IISA 5TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2023 - Part 3 Purposeful Training

At the Yorkshire GB Training grounds

 

Once I had told people I would be representing Team GB at the IISA World Championships it began to feel quite daunting. On the back of it though, I was blown away by the wonderful, endless tide of good advice and recommendations I received from so many experienced ice swimmers, as well as swimmers that prefer less cold conditions to swim in. One such piece of advice which really struck me was the importance of simulating race conditions - albeit minus the mountainous backdrop, opponents, adreneline or the crowd. Why? Because it would highlight any issues (I was expecting this list to turn out to be quite lengthy), identify weaknesses, and hopefully quash my nerves and give me the best chance of actually enjoying the swim. 

Pete Pfitzinger wrote; 'if you do not prepare your body for the demands of racing, then you cannot expect it to be ready to handle those demands. Therefore, the more specific you can make your training to the terrain, pace, environmental conditions the more effective your race preparations will be.' 

Seemed like pretty sound advice to me, however before any simulated race conditions happened, I was reminded of my first issue, which was the impossibility of avoiding some kind of trip hazard or other that I seemed to always find on my way to the waters edge, such as: my own toe, small pebble, grain of sand, nothing at all, things that prevented any kind of normal water entry. I made a mental note that I ought to spend at least some part of each training session practicing a seamless water entry, or at least find a way of stylishly cock it up, if only, so the whole event did not come to a grinding halt whilst they waited for the medical team to patch up my stubbed toe/chipped nail varnish.

And so Day 1 of training, and after standing (outdoor) poolside for many several minutes, lets call it  'visualising my swim,' rather than what Leon refered to as classic 'faffing around', I disrobed and was ready to get in. The water temperature was 8.5 degrees, and a long way away from the expected temperatures in France, but I had to start somewhere. A seamless (and careful) water entry happened, and after my initial disbelief, I was sorely tempted to immediately get straight back out and enjoy what felt like a very triumphant moment, however, this was short lived, when I realised that muttering a few sweary words as I got in immediately brough to my attention issue 2. My swim friend, Claire, informed me she was 100% sure that despite me claiming it was a natural part of my cold shock response, there was a very good chance that I might be at best disqualified, or worse, arrested for cursing in a public place. 

Because it was day 1, we collectively decided that it would be a great idea to start with a benchmake swim, and then regularly again after that to assess our progress. Off we set, and I very quickly remembered that I was not a natural sprinter, and so swimming faster than, well slow really, I was very much out of my comfort zone. It was one thing getting into a cold lake for a dip, it's a completely different thing when it comes to getting in the water, and immediately setting off, at speed and racing. It took a good minute for my breathing to settle, during which time my stroke was compromised by some pretty eratic breathing (part of the cold shock response), leading to my head being out of the water for pretty much around half of my actual swim time. 

That couple of minutes in the water felt like an hour. It was cold, uncomfortable, and highlighted some pretty important points which we discussed afterwards over post - swim biscuits - mine as the case was, as everyone else claimed to have 'forgotten' theirs at the exact same moment they saw the Betty's chocolate shortbreads I was attempting to pass off as 'just a plain old digestive' when quizzed. Unfortunately, despite my very best efforts to eat them undetected, Jonty had a nose for a decent chocolate biscuit and I felt obligated to share as he had already offered around his Hula Hoops, despite me not liking them...

I needed to not lose sight of the fact that every training session was going towards the planning and preparartion of my swim, and needed to remain aware that not every session was going to feel easy, with this one being no exception. With this in mind, a couple of things the session highlighted included;

1) I needed to research an appropriate warm up (in short, ask some folks that know their onions).

* I immediately messaged 2 people whose opinions I value. Firstly, Kate Steel. Ice swimming royalty, someone the ice swimming hall of fame described as 'one of the toughest and most skilled ice swimmers in the world,' 3rd person to complete the Ice Sevens, and 10 (yes, this is not  a typing error, 10!) ice miles under her belt, an absolute legend and all round good egg. She told me that with regards to a warm up, she may swing her arms a bit, but did not stretch as muscles contract when you get cold, and Leon Fryer, also an ice miler, STA open water rescue tutor, who created their endorsed CPD to assist other coaches and safety teams in the safe recovery and winter swimming, which is focussed on ice miles. Also, genunely lovely person who has piloted all of my endurance swims, and trust *implictely (*not with unsupervied cake  - where one may call it stealing, the other calls it fair game...), and coach at Swimyourswim, also suggested some gentle stretches, nothing vigorous, and definitly not running around waving my arms 'like a testosterone fuelled gibbon.' Noted.

2) I had underestimated how long it would take for my body to settle into what I would consider my normal stroke which, in part (along with the cold), was likely to be responsible for my decrease in pace.

* In short, my head elevation caused my hips and legs to sink, which increases my body’s contact area with the water (it's the angle between hip and shoulder in relation to the water surface) which then increases the drag (look up Toussaint & Hollander, 1994 and Zamparo et al., 2009)). Something that I was sure would improve the more I became used to the cold. 

Despite the aforementioned, I am a firm believer that one of the key components to my success includes looking at the negatives, for example, wrong body position, the cold and how it's affecting my performance, the unsuccessful biscuit camouflage incident etc, and work out how to adjust them before race day (not the biscuit incident - I have prioratised, and have already taken measures to ensure there is no repeat incident - My adjustment is to, going forwards, leave them in my locked car, so consider that covered).

For more regular (and shorter) updates,you'll find me on Instagram😊

See you soon for the next installment.

IISA 5TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2023 - Part 2

 

A snapshot of my IISA jumper (new)...

With the excitement of beling selected to represent Great Britain in the World Championships still in the front of my mind, I immediately went out and bought new stationery because, well lists... and thanks to my lists, within the day I had all the essentials sorted: flights and accommodation booked, transfers organised, a medical booked, insurance sorted and signed off as complete with a big highlighted tick with my highlighter pen... also new. 

In the interest of honesty, the above was achieved relatively quickly and seamlessly, which gave me plenty of time to move on to other essential items I would need to get, like a new swimming costume for starters. Something I felt the occasion warranted. This would no doubt take more time, as carefull consideration was required if I were to find one with a pattern that said, without words, that I was representing GB and I have done this by swimming in exceptionally cold water. I wasn't entirely sure that there was a costume out there that could say such a thing as it was quite a niche message really, however I felt that a huge Union flag emblazoned across it would, in part, achieve this AND it's not like I would never wear it again after the event... I can say with certainty that I will be wearing it at absolutely every opportunity, and probably not just for swimming - if it's at all possible to get away with it. It needed to firstly comply with the IISA rules, but also had to be zipless (once bitten, twice shy. I am refering to the horrid pool exit once when a costume with a zip spectacularly malfunctioned) and very importantly, that it covers everything it needs to - I would prefer neck to ankle, which would 100% rule out the possibility of a mid-swim exposure incident, however rules are rules, and above the knee was as long as was officially allowed. 

Time and thought also went into researching other important factors, such as new snow boots, new fleece lined hat, new, official IISA jumper, hand warmers, feet warmers (which are an actual thing), fleecy jumpers, skiing gloves that would not be used for skiing (I do not have the knees, or the inclination for it), but as they say, when in Rome... and a hot water bottle, also new... In addition to this, and something I honestly cannot believe that I will need to pack in my 'essential' list is an umbrella, after my research uncovered the rather unexpected, and completely unbelievable fact that it in January in Samoens it actually rains for 6.5 days a week! 

I confess, as I read this list back to myself, it did sound a bit over the top, as well as expensive, however, I should add that having spashed out on most of the aforementioned (I couldn't bring myself to buy feet warmers - a decision I hope I wouldn't regret), I did manage to absorb the cost of the new costume I was yet to purchase. I was able to achieve this with the multiple discounts I had been offered if I entered my e-mail for their mailing lists, and in return they also all promised to keep me updated with future new products and offers, which at first sounded very appealing, however 2 days in, and there seems to be a lot of them, and when I say a lot I am not exaggerating when I conservatively put the number in my inbox to be near eleventy billion notifications already. When my hunt for the perfect costume is over I will unsubscribe from them all, but in the meantime, I shall leave them there on the off chance that I don't miss that offer for that perfect costume. I feel I would regret not being inundated if I didn't... 

Thanks for reading. Next week's blog promises to include actual swimming and includes some of the concerns that my first 'meaningful' swim brought to light. There were a few, and for more frequent, and shorter updates, please follow me on Instagram. 

IISA 5TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2023 here I come!!!

 

Earlier this week I found out, via a pretty offiial looking e-mail, that I had been offered a place on the GB squad at the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) 5TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS taking place in January in France (I must add, I had to qualify for this, and in some awfully cold water as well). My immediate jubilation and swiftly followed by feeling mostly overwhelmed, scared (actually more terrified than scared), apprehensive and completely out of my depth (no swim pun intended - but if one fits...).  I have no-one to blame but myself, after all, when you enter something, whether it's the Wimbledon ballot (still waiting for lady luck to shine on me after several long years of trying) or the North American Wife Carrying Championships (not entered for several reasons, including a motion sickness issue), there is a chance (Wimbledon being the exception), that you could get in. And so here I am, completely and utterly delighted and terrified at the same time.

The realty did not take long to sink in, and I realised I felt ill prepared for such an important event and needed to immediately formulate a training plan, after all, if I had been picked, I really needed to prove I was worth the place, but first I needed to call The Swim Buddy for some words of wisdom and sage advice. After congratulating me, she told me to pull myself together and start (and this is a direct quote) "getting my sh*t together," adding that to ensure that I did this, despite declaring that she would not be swimming through the winter on account that the water was "a bit too nippy" for her, she would accompany me to the lake, and on the days she couldn't she would be enlisting the eyes and ears of Leon Fryer as a stand in...We both agreed that the former option was the lesser of the two evils, and agreed to meet at the lake the following day for a team talk, take a couple of photos to document my journey and some serious planning. I informed her this would be a more productive discussion if proper refreshments were available, by which I inferred her delicious, and legendary, lemon drizzle cake. By all accounts - well hers actually - to make this happen, she had spent the whole of the evening driving round 3 supermarkets hunting down a particular brand of Sicilian lemon oil...well worth it I felt, after I decided that only eating the finest ingredients from now on in would be an essential part of my training - I should add that I consider ALL chocolate to be in the 'finest ingredients' category.

The swim buddy and I arrived at the lake all kitted out for a dip. Me with my hot water bottle, towel and CROCS (gws) and The Swim Buddy, meaning business, with massive note book, several coloured highlighters, clip board, cake tin and a Nikon Z9 round her neck. I was unsure whether David Bailey would miss this impressive, and I would have though essential, piece of kit, which The Swim Bud disguarded rather quickly, citing a severe neck strain, as well as the need to consult with her online camera instruction guru (Google) for ensuring she got the perfect shot... it was 25 minutes before she finally felt able to achieve this, during which time I had happily entertained myself with some extensive cake trials.

Finally, after much faffing whilst The Swim Buddy captured the moment, once in the water I realised that the milder autumn weather had also meant that the water would too be warmer than it would normally be. I was torn, on one hand it was lovely to get in for a refreshing, and dare I say long (well, 1,000 metre) swim, however this also meant that it was nowhere near the 2oc it would be in France in January. There was nothing I could do to change this. Once I was out I mentioned this concern to The Swim Buddy, imagine my surprise when she suggested I look at the notes she had made on several options for cold dips at home in case summer decided to extend into winter, including; an old bath, chest freezer (I hold Merthyr Mermaid responsible for this suggestion), a wheelie bin (cleaned) and several purpose built ice tubs. This much research lead me to suspect that The Swim Buddy had not spent as much time looking for lemon oil as she first said she had, however I was not complaining, she had a point. I needed as much cold exposure as I could get... 

and in the interest of losing anyone's attention by the blog being too long, there'll be more in the next blog. 

Always, there's more and frequent posts on Instagram if you care to follow... 🙏

Christmas come early...

'Santa's little helper' and I enjoying a post-swim hot chocolate
in the baking heat at the lake... 

Today's swim could most definitely probably be a strong contender by the Guinness book of Records as ‘the world record of slowest swims ever to have happened,' and included mostly heads up breaststroke with the odd front crawl stroke so the swim could be tracked via GPS, should it choose to actually be working (after all, if it's not on Garmin, questions are naturally asked as to whether it happened at all...). 

Garmin's official confirmation that the pace of our swim was, without doubt, 'slow...'

The reason for the stately pace was down to the 'good catch up and relaxing chat whilst we take in some nature' my good friend Karen (you may remember the GB triathlete I met swimming several years ago. She lapped me on one of her recovery swims following a leg fracture and we've been friends since...) and I decided to have - anyhow, it turned out to be not so relaxing after all as it was interruped several times by potential fish frights that were in fact actually a twig, a leaf, an arm and a bit of old rope, but to be fair - the blue nylon rope was kind of lake snake shaped, so we could be forgiven for our jumpiness...as well as this we had to hunt for the missing earbud that Karen had taken out so she could hear (don't know why she needed to do this - I am not known to be quiet, in fact, in my younger years was often fondly referred to as Foghorn Leghorn...) which was found in the front of her swim cap -  exactly where she put it for safe keeping. Unfortunately, once found, the ear bud proved to be too much for the swim cap, which after several readjustments tore and spent the ramained of the swim tucked down the front of her costume for safe keeping! On the grounds of safety, we decided to ditch the swim in favour of hot chocolate and some energy restorative cake that we really didn't deserve, but not before I stubbed my toe on my own leg getting out in an attempt to avoid a fellow swimmer also getting out, but in a more elegent, and safe, way...

What happened next could only be described as ‘Christmas come early’ as it turned out that Karen had arrived completely unprepared for after our swim, resulting in her frantically looking for something in her car to fling on for post-swim cake fest, and frankly (IMO) coming up trumps when she found her (she says “only,” but I’m sceptical) Christmas jumper, which she discovered under several unmentionable other ‘not so seasonal ‘items.’ 

After much merriment from me and some pretty strong resistance and arguing from Karen that she would look like - and I quote directly here - “a complete b*ll e*d” and “a laughing stock,” I reminded her that despite the weeks soaring temperatures, she would get cold without it, and finally, after what could only be described as a short standoff, after which she realised under no circumstances was I lending her any of my gazillion, non- festive, spare clothes, when she had a perfectly usable jumper of her own, she finally conceded that as I would not budge, she had no choice but to put it on before we headed back to the cafe and obviously, as there was no way I was letting her get away without photographic evidence, the shoreline for a photo shoot...

Finally, I think it’s fair to say that not everyone can pull off a Christmas elf jumper, and especially not in the height of summer during a heatwave, and therefore, to give you a visual representation of this morning, I have included a photo of my gorgeous friend in said Christmas jumper, sadly also not pulling it off… but instead providing me (and pretty much all on the shoreline) the best of laughs and being the best sport, and one of the very reasons I love the open water swimming commuity so much.

Thanks for reading, and one final thing- before I am lynched for writing about Karen - I ran it past her first to check she wasn’t traumatised by the whole Chrismas jumper experience and didn’t mind me writing my account. She’s fine, and has assured me that the only thing she was upset about was that she managed to break her favourite swim cap, and that rather than wallowing in embarrassment, she was spending the afternoon throwing “more appropriate post-swim knitwear” in the back of her car having learnt a very valuable lesson, and researching whether it was a good time to sell second-hand Christmas jumpers on E-Bay!