Returning (after a brief sabbatical) ... to the open water!

As I'd not even so much as put a toe in the lake (actually in any lake, pond or body of water larger than 25x10m) for a month, I promised Leon and Ally at Swimyourswim that I would definitely be swimming the following Saturday, and put in my 'welcome back into the fold' cake request with Master Baker Chris, so it would be considered rude to not to turn up, however on Friday night as I was putting together all my kit, I found myself looking for excuses not to go, even resorting to making up imminent and terrible adverse weather conditions that would (if they were actually true) prevent me from getting there, and even posted on Facebook evidence (see exhibit 1 below) that Antarctica was indeed headed our way. 

Desperate times call for desperate measures!

It’s been several weeks since I last swam in the lake, and with it being Christmas, which was then followed by a nasty bug, I was able to come up with some quite plausible reasons/excuses not to go. My last open water swimming experience hadn’t been all that great, and so returning from my sabbatical I felt overwhelmed and scared. All my concerns were met by the reassuring words of the very lovely Ally, I'd gone through my whole repertoire of excuses before exhausted, I finally ran out and said I'd go (I was able to think of a thousand more reasons not to after I'd agreed I'd go). Chris had told me he'd already baked the brownies for me, and if nothing else, the thought of any chocolate not fulfilling its destiny (me eating it) does not sit all that comfortably with me. 

The adverse weather I’d been hoping for (wintry storms, blizzard, dust storm, tropical cyclone, Antarctica itself, anything really) didn’t materialize, and so having run out of any plausable excuses I had no choice other than to go. I have to admit, it was lovely to be reunited with my swim family again and I nearly shed a real tear when Chris showed me the large Tupperware box filled with chocolate brownies he’d made for my homecoming, and as I wasn’t sure whether the whole batch were just for me, I opted for just one for after the swim and one for the road, and after hugs all round (I couldn’t be sure really whether they were long hugs or whether I was clinging on to prolong getting in), it was time to get on with the job in hand.

Star Baker Chris's chocolate brownies.

The water was the coldest I’d swum in at 3.5oc.  I stood for a good few minutes on the shoreline along with Deb, a fellow swim family member, who was also feeling a little apprehensive. assessing the lake (for no reason whatsoever, although did note the absence of swans today). We decided we would get in together, and whilst Deb got straight in and swam off, it was with many encouraging words from Shark that I finally got in up to my knees, before doing an abrupt turn and getting straight back out again (my costume wasn’t even wet, and I seriously considered stopping at a lovely warm, inviting pool on the way home to have a swim instead). Shark always puts my coat on over hers as it adds an extra layer for her, and keeps it warm for me when I get out, however she had barely done the zip up before she reluctantly handed it back to me. 

I was ready to call it a day even before I started. I stood on the shoreline in two minds whether to get back in the water or to go back to the clubhouse where it was warm and there were chocolate brownies... It was during my indecision at the side of the lake that Izzy (lovely, and known for her blunt yet comical delivery) said to me “if I didn’t think you could do it I wouldn’t be saying this, but you can, and I am…. If you don’t stop being a Princess and get in, I am prepared to take my boot off and kick you in.” Now, I’d like to think that it was meant for the greater good and with a small level of affection, but it was that and something that Jane also said, “it’s all in your mind. You can do this” that made me fling off my coat (poor Shark didn’t see it coming), do an about turn and get back in. No messing, no faffing about, no backwards glance, straight in and straight off.

Once in, I was surprised at how good it felt (once the initial cold shock had subsided and I’d had a chat with myself to remind me that there were no fishes, monsters or lake snakes (only buoy ropes) in the water). All my earlier worries and anxieties disappeared, along with the feeling in my feet and hands and pretty much my whole body soon after that!

the original photo

I swam one lap of 300m, mostly with my face out of the water. I didn’t care that it wasn’t far, I didn’t care that it wasn’t at any great speed. I was back in the water and loving it, and so rather than carrying on to do another lap, and possibly push my luck, I decided to call it a day whilst I was still enjoying it. As it has been a while I’d forgotten that getting out when you are at best uncoordinated is challenging, let alone getting out without any feeling in any of your limbs…Suffice to say my exit from the lake was nothing like the flamboyant entry earlier and was Oscar worthy but for all the wrong reasons…

Once Shark had scooped me up and passed me a towel, I tried (really hard) to put my fur lined swim shoes on, however I just couldn’t manage it. Every time I attempted to put them on they also moved with my feet. I was too cold to be able to maneuver them in and so asked Shark, rather than watch me in amusement, help me put my wet, cold feet in them. Laughing she told me it was not because my feet were wet that they wouldn’t go in, it was in fact my feet objecting to being put into such nasty shoes! I couldn’t argue with her, they really are quite horrid, whilst at the same time functional!  

The original photo that Shark added graffiti to.

Back in the clubhouse I changed as quickly as my frozen self would allow, with the help of Shark passing me my clothes. I noticed I was lobster pink all bar one toe. Panicking I turned to Shark for reassurance. She reliably informed me it is something called Raynaud’s disease (to do with blood circulation and cold) rather than the beginnings of anything more sinister like galloping dry rot or trench foot, but just to be on the safe side, I decided to keep a close eye on it over the course of the day. My feet were so cold I’m not sure that I’d notice if it had actually fallen off. I would have to take her word for it as I’m not sure whether operating a phone and trying to dial the ambulance service with frozen, shaky hands could even be achieved anyway.

Recovering in the clubhouse café I reflected on my morning. I was so, so pleased that I’d got in, and although a brief dip, I was (still am) delighted. I really don’t know what it was that caused the light bulb moment just before I got in. It could have been a number of reasons - The fact that I’d got up before the crack of dawn, driven over an hour to get there, and had already forked out £5 to swim may have had something to do with it. It could have been knowing that Star Baker Chris only issues his wares to those that have actually had a swim, and I’m not all that convinced that wading up to my knee and then getting out actually qualifies me for even one of the chocolate brownies he's baked especially, that I'd already helped myself to. It could also have been down to sheer determination and bloody mindedness, however when I think about it, it was most likely to be the threat of Izzy’s foot making contact with my backside that really had me make my mind up. Bootless or not (although I hear she favours the steel toe capped variety), I don't rate my chances and suspect that I may well have found myself swiftly face planting the lake if executed! Whatever the reason, I did it! I finally got back in...Yay!

Finally, it's a year since I first began writing my little blog, which stared as a way of writing about my recovery, the training and the swim I did last year (Windermere one way). I have been amazed and overwhelmed at the amazing response, and lovely messages of support I have had. After I had completed the swim I was asked if I would consider putting last year’s journey into a book. Going from a blog to an e-book is something quite different, and a lot scarier, however I decided after a lot of consideration to take the plunge (no pun intended) and do it, and finally has now been published this week on Amazon. How amazing (but mostly scary) is that? I hope that for those of you that read it feel inspired to not only take on difficult challenges, but also to never underestimate how far you can push yourself to achieve what you set out to do.

Open Water Woman Swims Windermere is available on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Open-Water-Woman-Swims-Windermere-ebook/dp/B079ZB1775/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520196854&sr=8-1&keywords=jacqui+Hargrave

Bring on the Hurly Burley!

This time last year, all New Year’s resolutions, training plans and goals were (pending on surgery and recovery going well) all in the bag. This year, in contrast, we are 2 weeks into January already and all resolutions are yet to get off the ground.

There weren’t even that many:

1) Enter Hurly Burly Swim

2) Sort out an appropriate training plan and smart (er) goals

3) Get my nutrition in order (better informed, better choices – my cake days will be limited… I feel sick and bereft even just thinking about it already!)

4) Get back into the open water ASAP

NYR#1 – Enter the Hurly Burly - I actually entered this before NYE so technically you could argue that it’s not actually a resolution, as it was already in the bag, but hear me out first (not that I’ll be removing it…). The reason for my early entry? I missed out last year due to far too much faffing about deciding whether I should do it, before deciding that I would do it, by which time I couldn’t do it as I was too late, and so taking no chances this year, I had been eagerly awaiting news of the swim date, and so when the entry date (and time) by Outdoor Swimming Society was announced I was ready for it. The evening beforehand was busy with setting multiple alarms (I barely slept anyway), locating my credit card and having the link on the computer ready to go, and the following day, despite the computer deciding to be on go slow, and me having the mother of all meltdowns, I finally, after much panic, got a place! Shark will vouch it was ugly as she was on the other end of the phone smugly informing me hers had seamlessly gone through, whilst I was sitting in front of my computer wailing “why?” at it several times before the penny dropped and I realized that there was a very strong possibility that it was human error and not indeed the fault of the computer, or the credit card, or indeed all inanimate objects in reaching distance, that I was also blaming. A quick e-mail to OSS confirmed it was in fact me, and the cleverer people at that end had my heart rate back out of the danger zone in next to no time (at it’s worst I peaked at 114bpm my Garmin reliably informed me), and I was officially announced (via e-mail) in!

NYR#2 – Resolution 1 complete it was now time to sort out an appropriate training plan- I’ve swam this distance on a few occasions now, and have read several training plans, but before now opted to do my own. I’d like to think they had some degree of success on the back of the fact that a) I didn’t drown, b) I finished them all and c) it obviously hasn’t put me off.

And so I arranged to meet with Coach Morg, to discuss a new training plan, which he would continually review, monitor and adapt if necessary. This would be done via weekly phone calls, monthly meetings (to include a swim) and me sharing with him the data collected by my Garmin watch (via Garmin/Strava I think - all very new to me). Truth is I’m not sure how I feel about this as it allows Coach to track my progress for every swim. Very Big Brother (jeez there’ll be no way of hiding a bad swim will there? It’s literally there in black and white).  However it is a great way for him to offer me immediate feedback, and so need to get over myself (I can always delete any shoddy efforts and redo them. This could mean that I have to do several re-swims in order for it to look impressive, but needs must sometimes).

NYR#3 - Get my nutrition in order – I know how to do this, but with it just being Christmas and all I received 3 yards of Jaffa Cakes (this is an actual thing) along with several other gifts not known for their nutritional quality. Unfortunately my complete lack of willpower when it comes to Jaffa Cakes, the fact that I was overjoyed that there were 12 Jaffa Cakes per packet in these yard tubes, rather than the new 10 per packet (See… now I think I’m over thinking it – if Jaffa cakes became 10 per box in September, I’m now worried that the gift givers (you know who you are) bought them pre the much publicized “shrink” and possibly were out of date by Christmas. I confess I didn’t check that bit, and I couldn’t be sure whether they were being tight, or thoughtful… I’ll hope for the latter), added to that there’s my ‘not sharing’ policy (There is one exception to this rule however and that’s if it’s fallen on the floor first and/or I don’t want it), other than that it’s an absolute no (Not dis-similar to Smithy in Gavin &Stacey (series 3, episode 2)). This isn’t an apology by the way; I own my selfishness! And also as I don’t like wasting food, I was obligated to eat all of them before NYE!

NYR#4 - Get back into the open water ASAP – I confess, I haven’t swum in the open water since mid December. I could have gone and should have gone, however found it very easy, especially at this time of year, to find fairly convincing reasons not to go. I was not fooling Ally at Swimyourswim though, who sent me a lovely message, to which I found myself confessing I had been making excuses not to go as I felt I’d pushed myself to my limit last time. She politely told me I needed to get back on the metaphorical bike and suggested a dip the following week. Leon on the other hand took a different approach. His message went like this “if you don’t come back soon I shall start calling you Indoor Water Woman instead!” And so before he began threatening me with breaching any trades description acts I agreed to go that week.

So with New Year’s resolutions decided, and the Hurly Burly booked, all I needed to do was to get started with the other 3. Coach had arranged for me to complete a critical swim speed session that will establish my threshold pace, however on the morning of the swim I didn’t feel all that great. I set off to get to the swim, but thankfully changed my mind half way there, and turned round to go home. Just in the nick of time as it happens, and spent the next 3 days unable to remove myself from the sofa, and my kids to fend for themselves. All hope of NYR#2 happening sooner rather than later was gone, as I was forced to stay put whilst my grumpy self recovered. I’m not a great patient, and being ill was deeply unpleasant, however it did mean that my calorie intake was severely reduced on account of not being able to keep anything down, and so rather than any valiant effort on my part, it has actually kick started NYR#3, and there’s the silver lining right there!

I was keen to get the ball rolling, however decided to leave the open water swim for another week. I’ve swum in the cold before, whilst not feeling 100% and no good came out of it. I messaged Star Baker Chris to let him know I would be there at the weekend, and that if he was going, and also taking requests from AWOL swimmers, my favourite ‘welcome back’ cake of choice would be either his legendary brownies, or Guinness cake, and whilst I am very aware this contravenes NYR#2, eating energy food containing sugar is actually recommended by the NHS to help recovery from hypothermia. It’s a loose fit, I’ll grant you, but you have to eat what’s at hand, right? And Chris goes to so much trouble, and if medical practitioners say it’s a good thing, who am I to argue? Cake order sorted, and a quick catch up, Chris told me that in my absence he’d been helping the support team at Hatfield. “Not the getting dressed bit though?” I asked, and as I’m still awaiting a reply, I immediately called Shark to ask if she was up for a stint of towel holding. I’m very fortunate really that she readily agreed after I bribed her with the offer of (Chris’s) cake, but was actually prepared to stoop very low indeed, had she not been agreeable with cake, to get her to come (I’m talking possible kidnap).

Despite me being laid up, I have been making great use of those long, lazy days on the sofa by researching some rather lovely B&B’s in Wales to stay at the night before the swim (it’s an early one!), and as I am in good time I have managed to secure a rather lovely plush room, not even a stones throw from the beach where we will be setting off from. (Note to Shark- I’ve booked us a room. (Yay!) I know this will be a lovely surprise for you when you read this, and on the plus side, it’ll save me asking you directly for the 50 quid you now owe me, and you’re welcome!). So enforced rest may have prevented me from getting started with all but one of my New Year’s resolutions, but it sure bagged me a nice B&B ready for the swim that I’m not actually match fit for yet! Yet another (small) silver lining!👍

Finally, it's a year since I first began writing my little blog, which stared as a way of writing about my recovery, the training and the swim I did last year (Windermere one way). I have been amazed and overwhelmed at the amazing response, and lovely messages of support I have had. After I had completed the swim I was asked if I would consider putting last year’s journey into a book. Going from a blog to an e-book is something quite different, and a lot scarier, however I decided after a lot of consideration to take the plunge (no pun intended) and do it, and finally has now been published this week on Amazon. How amazing (but mostly scary) is that? I hope that for those of you that read it feel inspired to not only take on difficult challenges, but also to never underestimate how far you can push yourself to achieve what you set out to do.

Open Water Woman Swims Windermere is available on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Open-Water-Woman-Swims-Windermere-ebook/dp/B079ZB1775/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520196854&sr=8-1&keywords=jacqui+Hargrave

A few web addresses referenced in the blog. You’re welcome!

https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/the-hurly-burly/

http://openwaterwoman.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/attempting-to-swim-ice-mile-is-not-for.html

http://openwaterwoman.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/attempting-to-swim-ice-mile-is-not-for.html

www.myevolve.org

http://swimyourswim.com 

I post regularly on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you'd like to follow/like here are the links:

 @Openwaterwoman_
Open Water Woman

https://www.instagram.com/openwaterwoman/ 

The Christmas gift of a new watch - The Garmin Forerunner 735XT

Basically the need for a new swimming watch, in brief, goes like this; my old, and trustworthy Garmin broke. It was a swift death, brought about by someone (me) being a bit careless and dropping it on a concrete floor. I cried real tears and held a minute’s silence after which I spent the remainder of the day wearing a black armband mourning my loss. Not really, what actually happened was; I said lots of sweary words and felt miserable for the rest of the day, and at every watchless training session after that.

I’ve been lost without one, and had resorted to using my open water watch in the pool, which unfortunately doesn’t have the functions that I like, and so has been neither use nor ornament really, so it’s time for a new watch that is suitable for both the pool and the open water and has on it the functions that I like, and use, and how fortuitous, the timing couldn’t be better really, what with Christmas coming and all…

So, after tons of extensive research, well basically going on the website of various watches having sent a plea out on social media for advice on the best watches, followed by watching various YouTube clips (a couple were great, others less great) and reading some reviews, I decided that the best one for me would be the Garmin Forerunner 735XT.

In order that ‘Santa’ would get the correct present, subliminal messages were strategically placed around the house. And for these of you who didn’t get what you wished for, read and learn. The tried and well-tested strategy goes like this:

1.     Hint – relentless hinting works. These include: Leave magazines open on relevant pages in obvious places. Here are a few examples: the coffee table, kitchen counter, sock drawer, garage, anywhere really. Several relevant tabs left open on the computer (showing you’ve done your research always looks good). Change the screen saver on the computer to that of your gift choices (don’t do a montage – that’s too obvious). Leave barcodes and pictures of your gift of choice here, there and everywhere (saves time for them and ensures they get the right gift. Tell anyone that’ll listen that you are in dire need of said item and how your life would be enriched with it in it. I speak from bitter experience here - Please, please also include the colour you would like (if you happened to be that lucky)… And in my case, as it is well known universally that black is a slimming colour – black it is!

2.     There is no number 2.

Fast forward to Christmas day, and my winning strategy has paid off. I opened the gift, digging deep into my pretty limited, but impressive acting repertoire (I secured the leading role of Mary in the school nativity aged five, and sang Wiggly Woo on stage at the Pantomime with Charlie Williams aged eight) with what I felt was the right level of acting surprised. I rounded this off by doing some kind of jig around the room (If I said one word – Carlton- that’s the level). I wanted my kids to be satisfied that they had pulled the surprise of surprises out of the bag, and I think they were. I am aware that there’s a fine line between pulling something off and over acting, and I’m not entirely sure after that dance whether I crossed it! 

I unpacked the watch with great care (couldn’t bear another loss), and thank my lucky stars that Garmin had provided an idiots guide to using it. As a child of thne 70’s I am completely useless when it comes to technology, and without basic guidance the watch would have an unfulfilled  life living in the kitchen drawer – unused and unloved. 

So with beginners guide in hand, watch plugged in, I sat in front of the computer for the best part of 3 hours registering/looking/learning/playing around with it, which resulted in Christmas lunch being a little later than originally planned (3 hours later)! No one cared, they were far too busy eating selection boxes and counting their cash. No one ate any of the satsumas I had bought though. 

Once I was up and running, the first hour was spent looking through the downloadable watch faces (prioritizing), and after several changed minds later opted for the biggest clock I could find. I blame the winter darker days for this, but the bitter truth is actually that my middle-aged eyes struggle with anything less than huge close up.

As part of setting the watch up, it asks me all sorts of personal questions, including how much I weighed!?!?  And as I’m not entirely comfortable with this ask after eating my body weight in chocolate even before Christmas had arrived, I wonder whether I risk the watch being slightly less than accurate and consider inputting the weight I’d like to be, rather than the weight I actually am. I opted to compromise and decide on my pre-Christmas weight, and hope that it’s only a matter of a couple of weeks till I can be there again (fingers crossed, and probably will need my jaws wiring too).

The watch has several features, one is them is a wrist based heart monitor, and so on Christmas day afternoon ‘researching’ this feature was conducted doing some horizontal resting on the sofa, after all cooking Christmas lunch is exhausting, and I felt that a short Nanna Nap was a great way of checking the watches accuracy. It was working a treat for twenty minutes, before unexpectedly I was awoken from my research by the watch. It beeped (and vibrated on my wrist) at me, and when I looked at the display it just said ‘move.’ I think if it had a larger watch face it would have probably added ‘your lazy arse!’ or something similar! And so, even though it’s Christmas day, and I don’t have the luxury of my own pool to swim in as I see fit, I took my poor dog, who does not like being walked one bit (I do question the legitimacy or her Kennel Club certificate, who ever heard of a spaniel that doesn’t like a walk?) for a walk. It was the first of three we did that day (all prompted by the watch). The forth I did alone, as the dog went ‘missing’ and was found later fast asleep in her hiding spot behind the tree (she is still sulking, and avoiding me several days later).

By the end of the day I think I was familiar enough to risk a swim in it. I was all good to go, I’d even downloaded a pool workout (if this works it’ll save me remembering to take my laminated training sheets to the pool). I would have also liked to have used one of their training plans. I have a 10km swim at the end of the summer season, and although I’ve done a few now and have always followed my own plan, it would be nice to try something different. You never know, it may improve my time…but unfortunately it doesn’t have a scheduled training plan just for swimming (it does running, cycling and triathlon), which is a great shame, however not the end of the world… I’ll just have to carry on with my own! 

The watch also has a sleep rate monitor, and I was intrigued to see how well I was sleeping, and what my resting heart rate was, so went to bed wearing it. I woke earlier than normal the next day (before the dawn chorus in fact) that’s how keen I was to see what it said. Turns out I’d slept very well, which could have been helped by the enormous glass of Bailey’s that I had just before I went to bed, or could also have been the excessive walking I did in a bid to please my watch. And when I look at the data it told me that I’d pretty much not moved all night and that my resting heart rate was (I thought) very low indeed, and far too near the flat line for my liking. I spent the first fifteen minutes of my waking day on the Internet checking resting heart rate ranges to find that it is lower that average. I wasn’t sure whether to be delighted with this, so called Shark for some free medical advice, she was a little short with me on the phone, told me that I wasn’t going to die from it, and then put the phone down. It was at this point that I realized how very early it actually was, and sent her a ‘sorry, I’m an utterly shit and inconsiderate friend” text; probably waking her again!

With Christmas over with and training back on, when it came to my first pool swim, thankfully there were several other swimmers with the same watch. This was good news for me, I knew if I was unsure of which button to press I could ask one of them, but as it happens several of those swimmers watches were also on their maiden voyage, and they too were cautiously pressing buttons and asking for help too… from me! I informed them of my lack of technological ability, added to shoddy eye sight, I was by far the worst possible choice when it came to advice/guidance…a bit like the blind leading the blind frankly!

As far as the watch goes, it’s so far so good, I have done several swims in the pool, all of which have been accurate… well to be fair, we all know that I can lose count of how many lengths I’ve done in the early teens when doing a longer swim, so I only think that it’s accurate, but then that is one of the reasons I got it! The screen is great, I’ve set it up on the ‘huge’ typeface setting so I can read it (don’t want to do more lengths than is actually required because I saw the wrong number), which means that I no longer have to consider Shark’s impractical suggestion of taking a magnifying glass poolside to help!

Finally, it's a year since I first began writing my little blog, which stared as a way of writing about my recovery, the training and the swim I did last year (Windermere one way). I have been amazed and overwhelmed at the amazing response, and lovely messages of support I have had. After I had completed the swim I was asked if I would consider putting last year’s journey into a book. Going from a blog to an e-book is something quite different, and a lot scarier, however I decided after a lot of consideration to take the plunge (no pun intended) and do it, and finally has now been published this week on Amazon. How amazing (but mostly scary) is that? I hope that for those of you that read it feel inspired to not only take on difficult challenges, but also to never underestimate how far you can push yourself to achieve what you set out to do.

Open Water Woman Swims Windermere is available on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Open-Water-Woman-Swims-Windermere-ebook/dp/B079ZB1775/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520196854&sr=8-1&keywords=jacqui+Hargrave

I also have a 'group' page on Facebook and am on Twitter and Instagram, where I post daily shenanigans and such like. If you'd like to join/follow you'd be very welcome. Here are the links. 😊

 @Openwaterwoman_
Open Water Woman

The Christmas gift of a new watch - The Garmin Forerunner 735XT

Basically the need for a new swimming watch, in brief, goes like this; my old, and trustworthy Garmin broke. It was a swift death, brought about by someone (me) being a bit careless and dropping it on a concrete floor. I cried real tears and held a minute’s silence after which I spent the remainder of the day wearing a black armband mourning my loss. Not really, what actually happened was; I said lots of sweary words and felt miserable for the rest of the day, and at every watchless training session after that.

I’ve been lost without one, and had resorted to using my open water watch in the pool, which unfortunately doesn’t have the functions that I like, and so has been neither use nor ornament really, so it’s time for a new watch that is suitable for both the pool and the open water and has on it the functions that I like, and use, and how fortuitous, the timing couldn’t be better really, what with Christmas coming and all…

So, after tons of extensive research, well basically going on the website of various watches having sent a plea out on social media for advice on the best watches, followed by watching various YouTube clips (a couple were great, others less great) and reading some reviews, I decided that the best one for me would be the Garmin Forerunner 735XT.

In order that ‘Santa’ would get the correct present, subliminal messages were strategically placed around the house. And for these of you who didn’t get what you wished for, read and learn. The tried and well-tested strategy goes like this:

1.     Hint – relentless hinting works. These include: Leave magazines open on relevant pages in obvious places. Here are a few examples: the coffee table, kitchen counter, sock drawer, garage, anywhere really. Several relevant tabs left open on the computer (showing you’ve done your research always looks good). Change the screen saver on the computer to that of your gift choices (don’t do a montage – that’s too obvious). Leave barcodes and pictures of your gift of choice here, there and everywhere (saves time for them and ensures they get the right gift. Tell anyone that’ll listen that you are in dire need of said item and how your life would be enriched with it in it. I speak from bitter experience here - Please, please also include the colour you would like (if you happened to be that lucky)… And in my case, as it is well known universally that black is a slimming colour – black it is!

2.     There is no number 2.

Fast forward to Christmas day, and my winning strategy has paid off. I opened the gift, digging deep into my pretty limited, but impressive acting repertoire (I secured the leading role of Mary in the school nativity aged five, and sang Wiggly Woo on stage at the Pantomime with Charlie Williams aged eight) with what I felt was the right level of acting surprised. I rounded this off by doing some kind of jig around the room (If I said one word – Carlton- that’s the level). I wanted my kids to be satisfied that they had pulled the surprise of surprises out of the bag, and I think they were. I am aware that there’s a fine line between pulling something off and over acting, and I’m not entirely sure after that dance whether I crossed it!

I unpacked the watch with great care (couldn’t bear another loss), and thank my lucky stars that Garmin had provided an idiots guide to using it. As a child of thne 70’s I am completely useless when it comes to technology, and without basic guidance the watch would have an unfulfilled  life living in the kitchen drawer – unused and unloved.

So with beginners guide in hand, watch plugged in, I sat in front of the computer for the best part of 3 hours registering/looking/learning/playing around with it, which resulted in Christmas lunch being a little later than originally planned (3 hours later)! No one cared, they were far too busy eating selection boxes and counting their cash. No one ate any of the satsumas I had bought though.

Once I was up and running, the first hour was spent looking through the downloadable watch faces (prioritizing), and after several changed minds later opted for the biggest clock I could find. I blame the winter darker days for this, but the bitter truth is actually that my middle-aged eyes struggle with anything less than huge close up.

As part of setting the watch up, it asks me all sorts of personal questions, including how much I weighed!?!?  And as I’m not entirely comfortable with this ask after eating my body weight in chocolate even before Christmas had arrived, I wonder whether I risk the watch being slightly less than accurate and consider inputting the weight I’d like to be, rather than the weight I actually am. I opted to compromise and decide on my pre-Christmas weight, and hope that it’s only a matter of a couple of weeks till I can be there again (fingers crossed, and probably will need my jaws wiring too).

The watch has several features, one is them is a wrist based heart monitor, and so on Christmas day afternoon ‘researching’ this feature was conducted doing some horizontal resting on the sofa, after all cooking Christmas lunch is exhausting, and I felt that a short Nanna Nap was a great way of checking the watches accuracy. It was working a treat for twenty minutes, before unexpectedly I was awoken from my research by the watch. It beeped (and vibrated on my wrist) at me, and when I looked at the display it just said ‘move.’ I think if it had a larger watch face it would have probably added ‘your lazy arse!’ or something similar! And so, even though it’s Christmas day, and I don’t have the luxury of my own pool to swim in as I see fit, I took my poor dog, who does not like being walked one bit (I do question the legitimacy or her Kennel Club certificate, who ever heard of a spaniel that doesn’t like a walk?) for a walk. It was the first of three we did that day (all prompted by the watch). The forth I did alone, as the dog went ‘missing’ and was found later fast asleep in her hiding spot behind the tree (she is still sulking, and avoiding me several days later).

By the end of the day I think I was familiar enough to risk a swim in it. I was all good to go, I’d even downloaded a pool workout (if this works it’ll save me remembering to take my laminated training sheets to the pool). I would have also liked to have used one of their training plans. I have a 10km swim at the end of the summer season, and although I’ve done a few now and have always followed my own plan, it would be nice to try something different. You never know, it may improve my time…but unfortunately it doesn’t have a scheduled training plan just for swimming (it does running, cycling and triathlon), which is a great shame, however not the end of the world… I’ll just have to carry on with my own!

The watch also has a sleep rate monitor, and I was intrigued to see how well I was sleeping, and what my resting heart rate was, so went to bed wearing it. I woke earlier than normal the next day (before the dawn chorus in fact) that’s how keen I was to see what it said. Turns out I’d slept very well, which could have been helped by the enormous glass of Bailey’s that I had just before I went to bed, or could also have been the excessive walking I did in a bid to please my watch. And when I look at the data it told me that I’d pretty much not moved all night and that my resting heart rate was (I thought) very low indeed, and far too near the flat line for my liking. I spent the first fifteen minutes of my waking day on the Internet checking resting heart rate ranges to find that it is lower that average. I wasn’t sure whether to be delighted with this, so called Shark for some free medical advice, she was a little short with me on the phone, told me that I wasn’t going to die from it, and then put the phone down. It was at this point that I realized how very early it actually was, and sent her a ‘sorry, I’m an utterly shit and inconsiderate friend” text; probably waking her again!

With Christmas over with and training back on, when it came to my first pool swim, thankfully there were several other swimmers with the same watch. This was good news for me, I knew if I was unsure of which button to press I could ask one of them, but as it happens several of those swimmers watches were also on their maiden voyage, and they too were cautiously pressing buttons and asking for help too… from me! I informed them of my lack of technological ability, added to shoddy eye sight, I was by far the worst possible choice when it came to advice/guidance…a bit like the blind leading the blind frankly!

As far as the watch goes, it’s so far so good, I have done several swims in the pool, all of which have been accurate… well to be fair, we all know that I can lose count of how many lengths I’ve done in the early teens when doing a longer swim, so I only think that it’s accurate, but then that is one of the reasons I got it! The screen is great, I’ve set it up on the ‘huge’ typeface setting so I can read it (don’t want to do more lengths than is actually required because I saw the wrong number), which means that I no longer have to consider Shark’s impractical suggestion of taking a magnifying glass poolside to help!

I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog. If you have I also have a 'group' page on Facebook and am on Twitter and Instagram, where I post daily shenanigans and such like. If you'd like to join/follow you'd be very welcome. Here are the links. 😊

 @Openwaterwoman_
Open Water Woman

Attempting to swim an Ice Mile is not for the faint hearted, that's for sure...

When Leon at Swimyourswim called me to ask if I’d like to attempt an Ice Mile this weekend I couldn’t have been happier. The water temperature was right, I’d already had my medical okay, and I’d been training and acclimatizing since the end of summer, so there was nothing stopping me and was prepared to take every step necessary to keep it that way. My unwell daughter’s cold was immediately elevated to highly contagious, acute influenza, which required complete bed rest in solitary confinement, until at least Saturday afternoon, and I asked Shark to call by with one of her medical face masks as an extra precaution.

The only person I told I was swimming was Shark, who immediately arrived at my house bearing gifts of “an inspiring read” (Sean Conway’s Hell and High Water- it’s fab) and some hand warmers (with sharks on them). Her instructions were “read this, and bring these with you!” I’m not too sure when I’m meant to get time to read it this week however, as the influenza ridden child has me at her beck and call (should never have given her the bell, but that’s what guilt does for you), and am literally run off my feet fetching hot chocolate after hot chocolate after hot chocolate that she could probably get for herself, however that would mean her coming out of her room. Not happening.

On the morning of the swim, after checking my bag for the billionth time (costume, goggles, hat, flask, nasty new fleecy lined shoe things, hand sanatiser, towels, extra socks, gloves, plasters, torch, hot water bottle, etc. all present and correct) I went to put my stuff in the back of Shark’s car (whilst she went for a nervous wee) to find there was little in the way of room, thanks to a huge cardboard box filled with medical paraphernalia. I was slightly concerned that it was there because she thought I wasn’t going to make it, however when quizzed, Shark came up with a plausible reason for this (been on a medical course… she is a nurse, I’ll buy it)… also, I have no idea how a long metal prodder looking thingy could possibly come in handy for an open water swim (or swimmer), or am I being very naïve?

The journey over was just lovely. Shark did a sterling job of trying to distract me from what was ahead talking about our previous swims, and how we had always managed to have an aeroplane flyby. When we swam Coniston it was a WW2 light bomber, and Windermere was a more modern military plane. Both were probably from nearby air displays, however I may have told a disbelieving Shark that I had organized them for us. Shark wondered if I would be so lucky today. I confidently told her I would be … (I know that the marina is actually on the flight path to the local airport and we are almost guaranteed to have one - probably a Jet2 aircraft full of holidaymakers, but a flyby is a flyby, right?). Without allowing me any room for thought Shark moved swiftly on to some suggestions of car entertainment, including Christmas karaoke in the style of Mariah Carey, at which I drew the line, and suggested a quieter and better use of our time like just sitting... I was overruled, and as a cynical individual I wasn’t too excited at the thought of this singing extravaganza, however by the forth song, I was transformed. Long live carpool Mariah Carey Christmas karaoke!

In what felt like no time we arrived at a very sunny Hatfield, but don’t be fooled by the sunshine, it was bitterly cold. The lake was completely still, and teeming with what looked like the beginning of a 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film, and although I thankfully notice the absence of vultures, I did notice Nemesis out of the corner of my eye… with back up!

Inside I was briefed by Ally and Leon and told (in the loveliest way) that once I had put my toe in the water and until they had decided I was fit and well enough to leave afterwards, I was their responsibility and I was to do as I was told. We carefully went through all my stuff and how I had laid it out, at which point Ally suggested I ditch the underwear as it was far too faffy, and added that I could put it on later myself if I so desired, although added that she would bet good earned money on me actually returning home commando.

I waited in the clubhouse for what felt like an age, whist the safety team on the boat did some final checks and I was briefly all on my own with my thoughts (Shark had left me to do yet another nervous wee), feeling more determined than ever to be successful. I’d got this! I’d trained, habituised, acclimatized, my mindset was positive and I was in the best of hands. Ally came back in to tell me they were ready for me, and it was time to get undressed. Being Type A clumsy and all, disrobing should be done with extreme caution at all times, however in my haste I somehow managed to let my leg, one nasty shoe and my trousers (I hold the nasty shoe completely responsible) all caught up like spaghetti, no big deal, happens all the time, and I thought I’d styled it out quite well in a discreet way, until Shark saw me, ran across the room at neck breaking speed whilst yelling “man down, man down!” and grabbed an arm to break my fall, drawing the attention of pretty much everyone in the clubhouse, and possibly any one (or bird) within the vicinity. It didn't go unnoticed that they immediately took off and disappeared en-mass!

I had asked Leon and Ally not to tell me the temperature, just that it was under 5oc, I didn’t want to panic myself, and at the shoreline I was given one last reminder of the course, and set off with waves, cheers and lovely words of encouragement from my swim family. I followed my usual getting in routine, and then I was off. It takes me a good 200m to get into my stroke usually. I don’t tend to put my face fully into the water until this point (if I leave it till then I avoid the ice cream headache that comes with the cold), and today was no exception. I was finding my rhythm, and with the absence of aquatic livestock, who at this time of year descend to the bottom to rest for the winter where it’s warmer (yay!), I was able to focus, without having to worry about being startled by any of the water’s residents. Swimming was steady, and I had begun to relax in the knowledge that my toes were safe, although having said that, they were already numb, so actually if I had been bitten, there was a good chance I would have no idea until I thawed out… or indeed saw the blood and/or missing digit!

Confirming the temperature was well and truly baltic!

...just setting off.

I thought I had managed to leave my Nemesis at the other end of the marina, however out of the blue at the 500m buoy, I noticed it had arrived, flanked by two other swans. They seemed pretty close, and to be honest for a few seconds my mind was taken away from swimming and onto more pressing issues like questioning myself as to why had none of my cold water planning involved watching clips on YouTube entitled “how to survive being attacked by an army of swans.” From the boat Ray yelled all would be fine, and that the swans don’t like the dingy and wouldn’t come near. What Ray didn’t know was that during several previous encounters with swans they seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with my orange hat. I am not all that convinced that the dingy would fair all that well against a determined swan and hoped that there wouldn’t be a stand off mid swim. In my mind I began planning my escape, and took my eye off the ball (well, swans).  Suddenly, and rather quickly, they all took off (somehow Ray captured this), and although brief, it was something else; I could feel the breeze from their wings as they flew past and was a very welcome distraction, and a very beautiful moment.

 

Here's the clip of the flyover. It's at about 50 seconds that the magic happens
(I may be bigging it up somewhat).

And so with today’s flyover done (doesn’t always have to be a plane), it was back to the job in hand. I’d completed my first lap in an okay speed, however the second lap, despite more and more effort I just wasn’t moving very far. The water felt dense somehow and swimming quickly became difficult. It was unlikely at this late stage in the swim that any endorphins, that had eluded me so far, were going to arrive. I had to face facts, there would be no sudden rush of adrenalin and no euphoria. Throughout the swim I was continuously asking myself questions in my head (how I felt, any changes, can you feel your hands/feet) and felt I was able to answer (again in my head… I’m sure if I began saying random words during my swim they would have pulled me out almost straight away), so when Ray asked me how I was feeling (1,100m) I was shocked as when I went to answer him I realized the cold had affected me far greater than I thought. My words were slurred, and talking was difficult. I stupidly thought this was because my lips were cold (they were) and didn’t consider it to be coordination because in my head I was thinking clearly. Very quickly I was unable to keep a rhythm and catching my breath became really difficult. I knew at this point that my muscles were so cold that they weren’t functioning properly and my coordination had gone, and with the best will in the world would not be coming back, and despite wanting to carry on so badly, I knew I had to make the call to end the swim, and swam next to the boat to tell them I wanted to get out (turns out I’d only just beaten them to it, and they seconds from calling me in).

I have to be honest, I don’t recall anything of the boat ride, I think I was just so relieved to be out, and according to Shark it took four of them (huge thanks to them all) to lift me out of the boat. I choose to believe it took four because the boat is in fact really tiny and I got wedged in, and we will leave it there…

Back at the clubhouse the recovery felt really long (although I was assured by Ally that recovery is long, and that’s normal). The care from Ally and Shark was absolutely amazing (the jokes were less amazing). They really knew their stuff. I was dressed, draped in hot water bottles and encouraged to drink, walk about and was asked various questions (to check my recovery), and although I felt a mild detachment from all that was going on around me, I did manage to answer them all. I drifted in and out of listening to the conversations going on around me, preferring to focus on the Herculean task of getting the straw in my mouth and drinking without spilling, when out of nowhere arrived some Mars Bar (I will never eat Mars Bar again I don’t think). Someone (Claire) put some in my mouth, which I immediately (and I can’t believe I did) spat it out! According to a very disgruntled (and rightly so) Shark I also spat out her home made lemon drizzle loaf cake… very out of character, and very much apologized for since.

I’d like to use this opportunity now to let Ally know that the neck massage was amazing, and actually I may have taken advantage of your good nature by not completely revealing the exact moment that I felt tons better, which was probably way before I actually told you. This was because I was worried that if you stopped I would feel cold again and I didn’t want to interrupt your flow, AND, you were not only helping my recovery, but also other important health benefits including: helping my muscles to relax, improving my circulation, strengthening my immune system, reducing fatigue and relieving constipation (although in truth I’m not sure whether the last one is actually achieved through just a shoulder massage)… So I’m very sorry, and also very grateful. X

When I finally felt completely back to normal, the reality was that I hadn’t succeeded, and no matter how many fellow swimmers congratulated me regardless, and no matter how many told me swimming 1,250m in that temperature was an amazing thing to do, for me I’d still failed. I felt quite sad and teary. The car journey home was spent with me, between tears, quizzing Shark on the bits I’d missed, whilst she continued to check my pulse every fifteen minutes.  She had told me that when the boat came in she thought I was in big trouble as I was laid down, rather than sitting. I lied and told her that I had actually rolled into the rather tiny boat, and got stuck, hence the lying down bit. She then revealed to me that I had lost one of my new nasty shoes, and that despite a thorough search of the premises at the time, there was no clue as to its whereabouts. I told her I was very upset that she had been so careless with this timeless and iconic fashion statement piece, that will no doubt become a collectors piece of the future. She said there was no doubt it would turn up, and unfortunately it did, rather quickly as it happens, for who would willingly steal a nasty shoe like that anyway? I checked with her that I hadn’t had an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction as I got out. I was so numb I would have had no clue if I had unknowingly revealed far too much of myself to the poor folks that lined the shoreline. I also checked that I hadn’t made any promises, or agreed to do anything stupid, legal, or indeed illegal, whilst I was recovering.

When I got home, and after a very long, hot soak in the bath, I began reflecting on the swim. Today I learnt that it wasn’t just about my strength of mind, it was also about how my body coped (thanks Karen for your wise words). Today I discovered where my limit is currently, and it's not at a mile yet, it's far from it. I've also learnt how I recover afterwards, and also know that if I want to carry on, I have to make more changes in order to progress. I can’t do anything about the water temperature, but I can do something about other element, including more acclimatizing, improving my fitness further (get faster) and probably spending the Christmas period high on a hefty dose or two (but probably more) of sugar in a bid to put a bit of extra weight on (oh the sacrifices!). Merry Christmas!

Before today I have swam in water as low as 6oc, and after every swim, once fully recovered, have felt elevated, lively and with a great sense of well being. It's exhilarating! We are all very different, and what I experienced today there will be some of you reading this that find this temperature and distance a breeze, but I'm not going to sugar coat it, for me today's swim was not only very challenging, it was also demanding, exhausting, harsh and by far the most difficult thing I've ever done (child birth excluded ... GWS). Added to this, the very lengthy recovery that followed was at times deeply unpleasant, uncomfortable and strenuous mixed with violent shivering and (I'm told) a few sweary words, and the remainder of the day spent on the sofa glued to my hot water bottle feeling fatigued and lacklustre and also very regretful of my decision to reject Shark's lemon drizzle cake! Despite all this, I'm far from put off. I cannot wait to get back in next week, not to try a mile, but to get in, swim a bit, embrace the cold, and enjoy a cappuccino and home made cake afterwards with my amazing swim family!

One more thing, I couldn’t finish without expressing how thankful I am to have been surrounded today by the most knowledgeable and experienced bunch at Swimyourswim, led by Leon, and if (it’s really only a matter of time really) I decide I’d like to have another stab at it, they are the guys that I trust the most to get me through it. What an amazing team! I’d also like to thank the great folks that I consider my swim family, who cheered me on, fed me and stayed well beyond they would have normally to check I was okay, oh, and if I did accidentally reveal all (or even a little something) to any of you, I’m truly sorry. X

Finally, to Shark, who supported me, stood freezing cold on the shoreline to make sure I was okay. She bought me hand warmers, inspirational books, dressed me, fed me, worried about me, cheered me on, yelled at me (all for the greater good), filled me hot water bottle up and drove me to Hatfield (a two hour round trip) whilst singing Mariah Carey Christmas songs to me at an ear piercing 120 decibels. All this without asking for a penny (well she hasn’t presented me with a bill as of yet.)! Thank you Shark, proving once again, without doubt that you are the best part of our swim buddy pair!

Finally, it's a year since I first began writing my little blog, which stared as a way of writing about my recovery, the training and the swim I did last year (Windermere one way). I have been amazed and overwhelmed at the amazing response, and lovely messages of support I have had. After I had completed the swim I was asked if I would consider putting last year’s journey into a book. Going from a blog to an e-book is something quite different, and a lot scarier, however I decided after a lot of consideration to take the plunge (no pun intended) and do it, and finally has now been published this week on Amazon. How amazing (but mostly scary) is that? I hope that for those of you that read it feel inspired to not only take on difficult challenges, but also to never underestimate how far you can push yourself to achieve what you set out to do.

Open Water Woman Swims Windermere is available on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Open-Water-Woman-Swims-Windermere-ebook/dp/B079ZB1775/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520196854&sr=8-1&keywords=jacqui+Hargrave

I also I have a "group" on Facebook. It's not really a group, as it's only me, but on it I post more regularly, and I'm also on Twitter and Instagram. You'd be very welcome. Here are the links. 😊

 @Openwaterwoman_
Open Water Woman