my failed attempt, Ally kindly showed us how to dive into the waves which would stop us from being tossed about. Despite ALL previous diving attempts that have gone before this moment not once going to plan (but that’s a whole other, really long blog, dedicated to the very, very long list of injuries/embarrassing moments/costume failures on the back of many really bad diving attempts), I had a bash, and actually, if you discount the dislodged goggles and the mouthful of wave that I took as I grappled for air, it all went unexpectedly rather well! 

 

For 20 minutes we swan through and beyond these waves, with Ally offering advice and suggestions as we went, and once we got a better hang of it, it felt absolutely amazing, and not half as frightening as I first felt. I learnt a lot too, like for example, I would not win against the large breakers. Any and all attempts to, ended in a face plant on the seabed or being pushed back to shore. It was easier to swim beyond them – nearer to the preferred habitat of the porbeagle shark (yep, I did really did do the research) which were usually found 10 miles or so out to sea (although knowing that they were so far away didn’t stop me planning for an emergency evacuation), because that’s where the good, and shall we say less turbulent, swimming was to be done. I also learnt that in these conditions that my bilateral breathing came into its own, breathing only to one side was necessary in parts to avoid a mouthful of salt water. I was glad I’d taken the time to learn how to do it. I learnt that because there was no obvious pattern to these waves that I needed to continually adjust my stroke. It became easier in these conditions when I shortened it. I was also used to swimming in a lake, but because salt water was more dense (because of the salt and other substances dissolved in it) I found it a bit easier to swim in once I had adjusted my body position to suit the environment, which was handy because if I WERE being chased by aforementioned great white's cousin, I would need to be able to swim real fast... or at least faster than everyone else!


By mutual decision we swam not too far out, I say mutual, Ally said that with the fog being visible on the cliff top still, there was a chance that it may come down, and quickly, which meant spotting us could become difficult should we get into trouble. I was a bit scared so absolutely agreed, and half hour later we decided to head back to the beach to get dressed, and then the warmth of a nearby café to pick Ally’s brains. First though, we had to do a quick photo shoot amongst the waves, that turned out to be not as quick as we would have liked, because taking my eye off the ball (or wave as the case was) for a second, I was hit in the back by what felt like a wall of water, which I thought had only managed to knock me off my feet, but as I watched my tow float head towards the beach without me, I realised that my tow float and I had parted ways. I quickly charged after it, finally catching up with it further down the beach, by throwing myself unceremoniously on top of it. The manoeuvrer wasn’t all that pretty, nonetheless I caught it!

 

We headed back to the beach to get dressed, me, tightly holding onto my useless tow float, and swim buddy holding her neck after yet another jellyfish sting. After administering some anti-sting cream and lots of sympathy I carefully suggested that like my broken tow float, her sun cream was not really all that fit for purpose, and we remined ourselves that’s why these training swims were invaluable. They weren’t just about swimming, they were also a great opportunity to check our equipment and kit was working correctly, and whilst I wouldn’t be swimming the Channel with a tow float, the CSA did recommend a safety light, and assuming they meant a working light, and I now had time to get a replacement one sorted. 


Today - Todays' swim was completely different in comparison. I say swim, barely any was done (the back of the fact that the breakers were coming in so fast that by the time I had managed a single stroke another one was bearing upon me, and knocking me off kilter and by the time I had caught my breath and pulled myself together, yet another one caught me off guard. It was like the waves were traveling in packs, and were continually engulfing me and then spitting me out. At first it was fun, but actually being tossed around like a rag doll was exhausting. I can’t actually believe how easy it was for the sea to dislodge parts of my clothing either (by which I mean my costume!?!?). Another casualty was my goggles and new green safety light, which were dislodged, and after a frantic scramble around to look for them, I resigned myself to the fact that they were lost to the sea. I returned to the shoreline to get some spares, and assigned Dawn who was spectating and taking some photos, to be on the look out for them, and do whatever it took to retrieve them (also this would ensure that she was doing something that meant she was unable to take any photos which would most likely be quite unflattering). Dawn told me that she would probably be willing to get the bottom of her ankles wet, but that was as far as she would go on the back of the fact that she didn’t have a change of clothes with her. Without checking it was okay, I offered her the swim buddy’s spare trousers, unbelievably she still said no…

 


I have to say, these preparation swims have been worth their weight in gold. They have been about building up our confidence, our endurance and our mental resilience, they have also been about ensuring our equipment was fit for purpose, and that we packed spares, and yes, I am still a little bitter about the whole losing my goggles part of the swim, especialy since I know better. Ally had lost hers (temporarily) in the first swim, and so what possessed me to attach the safety light I had just purchased to mine, when I knew there was a risk they may come off, I have no idea. Having said that, it was best to have cock ups prior to the swim, even if it has cost me a small fortune in replacements, and the swim buddy a small fortune in useless sun lotion...

 


Thanks for reading, and in the countdown to our Channel relay, there'll be more blogs, and I'm hoping photos and videos from the boat (Louise Jane Charters), which I'll share on my Open Water Woman facebok group page, found at: 


https://www.facebook.com/groups/219068846449080 


Our swim window is W/C 23/9 (3rd wave), so not long now! 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 28 July 2020

Whitby Training Camp - organised by the swim buddy.



With only 2 months till our Channel relay window we decided that we really needed to get some sea swimming practice in. The swim buddy and I hadn’t done any at all this year, and knew it would be very different from the lake. The reason wasn’t only to get a practice swim in, but to also to try a few things that we needed to use on the day of the swim – Nothing new on race day, as the saying goes, for example Shark had bought some very expensive sun lotion, which included some jellyfish sting protection and we needed to check that we didn’t have a reaction to it, and also that it worked… I meant in its sun protection capacity, but read on… 


Also, I had bought a couple of green safety lights, recommended by the Channel Swimming Association to use during the relay, and although not complicated at all to use (basically you press a button to turn it on and then press it again to turn it off again), as we were required to socially distance on the boat, I would need to be completely self-sufficient, so wanted to check I had got the gist of where I would put it on the back of my costume and how it fixed on. I would have undoubtedly had been able to get a better idea as to whether it had worked if only I had actually worn a costume that was CSA approved instead of the non-CSA approved one I chose to wear!


The forecast was sunny, and so anticipating it being busy we decided that we should set off at the crack of dawn so we could get parked. We arrived very much ahead of any rush and had indeed beaten absolutely everyone else that would arrive for a day in Whitby. On another plus side, it gave us over an hour and a half to find a café in this small seaside town, and also, with safety being paramount, time to search for the RNLI lifeboat station and check that the vessel was firstly substantial, and secondly, only a stone’s throw from where we would be swimming... just in case. Satisfied that this was the case, we found a café directly across the harbour from it, and spent a good hour delighting at how calm the water was and how lucky we were to find ourselves with such favourable swimming conditions. 


Checking out the safety boat from across the harbour.



Before we got in, we went for a walk along the pier, we soon realised that the calm water in the harbour was not actually mirrored in the open sea, and whilst it was still relatively calm, it wasn’t the millpond we had spent the last hour visualising ourselves swimming in as we drank our coffees. 


We (well, the swim buddy really) had arranged to meet up with Whitby Wild Swimmers group member Ally, who understood the tides and talked us through our route and anything we should be aware of, including rip currents and stuff under the waterline. After Ally had contacted the Coast Guard to let them know we were swimming, and a bit of faffing about looking for a lost earbud that I already had in my hand, we set off with tow floats and green lights and smothered in sun lotion, on what promised (if the labelling were to be believed) to be a jellyfish sting free swim.

 

The water was a balmy 14oc, and actually only a little choppy. I was delighted that I only managed to swallow a couple of nasty mouthfuls before I adjusted my breathing and found a rhythm with the waves. The water was so clear, and aside from a brown blob – assumed seaweed, that went past, rather randomly under my arm, I didn’t see a single fish, shark, seal, jellyfish or anything at all for that matter, but I admit this didn’t stop me from swimming nearer to the shoreline than the swim buddy, in fact all of the other swimmers. And if I were being completely honest, despite telling her that this was sheer coincidence, this probably wasn’t entirely true... If we were going to be chased, I wanted a fighting chance at getting to the shoreline before everyone else. 

 

By the time we got back to the beach we were very reluctant to get out, however after almost an hour, I was starting to feel the cold, and I felt that my swimming costume had been rubbing under my right arm. This was new, as it didn’t usually, but put it down to perhaps salt water, and decided that I should bear this in mind for the day of the swim. It was only once we were out that I realised that it wasn’t that my costume had rubbed, but instead I had been stung by a jellyfish. 



The swim buddy immediately went into nurse mode and rushed over to check I was okay. Her lack of any medical supplies for a sting was a testament to her faith in the sun lotion, and in a bid to help in any way she could, or perhaps just out of guilt, she offered to wee on it for me! 


Now had it have been a sting from a Portuguese man o war, I would have been prepared to try anything, even the swim bud weeing on me, but as I was 100% confident that the small round, brown object that I saw, and initially thought to be seaweed, but now knew differently, was absolutely definitely NOT a Portuguiese man o war, I decided that I would instead use some cream that the other nurse in our group had thankfully brought with her, just in case we had such an occasion to use it.


In the meantime, Shark then discovered she too had several (much smaller) stings, and before I was able to return the wee offer, was having them treated with the cream instead. Rather ironically, the only 2 of us that had applied the sun lotion with the jellyfish sting repellent in it, were the only two that also happened to get stung!?! 

 

Once we had dressed and compared wounds, we left the sea and straight into a chip shop, and to pick the brains of a fellow swimmer that had already swum in a Channel relay, before heading off in search of coffee… and some cake (for the shock).

 

Despite the sting, I absolutely loved the swim, and learnt a lot from it. I’d like to say a huge thanks to Ally for looking after us all so well, and thankfully we didn’t need to call on the services of the RNLI for anything. We decided that we do need to do a couple more sea swims, for more trials and to gain more confidence, and so Shark and I have already invited ourselves back in a few weeks time. On reflection, I think THE most important thing I learnt from this swim was that whilst I have already planned for a lot of eventualities that might happen mid-Channel relay swim, I was not one bit prepared for a jellyfish sting to happen, and so Shark and I have discussed trying a different sun lotion, one that might actually work, as well as being more post-sting prepared, and so next time we swim in the sea I will be, along with everything else, armed with some vinegar, a pair of tweezer and some antihistamine, which incidentally, I have since read works a lot better than wee!  



Finally, if you'd like to see some videos of our jaunt to Whitby, then head over to the Open Water Woman Facebook group page. 

 

 

 




Thursday 11 June 2020

My first post-lockdown swim


67 days between swims felt just too long. The only saving grace was that my Channel Relay swim, scheduled for w/c 27th May, had been postponed until late September (all being well), which meant that for this swim there was no immediate pressure to get back in the lake for a swim, but training for a Channel relay wasn’t the reason I swam, I just loved it, and wanted to get back in as soon as I safely could. 

 

I’d been doing various other exercises in the gap to try and keep my fitness up, but still knew that there was not real replacement, and so would be really, really rusty, that’s if I could remember how to swim at all when I got in, so when I finally heard the news I’d been waiting for, that the lake would be opening again, I almost cried I was so happy. I was just as excited to be seeing my swim famalam once again, even if it was from a distance, and there would be no catch up over coffee and cake afterwards, and so booked my place on the first swim slot available. 

 

I spoke with the swim buddy before we left (usually we would have had this conversation in the car on the way to the lake accompanied by large coffee), the hot topic was deciding whether we should wear a wetsuit or not for the swim. Despite the lake being over 18oc, we mutually decided in favour of wearing them, partly for safety reasons, but also because we hadn’t been in the open water for so long and had wanted to enjoy the experience of being back in the water without cutting it short because we were cold, we would wear them, just this once to test the water as it were, but knowing that we really could have done with getting back into skins as soon as we could. Decision made I realised then that I hadn’t remembered to pack my Glide or even my rash vest. Talk about being disorganised, but could have been worse, it could have been my goggles, or my hat, or much worse, my post-swim slice of cake. 

 

Thankfully, a fellow swimmer, who also happened to be a keen cyclist, came to my rescue and offered me, along with an antibacterial wipe, some of his ant-chafing cream. I’ll add here that it didn’t actually dawn on me until I got home that as a keen cyclist he probably didn’t have the cream for any chafing that may have occurred on his neck whilst riding his bike… On the plus side though, it worked a treat!

 

Since my 2 Way Windermere swim in August last year, knowing that we had a Channel Relay swim booked, Shark and I hadn’t worn our wetsuits much, and to be honest, I once I started to put it on I wasn’t one bit sure that I ever remember it being that tight, but decided that it must have been rather than to acknowledge it may have been the lack of exercise and the countless ‘bake off’ competitions that had occurred in my house whilst in lockdown had contributed to this. 

 

A downside to social distancing was that I was unable to ask someone to zip me in, and after a struggle, found the best way was to (not very elegantly) lean over, breath out and jiggle the zip up. On the upside, social distancing meant that no-one was close enough to bear witness close up to the fiasco. I’d made my mind up there and then that if I had to go through the same rigmarole to get out of it after the swim, I would drive home wearing it and extract myself from it in the privacy of my own 4 walls – probably with a crowbar!

 

It became obvious very soon into the swim that this was not going to be groundbreakingly fast. Unfortunately, I was unable to measure my speed accurately, like on a watch for example, on the back of the fact that despite having one on, I had forgotten that you had to press the start button to make it actually work…I did press one, but clearly the wrong one, and so instead had to measure my level of slowness based on the many other swimmers that overtook me during the swim.

 

Our hour was up soon enough, and as I approached the shoreline, grinning, I turned to look back at the lake that I’d missed so much and reflected on my swim. The leisurely pace I swam at (not by choice obvs) meant I could see that the lake, thankfully, hadn’t been taken over a large flock of large and possessive lake dwelling birds deciding to take up residency in the absence of any swimmers. I was also noting how I’d not seen one fish during my swim. It was then, as the swim buddy and I neared the jetty a fish darted out towards us from under it. I was surprised to find that I wasn’t scared, but it did make me jump and stopped me in my tracks. The swim buddy swam on, and at first I thought she had been oblivious to the sighting, but I soon noted that her pace had increased by quite a lot, in fact she was pretty much wind sprinting back. It was great to be reminded that should I be involved in a fish collision that I would remain very much on my own and our ‘every swimmer for themselves’ rule was still in place. Yep, I’ve definitely missed this place, and the swim buddy. A lot!



So lovely to be back in the lake.


Thanks for reading. For more regular posts, please look for Open Water Woman on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Stay safe. 




Sunday 17 May 2020

Lockdown swim training - in the absence of my own private pool, lake or pond.


I’ve almost lost count of the weeks since we went into lockdown, and after spending the first few days in a complete panic about not being able to get in the pool, or the lake to train for my Channel Relay swim scheduled for the end of May, I realised that no amount of worrying about it was going to change anything. It was best to stay safe at home and take the opportunity to explore some alternative forms of exercise, in the hopes that WHEN everything re-opens, I will at least have maintained a certain level of fitness.

Lockdown has meant I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, some of which I have spent doing some rather pressing jobs around the house that desperately needed doing, like painting my summer house with the paint I bought last summer when it ACTUALLY needed doing, but instead chose to spend pretty much all of my spare time at the lake, swimming. I have also filled in an enormous hole that my dog had spent several long afternoons digging, for no obvious reason that I can think of, aside from a quest to find the centre of the earth, and it needed sorting – under the current lockdown circumstances though, I seriously contemplated excavating it further to, I don’t know, approximately a 25 metre rectangle! 

I’d like to think that I would use this opportunity to spend quality time with my family, however realised this probably wouldn’t happen on the back of discovering we are living in different time zones, severely reducing the hours of possible opportunity, but I will keep trying… probably to their horror! I also had ideas of using the time to do things such as learn a new language – I was thinking Chinese or Russian, however it was suggested by my mum that I perhaps wasn’t destined to be bilingual, and reminded me that it took me the best part of three years to master the words pencil case (trousse) and pencil (crayon) in French when I was in school…I am yet to use them in my adult life, but I am confident that one day my efforts will all pay off when I’m finally asked if I have a pencil or a pencil case! 

I also thought it would be a great opportunity to attempt more cooking, however after the first night in isolation, and a disastrous meal, that included the tinned prunes I panic bought, despite not actually liking tinned prunes (or even non-tinned prunes), turned out to be frankly quite disgusting, my kids suggested (begged) me to not see it through, and they decided they would take their chances cooking their own meals. It’s a complete mystery as to why I ever thought that because we were in lockdown that I would suddenly turn into Nigella Lawson overnight, and make meals that were both edible and delicious, when usually they were awful or inedible. 

Sadly, because building a makeshift pool/lake in the garden was out of the question, I have also had to find alternative ways to exercise to replace my swimming. My Channel Relay has already been postponed to the end of September, which afforded me some extra time to train (please, all being well), and so really needed to lose as little fitness as possible between now and my first swim post-lockdown. 

I knew that I needed to choose exercises that had the same mechanical purpose to swimming, but I also wanted to use the opportunity to explore other forms of exercise that would also challenge different muscles. I have been guilty of sticking to the same exercise routines, reluctantly doing anything other than front-crawl, and only modifying it occasionally, despite knowing that after the initial improvements, I would plateau, which so far hadn’t stopped me repeating the same process, and what made it worse is that I became frustrated and moaned at the lack of improvement, even though I knew they wouldn’t happen, because my body had adapted, and so I spent quite a lot of time, accompanied by many coffees and the one thing I can cook – decent cake, scouring the internet for some training ideas and programs, for example, weight-lifting and HIIT cardio. I’ve also dusted off equipment that hasn’t seen the light of day in a long time (actually I can't remember buying one of them), and even back then had used only a handful of times on account that I was a bit sh*t at it…. well, all of them really! 

One other thing that I am unable to do, always have been, and so was very keen to master whilst I had some time to fathom out where I was going so wrong, was the press-up. It astonishes me that I can successfully complete a 21 mile swim without stopping, and yet I can’t do a single one. Not one. I can do a half of one really well, unfortunately that’s the down part, but I am yet to complete a whole one. 

Sigh.... won't be long. Hope I can still remember how to do it.
I may be a bit rusty!

I suppose the question is, will my swimming improve as a result of any non-swimming lockdown training? And the answer would be, who knows? But what I do know is this… after lots of days, nay weeks in lockdown already, several rather astonishing things have happened: 

  • I have become a bit of an expert at rowing, well I say an expert, what I did was to go onto YouTube and watch Sir Matthew Pincent’s ‘Top Rowing Tips’ video, and you can’t get a more qualified coach than that, can you? And as there’s a very obvious lack of any experts (Sir Matthew) being able to see me to tell me I’m doing it wrong I’m going with it. I might just like to add that when I say expert, what I mean is that (as of yet) I haven’t fallen off it, broken anything - included in this are body parts and furniture, and nor have I needed to phone one of the emergency services for help because I have incurred an injury.
  • I've learnt that buying a professional rope does not automatically make you an instant professional. On the back of this discovery I have decided not to continue with the skipping, because unlike my daughter who has taken to it like Rocky Balboa, my first attempt resulted in me becoming a little entangled in the rope, with no-one willing to help me until several photos had been taken (regardless of my objections) to remember the moment...
  • I would never have discovered how much I really love weight training. Not necessarily the horrid arm jiggle that occurs whilst doing it though (pretty much like sails on a boat), but I am working exceptionally hard on transforming them, but also because weight training is great for building bone and muscle strength, and a way of helping to decrease my chances of getting osteoporosis, which the risk for me now, has increased dramatically (this is because oestrogen is needed to help lay down bone), and actually, I really should have been doing it a lot sooner... 
  • I couldn’t have appreciated how difficult it would be to coordinate taking part in a step exercise class whilst watching it on the television at the same time! I’ve now overcome my fear of headbutting the T.V in some freak accident, and as long as I stick to the low intensity ones that include no sudden, or quick movements, I’ll be fine… and with rock solid thighs as well!
  • Lockdown has also revealed to me, and the rest of the household, just how much I really needed to replace those, frankly obscene, leggings. 
  • Another, unexpected bonus, was the discovery of the ten pound note I found under the sofa whilst doing some core exercises on the floor. I am yet to let anyone in on my findings. I probably never will...I'll use it to go towards some new, less revealing leggings!
  • And finally, on the whole elusive press-up fiasco...  I can say, with confidence that I can now comfortably execute 1 whole press up. It’s not technically perfect, and it’s not pretty, but what it is is a whole one. That’s an improvement of 100%. It’s a really big deal! 


Thanks for reading. For more regular posts, please look for Open Water Woman on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Stay safe. 








Friday 6 March 2020

Pool Water Woman - for the time being...


At the end of the summer swim season last year, swim buddy and I were chatting about ultimate swim challenges we would love to do. She also informed me that we needed do them soon “before we get too old and things started dropping off…” I declared that Alcatraz was still a to do on my bucket list (and the irony-absolutely not lost on me), and Shark informed me of her desire to take part in a Channel Relay... And that's when it happened. I pause for a millisecond too long, and Shark took this as confirmation that I too was thinking about it, which incidentally, I wasn't, and so I seriously have no idea how this happened, but in a moment of madness, I threw caution and any sense I was born with to the wind, and found myself agreeing to join her!

In honesty after the initial shock had subsided, I thought that it would be very likely that despite agreeing to do it, it would take such a long to organise a boat, and another two people that she would either think it was too much bother and change her mind, decide that we would indeed be too old by the time it was sorted and not do it because by the time we COULD do it, things had already begun dropping off, or something that was commonplace at our age, just forget we had even had the conversation in the first place and it wouldn’t happen. 

Alas, no. I suspect that Shark was worried that if she gave me any thinking time that I would see sense and change my mind again, and I’ll admit, that as soon as the words ‘go on then’ were out of my mouth, I wanted to take them back. Sensing my sudden hesitancy, Shark was on a mission, and by the time we had finished our coffee, she had contacted Leon at SwimYourSwim, and not fifteen minutes later we had a pilot, his boat, a swim date, a team name and two more possible team members. Shark was not letting the grass grow!

At first I sat there feeling a little stunned that we were actually really doing this. Sensing my panic, Shark reminded me of all the positives of doing this swim. The guilt free food I’d be able to eat (Jaffa Cakes being top), the bragging rights, the hoodie... I told her that I was in only on the proviso that the extensive Google searches for any and all possible shark and sightings in the English Channel, since the dawn of time, came up blank.  

I had been swimming all through the summer season in my wetsuit, as I’d been training for my two way Windermere swim for most of it, and afterwards just kept wearing it out of habit and of course I was worried about the profits in Sudorcrem and Vaseline plummeting if I stopped, and whilst I didn't like the to think that I was single handedly responsible for any economic downturn they may suffer as a result of it, I needed to ditch the wetsuit that covered pretty much all of me from the ankle upwards, in favour of skins, which required the purchase of several new Channel approved swimming costumes. All of which covered not as much flesh as I was entirely comfortable with at my age.

It was necessary to swap this early as we had been advised to complete our two hour qualifying swim for the relay, if possible, as soon as the temperature dropped to below 15.5oC. That way it was done, dusted and in the bag, and if by any chance I didn’t succeed, there would be the possibility of another bite of the cherry. 

The following few weeks I spent as much time as I could at the lake, in my new costumes (there shall be absolutely not one photograph of this). The temperature dropped gradually, which I was told was a good thing in so much as that I could get used to the lower temperatures slowly, but I wasn’t convinced anything would get me entirely used to it, it was still quite a shock every time I got in, and I found that hovering round the shore line procrastinating, and trying to draw anyone that would talk into a conversation to delay getting in, did not help one bit. 

I learned quite quickly that the best ‘getting in’ strategy, for me, was to just get ready and get in. Simple as that. No faffing about. No talking. No hesitating. It was once I had reached toe level that multiple and many sweary words that I thought I had only thought, actually leaked out of my mouth. I knew this because I was reliable informed by those still in the near vicinity that the words DID come out of my mouth. I was also informed (you know who you are) that some of the words were not actually considered ‘legal’… had we been playing Scrabble, which, were I a fan of Scrabble, would have been invaluable information, and worth remembering during a game! 

Before long the water temperature dropped below the permitted 15.5oC, Shark and I (and Richard, one of our other team members) completed our 2 hour qualifier. The whole swim was, let’s say, chilly, but having 2 of my fellow team-mates with me really kept me going, along with the knowledge that absolutely all the fishes in the lake would be hibernating somewhere deep in the water, for the winter (or at least that's what I was told and choose to believe). That, along with the very large quantities of coffee and cake I had promised myself, by way of celebration, the second we were out, changed and I had stopped shivering enough to not spill any, which of course would be wasteful, and not to mention careless. 

Shark and I mixed our open water swimming with pool sessions. We had hoped to carry on swimming at the lake on a Saturday morning through the winter, even though the distances would become less and the recovery more, however this was not to be. One thing and another meant that between surprise weekends away, family commitments, bad weather and an aching toe (Me, not Shark, and yes I am aware of how pathetic this comes across, but to put it into context, I stubbed it and it REALLY hurt. A lot), we wouldn’t be able to make it to the lake for 5 weeks. 5 weeks felt too long to be thinking about getting back in again. The water by this time had dropped to near the 5oC mark. I was aware that getting back in again would be extremely uncomfortable, and possibly dangerous. Not only that, but I was also worried that I would get back in and really not love it, and after talking it over with Leon, I reluctantly decided to wait until the water warmed up before getting back in. 




And so I find myself currently on an open water sabbatical. Not because I want to be, but because I feel I’ve left it too long between cold water swims to go back just yet. This sabbatical is happening in a warm, who am I kidding? Practically boiling hot pool, but that's okay because unlike at the lake, I am permitted to shower afterwards, and the chances of getting home after being in the pool to find some type of organic matter (leaf, bit of twig, green stuff, unidentified brown thing) or other stuck to my body somewhere is exceptionally low (although there is still a very small possibility, but we won't talk about that one occasion as I'm still moderately traumatised by the whole thing...).  

And actually, it’s not so bad. At the end of the day, I still get to swim, and as the external variables are less than in the open water (temperature, tide, weather, flock of birds, exceptionally large and fast fish), I am able to chart my progress more accurately (or not, if for example I am stopped mid-way through a set to be asked if I know what the time is, or what time the life guard arrives or whether I know the temperature (yes- DAMN HOT!). 

I would be lying if I said that I don’t diss the pool at times, but it IS usually under mitigating circumstances that I do this, for example when a non-conformist swimmer gets in and swims breadths, or decides that the middle of the lane that we have been sharing is where they choose to swim. There are also other pool related dangers too, like for example possible lane rope burn, entanglement (hair balls – absolutely not mine) are some examples, and also self- inflicted injuries, like the ones that happen on the back of a terrible tumble turn, followed by the immediate inability to swim in a straight line, which result in a nasty collision with the pool steps. I came of worse FYI. 

I have been swum over, swum under, swum into, and in the interest of honesty, have myself swum over, under and into a fellow swimmer before now… and then swam into him again during the very same swim session, and to practically finish the poor man off, then kicked him when he switched lanes (on his side of the lane rope), which I suspect is actually quite difficult to achieve WITH planning, let alone without! (I’d like to add that I do know this poor man, and I am aware that this doesn’t make it one bit better, but just to let you know, he took it well, and still swims with me… on occasion when there are no ‘safer’ lanes free at the other side of the pool)!

I could go on, but despite the ‘dangers’ it’s actually not all that bad. Yes, I’d prefer to be in a lake, and yes, I realise I’m saying this – even though I know there are other and different dangers that can happen in a lake, like for example accidentally becoming impaled on a Narwhal horn, or swimming into a jetty, and I do miss the open water. A LOT! Hell, I'd even go as far as to say that I’m even looking forward to seeing Nemesis Swan again...but the pool has its benefits too, and whilst I am awaiting for spring to arrive, bringing with it some much needed warmth, you can find me poolside... waiting...

Thanks for reading. For more regular posts on my Channel Relay swim training, please look for Open Water Woman and follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.