21 miles that is 2 Way Windermere - DONE!

All the training was done, and if Coach was to be believed, I was ready. I’d put the hours in, done sufficient carbing up (mostly of the cake variety), looked after myself (basically refused to do any housework for the past two weeks for fear of a household appliance related injury) and my feeding plan had been, well... planned really. I had bought several spare goggles (three), swimming costume and a box of surgical gloves as well as an entire week’s shopping budget on celebratory cake for afterwards.

Unfortunately, on the drive up to the Lakes, I received the news that Coach couldn’t join me for the swim, even though I needed him on the boat to remind me to think about my left arm when I was tired, and to watch my hand entry, and to count my stroke rate, basically, I thought it was pretty much going to be a fourteen hour coached swimming lesson! Coach assured me that his replacement would do an equally good job, and him not being there in person would not affect my swimming at all. Immediately after, in panic I called Shark and told her that unless she broke a limb she absolutely had to still be there on the boat… and even if she did break one, she had to at least try and make it. 

The two hour drive up to the Lakes had been a mixture of light and heavy, thundery downpours. The horrid weather had been a concern all week. I had pretty much checked at least four times daily in the week leading up to it hoping that the weather would take a turn for the better. I had several weather Apps on the go and the plan was to look at them all and go with the most favourable, but they all told the same story. Heavy rain and thunder every day, with the exception of Monday. The day of my swim, however as the day neared, this changed from cloudy to sunny to rainy and back again, and because when I set off all the Apps forecast rain for the day, I didn’t bother to pack any suntan lotion. I wouldn’t mind, but I had bought some reef-friendly stuff too – especially (not that there are any reefs in Lake Windermere that I knew of). 

Inclement and indecisive weather conditions.

Fingers crossed!

The night before the swim I laid out all of the things I needed for on the boat, and checked I had all my multiple spares. There was a lot, and because I had been told that room on the boat was tight, had to squish them all into one bag because there was absolutely no room whatsoever in my other one. That was full of food because regardless of my very carefully planned feeding plan, I had packed multiple extras of everything in there too!

I was woken early on the morning of the swim by my alarm. I was both surprised (it made me jump) and delighted. I hadn’t expected to get a wink of sleep. I was meeting the boat at Fell Foot at seven AM, and wanted to have a hearty breakfast before I started. I decided against having the bacon and egg sandwich that I had originally planned, on the back of the fact that the previous night I had been cooking pasta carbonara, which incidentally was not the best idea I had had, on account that my daughter’s boyfriend’s mum was Italian, and as my carbonara was average at best, it would never compare. And in true form, I underestimated the heat of the grill (easily done in an unfamiliar kitchen), and managed to burn the pancetta, and nearly the whole of the apartment block down in the process! All of the fire alarms went off and alerted everyone in the near vicinity of my ‘a bit sh*t’ cooking skills. It was decided by unanimous decision that I should absolutely NOT cook bacon for breakfast. I agreed. 

After I had made my sandwiches for the swim, prepared my hot Ribena and re- emptied my bag to check for the hundredth time that I had everything, including my spare of everything, and my spare spare. I was ready. I met Shark outside, where I found her wet weather appropriately dressed, and carrying three bags. Three! I reminded her that room on the boat was tight, and actually, what did she need three bags for? She pulled out a pair of fishing waders, an Aron jumper and two books, one entitled The Compete Guide to knots and the other Intrepid Voyages out of one, and in the other two she had enough food to sustain a family of five for the day, a packet of blister plasters, a huge tub of Vaseline, some surgical gloves, spare Fat Rascals, a humongous phone charger and some welly socks. All essential stuff for several hours on a boat. I did noticed the absence of a special blue bucket or a Portaloo, but knew that because she usually couldn’t go from my house to hers without needing to go, which was only a fifteen minute drive, and she was as organised as I was, that she would have the whole ‘how to go to the toilet on a small boat, whilst in the middle of a lake’ thing covered, even if I couldn’t see any obvious evidence of it. Shark also announced earlier in the week that she had been known to suffer from a bit of motion sickness, like on every journey over an hour! She assured me she had it covered with medication, an anti-sickness wrist band, some ginger ale and had been practicing some breathing techniques having ruled out the possibility of being able to have a lie down on the small boat with two other people and several large bags taking up all the spare room. I just requested that if she were to ACTUALLY be sick that she could be considerate and do it on the opposite side to where I was swimming. 

We arrived lakeside at seven in the morning to beautiful sunshine, and I realised that not bringing the suntan lotion would mean that I was going to end up with possibly burnt hands and face. Rookie error! Lake Windermere was a millpond. There was not a ripple to be seen. It was going to be a beautiful (sunny) day after all, all day according to my Apps. I had checked twice already today. I handed my bags to the crew on the boat and got ready. I had my safety briefing, whilst at the same time being slathered in a ton of Vaseline and being shoehorned into my wetsuit, before I was good to go. This was it. Twenty-one miles to go!

One safety briefing later, I'm ready
Leon is absolutely not pushing me in on this pic!

Family and friends had come to wave me off and cheer me on. I managed to successfully get down the slipway (or the walkway bit next to it) and in without breaking my neck or tripping. So far so good, and after several very enthusiastic waves and an unexpected mouthful of lake water, I was off. It was a minute or two in, when the penny dropped that I had a good fourteen hours of swimming still ahead of me still, and suddenly it felt very overwhelming. I wondered whether now would be too late to reconsider or have second thoughts, but decided on the back of the fact that to take my wetsuit off now would be exceptionally messy, that it was!

I set off at a steady pace, enjoying how tranquil it was. It felt like we were the only people on the lake. Shark pointed out to me that there was a row of feathers almost guiding the way, which made me smile, before Mike (skipper) informed us of the cheery reality that there would probably be a featherless dead bird somewhere nearby, as there was an awful lot in one place, ruining what was otherwise a lovely moment. 

Perfect start!

I had asked family and friends for good luck and encouraging messages before the swim for Shark to read out to me at each feed, and it was lovely to hear them, especially the one from my brother, which really made me laugh and also made me choke on my drink. I had no idea whether this was his intention, but when we were younger I know it absolutely would have been! Unbeknown to me Shark had also contacted several other people that I knew nothing about, and so when she read out one from Jaffa Cakes, I was beside myself. They added in their message that I should imagine all the Jaffa Cakes waiting for me at the end, and I understood this as they would be getting a full truck load – all for me- sent up to the Lake District for my finish, and as a direct result of this, put my back into it a bit more, after all, could there be a better incentive to finish quickly? 

The water was mostly calm for the first half, except when the ferries passed. I had taken the time to stop and tread water a few times to enjoy the views, watch some of the military aircraft that went over, hoping they were actually part of the Red Arrows display (they weren’t) oh, and to swallow the feather I accidentally breathed in! At around half way, I had to stop to wait for the cross ferry to pass because basically, it would have been really careless of me to be unable to finish the swim because I had swum into the rather large boat. Instead I used this opportunity to feed, to listen to some feedback from Coach (on the phone) and to wave frantically to my family and friends were on the shore line having repositioned themselves further up the lake, and as it turned out (I found out afterwards), in someone’s lakeside front garden, I suspected, but couldn’t be sure, that they was not entirely there by invite, but I was so happy to see them and was prepared to overlook their possible trespass.

Me - sticking to front crawl!

As I had time on my hands, and because they had taken the time to come and cheer me on, I decided to treat them and to use the opportunity to show them I was more than just front crawl, by performing a little swim medley whilst I waited for the ferry to pass, unfortunately, after one stroke of butterfly I realised that I actually hadn’t done butterfly in well over thirty five years, back when I was young and agile, and I also remembered that despite being young and agile, I wasn’t all that great at it back then either! I quickly rethought the medley idea in favour of sticking to a hundred percent front crawl to avoid injury or humiliation, or possibly both!

As part of my swim plan, I had decided that I would have two paracetamol every four hours and one ibuprofen every four hours (in short, I am hypermobile, and because of this on long swims I get really stiff and am prone to joint pain). Taking painkillers just took the edge off and allowed me to continue pain free. Keeping a log of when I had had them, and giving it to me was yet another one of Shark’s jobs at the relevant feed stops. All very straight forwards you would think, and yet between us, and I couldn’t tell you who was at fault, somehow we managed to drop one of the tablets down the front of my exceptionally tight wetsuit. It was a complete mystery as to how we managed it, but rummaging around the front of my highly Vaselined wetsuit to try and find it, was not on the cards, and so by mutual decision we left it (found partially melted at the end of the swim rather randomly near my left hip?!?!).

The need for Shark to have to furtle down the front of my wetsuit came soon enough though. Throughout my training I had struggled with chafing on my neck, I’d even bought a new wetsuit in the hopes that it would stop rubbing, however I knew that swimming for this length of time I was unlikely to come away unscathed and so needed to come up with an anti-chafing swim plan to prevent my neck from becoming really sore and sparing myself the quizzical glances that came with having a very red and dubious looking mark on my neck… There were times during training I also had problems with chafing under my right arm, and in the interest of prevention, required as much attention as my neck did. Unfortunately for Shark, during this swim, this would require some quite acrobatic maneuverers to ensure that she hit the right spot. This was achieved by a combination of some quite impressive gymnastic moves (on my part), and also required her to become a contortionist, whilst not capsizing the boat or drowning me at the same time. She reminded me that it wasn’t ideal attempting to shove her (surgical gloved) Vaselined hand down the front of my wetsuit, and nor was it a job she realised would be bestowed on her when she offered to come with me, and in truth, I may have negated to tell her for fear that she may say absolutely no way... I know I would have! Unfortunately though, it was far too late in the day to think of retracting her offer, and so I informed her it was no picnic for me either AND, in an attempt to Top Trump her, I reminded her that I was swimming a very long way too!

All of the boat crew (Angela, Mike, Joe and Jonty) were first aid trained, and Shark was also a nurse, so I well and truly had any medical emergency covered by some highly qualified folks. Throughout the whole swim, the team in the boat were constantly checking for signs that all was not well with me. These included some basic questions that I would have no trouble answering (thank goodness there were no maths ones in there, they would have been hauling me out for the wrong reasons!), as well as other checks, things like my stroke rate and coordination. The tablet down the wetsuit was a fine example of lack of coordination however, I was prepared to contest this, and in fact, just blame Shark entirely if necessary!

Throughout the swim so far, I had diligently followed my feeding plan, which had been carefully put together based on nutritional know how (absolutely none of which was mine) and many, many trials. This was all but the last one on the first leg, when I decided that I didn’t like drinking 250ml of lemon and lime flavoured electrolyte anymore, in fact at this point even 1ml was a ml too many. I had instructed Shark to ignore me if I decided against something that was on the carefully compiled, tried and tested food and drinks list and insist that I eat or drink it ignoring any argument I put forwards (goes without saying that this did not include throwing up because of it), by any means necessary, something I regretted saying once I had made the decision I didn’t want the drink ever again. I can confirm that she did ignore me. She held her own very well and informed me that the boat would be going nowhere until I had drunk it and that she would cheerfully throw it down my neck considering it firmly in the ‘by any means necessary’ category if I didn’t drink it. She raised an eyebrow expecting me to challenge her, but despite me deciding that I never ever wanted to drink lemon and lime flavoured stuff ever again, drank it, after all, that was why I had a feeding plan!

After this feed, I noticed that Mike had put on his Swimzi and was putting on some gloves. As a child, my dad only ever put on driving gloves for one reason. Atrocious weather conditions. I prepared myself for the worst, however the sun still shone, and I could see no sign of imminent rain, thunder, snow or ice, it had just become a little choppier, which unfortunately slowed my pace down somewhat. According to Shark, that coat had become a very welcome wind break. I was unaware that the wind had picked up that much, but it would explain the more stately pace I was now swimming at. 

Despite the slow pace, thanks to the headwind, and possibly tired arms, finally we were approaching Low Wood Bay, at which point I knew there was about an hour to go until we reached Ambleside and the halfway mark. I was especially looking forward to this because I had promised myself that this feed, because it marked the half way point, that I would celebrate with some (lots of) Jaffa Cakes AND because, as my family had told me they were decamping to the pub and jetty at Ambleside, where they would bring me a well deserved, and very welcome cappuccino (made with skimmed milk though… full fat milk and I were not compatible horizontally my trials uncovered), and I was very excited about that. 

After seven hours I finally arrived at Ambleside. The second half of the first half had been a little choppier, and we had lost some time. I stopped next to the jetty whilst they swapped the crew and refuelled. This feed was to be one of my favourites so far, (probably a packet of) Jaffa Cakes and a cappuccino. As everyone knew that I absolutely loved Jaffa Cakes, I expected to be handed the whole packet and be left to it, after all, I could wolf one (packet) down in minutes. My friend Helen was put in charge of feed for this stop, and handed me a single, solitary Jaffa Cake. One! Fortunately for me, Shark was on hand and explained that I was best just being given them all, for fear that I may become quite grumpy on the back of it. And she did, however I realised that eating every single one out of the packet, as tempting as it was, would not necessarily be the best idea, and so reluctantly handed back the packet after I’d eaten a respectable six. 

No sooner had I finished eating, when Leon came over to tell me that at the current pace, it would be dark when I finished, and therefore needed to up my pace for this next half. He informed me that I would have the wind with me for the first half, and to make the most of it. He also informed me that the boat was ready, and I had to go. I had no questions for him, other than enquiring as to the location of my coffee. Shark yelled that it was on the boat, and I realised at this point that there would be little hope of me having it anything other than luke warm at best at the next feed stop.

As the second part of the swim progressed it became obvious that the precision that I very often showed, in fact prided myself on, during training swims had disappeared. Usually I was able to swim to a buoy with such precision that I usually hit it with one of several body parts, usually my hand or head or face, which I think was a testament to my pinpoint accuracy, however today I seemed unable to master it. After several frustrating miles, I finally realised that bilateral breathing wasn’t working for me, and resorted to breathing only to my left every four strokes. Sadly, this meant that my view was only ever the side of the boat rather than the spectacular scenery, but be that as it may, staying close to the boat really mattered today, for safety reasons, so I didn’t veer off course and so I didn’t lose them as the sky darkened, also so I didn’t swim even a metre more than I needed to. This swim was long enough as it was!

Overtaking one of several yachts (all stationary)!

Again, the first half I was swimming faster than ever. It was the thought of not being able to complete it because it was dark that was at the forefront of my mind, however as we passed the ferry for the final leg, the wind turned against us again, and I found myself once again with a headwind. It wasn’t the end of the world, and conditions were actually okay, if a bit choppier, but it wasn’t what I needed when I was already really tired and just wanted to finish the swim, preferably where I could actually see the finish.

With a couple of hours left the night really began to draw in. I noticed Shark and Jonty looking skywards and pointing. This was it. Finally, the Red arrows had arrived, and whilst I would have imagined that dusk was not the best time for their audience (me) to appreciate and enjoy the display fully, because basically I couldn’t see. Nonetheless, better late than never, and so in order to have the best view I decided on a stint of backstroke, but yet when I looked I couldn’t see anything red, or moving at a fast speed, or any formation smoke or anything else for that matter. The only thing in the sky was some clouds. Bemused, I stopped swimming and gave Shark a quizzical look. She again pointed to the sky and said “that cloud looks like a horse. How cool is that?” Absolutely NOT what I was expecting. I told her that I expected it to be the Red Arrows fly over I wanted with the amount of attention they had given it. Shark told me that she felt that I would be better putting the thought of them arriving out of my mind because despite her best efforts (an e-mail) she was still waiting for a response from them! She went back to cloud watching whilst I swam on. I blame Jonty for this new fascination with cloud formations. Shark has never showed signs of interestedness before. 

With an hour and a half to go the boat abruptly stopped. Either that was the fastest hour I had ever swum, and I won’t lie, for a second I was absolutely delighted, or more than likely something was amiss. I stopped and Shark leaned over the side of the boat, nearly causing it to capsize on top of me, and practically rammed a gel and several Jelly Babies down my throat. She then handed me a drink and went on to explain that she had received a phone call from Leon informing her that lightning had been seen in the distance inland, and that if it came over the lake, he would pull the swim. Shark had been instructed to tell me that I needed to swim on as fast as I could to avoid this. I nodded, but wasn’t entirely sure how fast fast actually was after swimming for over twelve hours already, but knowing that there was absolutely no way I could let a storm prevent me from finishing, I garnered some strength from somewhere (probably the excess sugar) and pressed on. 

That last hour and a half was by far the toughest, and not just because I was swimming on some very tired arms, but I just kept thinking what if it meant I couldn’t finish, before realising that those kind of thoughts were not healthy or actually helpful. I had not just swum nineteen miles to be told that I couldn’t swim the last two. I was not letting my friend, or the charity down, and so at a speed not too much slower than Michael Phelps, I swam on. It was quite an impressive pace I might add, which in the interest of honesty, may have also been because the water had become quite inky and as I was not a lover of swimming in the dark because I didn’t like surprises, and if I were going to be swam into, get eaten or pecked, I’d rather at the very least be able to have an even playing field as it were and be able to see it coming and get ready to put up a good fight (not that I would actually know what to do in such circumstances other than flee). It was safe to say, that the dark definitely contributed quite a lot to the quickened pace.

I knew I was nearly there when finally, after an hour and a half of exhausting arm turning, I was told that I needed to swim between two boats and towards the jetty. I couldn’t actually see the jetty in the dark, but was helped to swim myself the right way by my daughter yelling “land ahoy!” very loudly. I could also hear a lot of cheers, yells and noise which I followed until I could actually see the jetty (I was really close), and after some direction from Leon, who was standing on the edge, finally my knee felt land. In a flourish I stood up, and very unlike me, sort of punched the air. I couldn’t be altogether sure whether this was because I had done it, or because I had managed to do the almost impossible - standing up without keeling over or falling over sideways! Unaided, I hauled myself out of the water and onto the side of the slipway where it all began fourteen hours earlier. 

I was greeted with cheers, rather forceful pat on the backs, an air born lift and multiple cuddles. A DryRobe was thrown over me, and my initial thought was that rather than it being put on me to keep me warm, I was instead being kidnapped. It was immediately followed by an embrace by a rather excited Karen, who proceeded to squeeze what was left of the life out of me as I struggled to breath! On the phone my mum was crying, and my oldest friend Nicki was on FaceTime cheering. One of my friends, Helen, had made a huge banner that said, ‘Windermere Done!’ And I was presented with a very lovely trophy (my first ever), a certificate and a medal... that I have taken to wearing on a daily basis ever since!

Pride of place on my mantelpiece.

Celebrating with coffee and Fat Rascals.

And, FYI - the truck load of Jaffa Cakes? Unfortunately, I am still waiting for it to arrive, but I live in hope, and in the meantime, I shall continue to keep the local Jaffa Cake economy afloat with my multiple and many purchases!

Finally, not only did swim the 21 miles that is 2 Way Windermere, I also fulfilled a promise to my dying friend to raise money for the hospice that took care of her. Last count it was £4,054, something of which I am most proud of. 

2 Way Windermere included the following:

Fish sighting- 0

Swans- 0 (not even nemesis)
Skein of geese- 2

Eurofighters- 7

Helicopters- 4

Unidentified flying things (NOT UFO’s)- 2

Red Arrows- 0

Rainbows- 1

Feathers – 100’s

Dead, featherless birds – 0

Once again, thanks for reading, and for more regular updates on my swimming shenanigans, please follow me on social media. Just look for Open Water Woman.

Also, you can also find me on YouTube as Open Water Woman, where I do regular vlogs about my swims.  

2 Weeks to 2 Way Windermere

With two weeks to go until Two Way Windermere, and an e-mail from Coach asked that I do two things.


1) Look after myself and stay well for the next two weeks.
2) Follow the training plan to the letter and do NOT over train.

Unfortunately, neither happened because the following morning I woke up feeling decidedly under the weather. I couldn't believe it. I'd been training for this swim since October of last year, and I had been so careful about staying healthy. I'd even given up sugar (yes, including my beloved Jaffa Cakes, and believe me, no-one was more shocked than I) and had been researching and trialing the best foods for my swim. The foods that would (hopefully) sustain me through my training and also throughout my swim. I had taken a Berocca daily, along with multivitamins and probiotics and some special vitamins that women of a certain age would find beneficial, I had invested in sports massages, monthly physio and an odd, very welcome medicinal (loosely, okay, not medical at all), sauna session. I couldn't believe that after all this time I was coming down with something. I missed training, on account that I couldn't be altogether a hundred percent certain that I wouldn't throw up in the pool, and whilst I myself have swum through some unidentifiable things, I could not bring myself to go and inflict the possibility on someone else. So instead I took to the sofa for a day of educational daytime television and an extended Nanna nap.  My family suggested that I heading to bed for an early night "just in case I was highly contagious," and I agreed, so left them to it, but not before I ensured they had listened to my comprehensive  'how to heat up a lasagne' instructions, and put some salad leaves into a bowl, before I headed up. The following morning I found several pizza boxes in the recycling, and the lasagne still in the fridge, proving how resourceful they actually were, and the silver lining was that I didn't need to think about cooking anything the following day!

I woke feeling a lot better, but decided I wouldn't go for a swim, better to be safe than sorry I thought,  and give it another day. Instead I spent the day writing a very long list of what I needed to take to Windermere for the swim, and then doubled the quantities. I then took a trip to the supermarket to spend lots and lots on all of the food I had written down! I honestly hadn't realised how much I had, and feeling slightly panicked that I may have to have a food cull due to its combined weight threatening the integrity of the support boat, I thought it best to check with Leon that there wasn't any kind of weight restriction in place! He said I should be fine, but did remind me that it was also not a cruise liner and that space was limited. He also pointed out that I would not need to pack anywhere near as many as the four boxes of Jaffa cakes that I planned to take. I told him I would rather forfeit any and all other food than risk running out. I also suggested that if the boat were to start taking on water, for any reason, that he should consider throwing other things overboard first. Obviously I meant 'stuff' and not people, but the Jaffa Cakes needed to stay dry!

The training plan did have on it one more final long swim at the lake, which was four hours long. A maintenance swim I'd done it many times before, but for this swim particular I had planned on trialling several chocolate bars and chocolate brownies, and of course I needed to re-trial the Jaffa cakes .. again! With it being my last long swim and all, it was my last chance, and I had been saving these as a treat.

I arrived at the lake to grey skies. I was used to swimming in the cold and the rain and the wind by now and basically, some not very pleasant conditions, so wasn't too bothered by them. My weather App informed me that it would be wet, but warm. I'd swum in worse, so continued to put my wetsuit on without worrying about the conditions. I was so busy getting ready that I hadn't noticed that the safety boat was not on the waters edge, and nor was Leon, or anyone else for that matter, in fact, there was absolutely nobody anywhere to be seen at all. I found Leon instead sitting under the cover of the cafe. As I approached him, there was a huge clap of thunder, meaning that I couldn't get into the lake now for another hour, and so rather than moping about, we sat watching the torrential rain, whilst drinking coffee and scoffing a good majority of the chocolate bars I had brought of the swim. Another hour, and another clap of thunder, and yet another coffee and this time the chocolate brownies, as we waited yet another hour. By this time other swimmers had begun to arrive, and Fiona, whose day job was as a sports masseur. Fiona had arrived with her (massage) bed and, as I had another hour to kill, offered to give me a massage. I was torn, I mean the choice between a massage or another coffee sitting waiting for the rain to clear... It was close, but as I was already more than caffeinated enough and had eaten my way through several too many chocolate treats, but what really swung it was that I was not prepared to share my Jaffa cakes with anyone, and that was all that I had left in my bag, and so the massage won... although there was a very high possibility that it wouldn't be as relaxing as I would have liked, as I wouldn't be able to lie still for any great length of time on the back of the amount of caffeine I had spent the last two hours drinking!

Very atmospheric, but not swimmable...

With three hours gone, finally we were allowed in, and as I was a little apprehensive, I allowed a couple of fellow swimmers to get in and 'test the water' first as it were, before I got in myself. Don't judge me. I had an important swim to do, and being electrocuted by lightning just before would seriously scupper my chances of getting it done! Suffice to say, the four hours swim didn't get done, on account that there weren't four hours of daylight left, but on the plus side, I had a lovely two hours chatting and catching up with Leon, ate most of the food I had planned to swim mid-swim and got myself a lovely massage, albeit in my wetsuit with an audience of about thirty people that were also waiting to go for a swim! 

Once again, thanks for reading, and for more regular updates on my swimming shenanigans, please follow me on social media. Just look for Open Water Woman.

Also, you can also find me on YouTube as Open Water Woman, where I do regular vlogs about my swims.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Respecting their personal space!

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

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

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

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

Here's the link:

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

4 hour lake swim (finally) DONE!

After two failed attempts at a four hour swim - the first, lasted only three long cold hours, before I called it a day and retreated to the warm showers, and my second was cut short (by two hours), thanks to my wetsuit, which for some unknown reason (I say unknown, but in reality, it could be thanks to my newly acquired fat neck that has appeared due to the excessive ‘carbing up’ I had been doing recently) had started to rub really badly on my neck, causing discomfort not dissimilar to that of how I imagine it to feel if a blunt razor were being run across it continuously for… let’s say two hours, anyway, I digress - I desperately needed to get this elusive four hour open water swim done in order to stay on track with my training plan, and today was going to be that day…

Leon (SwimYourSwim) had very kindly offered to support me, and in return to say thanks, I gave him one of my legendary sugar free cup-cakes. I didn’t reveal to him that it was sugar free, but I also bought him a huge cup of tea to help wash it down, and believe me, he was going to need every single drop of it! I had also packed one for myself in my massive food supply bag, but I knew that it was unlikely that I would eat it. Not on the back of the fact that I had so many other food to eat, but basically, because was horrid! 

We agreed to meet at three, and even I could work out that swimming until eight was actually five hours, however Leon, who clearly knew me far too well, told me he had added extra time for “faffing about” and “talking the hind legs off a donkey.” I would have been rather indignant at that, but he did have a point. That was exactly what I did, and forty-five minutes after I arrived, I finally got in (I would like to add here that Leon was fifty percent responsible for the talking side of things, and probably only ten of that was discussing strategy, food stops, and very important swimming stuff. The rest was spent discussing the merits of sugar free cupcakes (and as far as Leon knew, this was just a normal random conversation, rather than because he was eating one). This took us some time as we were struggling between us to find any to be honest, hence the length of time talking rather than swimming... 

As I got in, mindful of the many, many swans that lined the shoreline, it dawned on me that I would be the only swimmer in the lake for at least a couple of hours, which I admit made me very nervous. Leon reminded me that the only creatures in the lake were juvenile goldfish and a few sprats, and told me that the swans on this lake were absolutely NOT related to my nemesis swan at Windermere, and also that if I had a problem, he would be with me in the boat within a minute. I was marginally reassured, and knew that if I didn’t get into the lake soon, I would be in danger of not achieving four hours again. And this was absolutely not happening.

The first hour passed without incident, until I came in for my first feed. I was approaching the shoreline when I saw, very, very close up, the mother of all fishes. I was not sure who was more shocked, me or it, and in my haste to flee the scene, almost gave myself a hernia. A very inelegant, frantic exit followed, where I pretty much launched myself out of the lake at a hundred miles an hour. I was relieved that there was only Leon there. Leon oh, and several passers-by, who laughed at the commotion, whilst offering me no help whatsoever in my hour of need. I insisted on explaining to Leon, as I wolfed down my snack, how the fish looked, including length, markings, size of mouth, and deduced from my own extensive research, that it was definitely either a giant catfish or a crocodile. After an elaborate eye roll, Leon assured me that it was neither, and informed me that if it was a giant catfish it would be unlikely that there would be any birds on the lake, and probably not a lot in it either. I had read (to keep my research of aquatic livestock right up to date) that giant catfish had, in the past, been known to attack humans, but Leon also told me that for this to actually happen in the first place you had to be in the same lake as one, and also very unlucky… and as for it being a crocodile? He was ruling that out too based on the absence of any legs. He told me it was most definitely a pike I had seen, and after weighing up my odds, and as much as I was terrified of pike (and absolutely everything else in the water), I decided that I would much rather take my chances with the pike than the other two (and I really cannot believe I said that)!

As I set off again, I noticed that there were many swans on the lake, which on one hand put my mind at rest regarding the absence of any giant catfish, however despite feeling grateful to see them, was still very cautious around them and decided to continue to avoid any eye contact or do anything that they may consider confrontational (apart from being in the lake in the first place that was… ) but I did have a swim to complete, so I decided that I would avoid swimming anywhere near where they were, which meant going a little off course more than once when I had to swim around the inside of one of the buoys that the swans seemed intent on flocking to, and hovering around for no apparent reason whatsoever, aside from sheer devilment, I concluded. Going round the inside of a buoy was not illegal in any way, it was noticed though, and on my next stop Leon pointed out to me that there was no shortcuts when swimming Windermere… it was pretty much as the crow flies already, and although I told him I was not cutting corners to cheat, but rather because being at a swam beak height and all, I was at high risk of having my eyes pecked out, he countered that it would have been a valid one had I not been wearing goggles… 

I was swimming really well, I had found my rhythm, and felt relaxed (small wetsuit issue aside – not rubbing round the neck this time, but randomly under my right arm?!?). This was with the exception of one particular spot at the far end of the reservoir, at probably the furthest point away from Leon and the safety boat. This spot was where the rocks under the water just dropped away into what could only be described as an abyss. My overactive imagination had me believing that would be the exact point that if there was a megoladon in the lake, that was where it would appear, and so because of this, I decided that the best way to overcome these outlandish thoughts was to approach the aforementioned danger zone at my normal pace, and then swim like the clappers whilst doing heads up front crawl until I was in the deeper water. Heads up. Because If I were to be eaten by any such creature, then I’d rather be completely oblivious beforehand. Unfortunately it took me until I was on the thirteenth lap of thirteen to I realise that if I swam at a slightly different angle towards said area from the previous buoy, the water stayed too deep for me to see the bottom at all, thus avoiding the drop all together and an elevated heart and stroke rate… The only silver lining from this, was that Garmin informed me once I was out that I had broken the course record during this section of the lake thirteen times consecutively! 

The second hour also went without incident, if you excluded the ‘seeing a twig and swimming away from it at world record breaking speed’ episode and then once again as I was getting out to have some food, I once again saw a humongous fish on the shoreline. To be honest, at first I did think it was a crocodile, as it was, well crocodile coloured, and once again nearly broke my neck trying to get away from it. Leon assured me that it was likely to be the same one as earlier, and there was nothing in the lake that would harm me. Leon had been known to lie before… Like when he told me there was only goldfish and sprats in the lake, for example…   

I was onto my last food stop, and decided to treat myself to the sugar free cupcake I had been thinking about none stop since I got in (not really) that I had packed myself as a special treat. Usually when I bake at home, everything would have been eaten within minutes and never made it to the lakeside, however these delicious and highly nutritious pieces of gourmet heaven had not been all that popular, and there were many, many left still at home. As I tucked into it, cupcake in one hand, large bottle of water to swill it down with in the other, as I expected it just crumbled and went everywhere. Most of it ending up on the floor, rather than in my mouth, which in itself was hard to miss, but miss I did. I didn’t want to leave the crumbs on the floor, as I was aware that the birds would eat anything, and from a purely environmental point of view, my cake was not good for them, or the lake, or indeed any human I feared, and after collecting up any larger bits, there were only (a million) tiny bits left.

Finally, I was onto the last lap, and as I finally came around the last buoy, many, many swans took to the air (fine by me), and in formation (can you call them a skein of swans)? I stopped for a few seconds to admire the view. In the air they were quite something, and then they, all gazillion of them, landed at the exit to the lake. I initially was quite touched as I thought this was to welcome me back after completing my four hour swim, but unfortunately it wasn’t. They were actually headed to where I spilt the crumbs, which meant, because there was absolutely no way I was going to get out of the lake into the middle of some swans feeding - even if it was on nasty cake crumbs, to get out (which incidentally, it looked like they couldn’t get enough of), which meant that I needed to swim an extra (small) loop whilst I waited for them to finish, Suffice to say, that by the time I had got out, I had decided that there was no way that sugar free cupcakes would even make the short list for Windermere, on account that whilst to humans they tasted awful, the swans couldn't get enough, and there was no way I was encouraging anything to be near me in the water, and the extra bit of swimming added on a few extra seconds to my swim taking it up 4:01:24… and whilst I wouldn’t say this exceeded my time, it was four hours (finally) DONE! 

One last note, you can also follow my progress on YouTube, where I do a vlog, and I post (usually) daily updates on Twitter, Instagram and on my Facebook page Open Water Woman. And for those of you that would like to read more about my Windermere one way swim in 2017, my book Open Water Woman Swims Windermere is available on Amazon.

Here are the links:

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

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

First open water mile of the year - Done!

Every week for the last month I had planned to swim a mile in the open water, and every week for the last month, for one reason or another, I still hadn’t managed it. I was all too aware that the six hour qualifying swim Coach had entered me for was coming up in a matter of weeks, and what little time I actually had spent in the open water swimming so far, was not enough, to put my mind at rest, that I would manage to stay in anywhere near as long as I needed to (I had planned on four hours). Regardless of any reasons why I hadn't achieved any great distance, or time in the open water so far, Coach told me it was really important to swim the qualifier as part of my training plan. Basically, I would be swimming. He also warned me in advance that excuses I may think of coming up with to not do it, like an inland lake sea fret, freshwater shark sighting or a bad CBA attitude were not going to be accepted! As if I would think of any so far in advance, I've just never been that organised!

As fortune had it, the forecast today (and the whole weekend as it went) was hot, hot, hot! The sun was out, and the water temperature was improving. I did have some very high hopes of it reaching tropical temperatures in time for my swim, but unfortunately wishful thinking alone did not help to elevate the temperatures into the twenties, it was a good way off at 12.1oc. Nonetheless, it was a good 2oc warmer than last week. It was warming nicely, which at this rate, by my calculation, meant by the time the qualifying swim came around, I probably would be better dressed in a bikini rather than a wetsuit. I would have everything crossed for this to actually be the case. As this unfortunately wasn't the case today, I opted to wear everything I could to give me some extra insulation, including rash vest and socks, because after a chat with Leon (SYS), it was decided that I really needed to be staying in the lake and swimming for a full hour, and would benefit from the bit of extra insulation they would offer... which also happened to take forever to get everything on, so at least doing a longer swim would make all the effort worth while.

I asked Leon to not let me out before the hour was up unless I was either showing sign of hypothermia, or he saw me approaching the shoreline at neck breaking speed, which was the sign that I was being pursued by a huge shoal of giant limb eating fish, or my nemesis swan, and in either case, he was not only to let me out (and quickly), but he was to actually throw himself in the path of the pursuing wildlife, selflessly sparing his own life for me, if it came to it. 

The swim wasn’t about speed, it was about time spent in the water, and so had planned to swim very much at a more stately pace than usual around the larger lap (800m), which was open for the first time this year. I admit I was feeling a little nervous. Don’t get me wrong, I was perfectly capable of swimming the distance, but as of yet hadn’t actually swam more than 1,000m in the lake this year due to the lower water temperatures (and partly due to an over active imagination), and I’ll be honest, the thought of swimming round the large lap on my own, despite the several other swimmers already being in, was worrying me. Not from a safety point of view, as I could see the several spotters on the side, and the safety boat was on the water, but more because there was some debris on and in the water from the recent rain, and usually I would be swimming with my swim buddy Shark – really, really closely, and she usually calmed me down during swims where I may encounter objects during our swims, and if there was an actual real fish of any significant size (by which I mean bigger than a finger nail), Shark would too swim at neck breaking speed to get away. If she did this, that was my cue, and I was right with her, or slightly ahead, if she wasn’t too fast in her getaway! Unfortunately, Shark was unable to make it today, as she had (yet another) prior engagement that was happening between 8 and 10 on a Saturday morning, the exact same time that the lake was open for swimming…  I called B.S, and told her that I thought it was all very coincidental that when I’ve asked her to come to the lake (every Saturday morning since February), her diary happened to be busier than our Prime Ministers. Whilst she claimed this was sheer fluke, she assured me that her diary would definitely be much quieter once the water temperature started with a number 2 and was in double figures…

It was unusual for me to get in without something happening. Getting in usually involved endless faffing about, stubbing a toe, seeing a tadpole blocking my entry or tripping up (followed by falling in), but today I was unexpectedly seamless. I felt rather smug and set off on my first big loop of the year feeling hopeful that it would be incident free… and it was, and despite my hands being a bit chilly, I opted to do a second loop, followed by a third, and then a small lap. It was on the third lap that I had a small panic moment when I swam face first (obviously) into a brown leafy looking object, and in the frenzy that followed, managed to dislodge my goggles and swallow a nasty mouthful of cold water. Once I had repositioned them and calmed down, on closer inspection, the brown leafy looking object turned out to be an actual brown leaf. In my defence, it was huge and very close up, it was sort of fish shaped…

As I approached the shoreline, I felt quite jubilant, because despite the leaf incident, the upshot was that I had swam 3 big loops and 1 small one, without my swim buddy, and without needing to use the safety boat. I’d like to add here, in the interest of honesty, I noticed that the safety boat did suddenly appear in the very near vicinity mid leaf attack, but obviously realised I wasn’t in any immediate danger from it, and left me to it, for which I was quite grateful really. I’d have felt like a bit of a berk if I’d been rescued! Anyhow, I did indeed swim a mile and some, in fact I swam a total of 2,706 metres in a time of 58 minutes and 24 seconds, and although Leon didn’t check on how long I had been in, I took the liberty of rounding it up to an hour regardless.

The lake at Hatfield looking its best

My elevated spirits lasted right up until I got into the shower. I felt less elevated when the warm water hit my neck and I realised that a lot of my neck and jaw were very sore and very, very red, and all thanks to my wetsuit, because although I had prepared for the cold, I hadn't prepared for my wetsuit to rub (This was not a new thing for me. Happened a lot). For some unknown reason I hadn't put on some essential Glide, which some, and I include myself in this, may consider a rookie error, and completely stupid, because as a result of it, now I would need to spend the rest of this scorching hot weekend wearing a scarf, to cover up the marks that could so easily be mistaken for something else…

First open water mile of the year... or not, as the case was!

The plan? To swim my first open water mile of the year, and then eat a mountain of cake to celebrate. Unfortunately, when I got to the lake, I wasn’t sure whether I would even be swimming one stroke. It was surrounded by thick fog, and for safety reasons we were not allowed in until it had lifted enough for the safety crew to be able to actually see us. Now I am not a fog expert, but I was not confident that it would be happening any time soon, and I admit I was tempted to call it a day even before I’d put my toe in the water, rather than wait it out, especially since the water temperature hadn’t made the gains this week that I would have liked, and instead of the double figures I had hoped for, it had instead dropped since last week. I say dropped, I would have preferred the term 'plummeted' but I was told that the point six of a degree colder temperature could not be considered to have ‘plummeted’ at all. It certainly felt a lot, lot colder. Added to my misery, the fog made it feel really miserable. Having said that, I had driven for an hour, in said thick fog to get there, and so decided to wait it out with the other swimmers… in the warmth of the café.

One of the best things about open water swimming, has always been for me, the amazing people that come with it. These people that I was sitting with waiting to get in the water, have over the years undressed me (just out of my wetsuit, to be clear), picked me up from the shoreline after some quite spectacularly non-elegant exits, re-dressed me, fed me, made me cake (I do always feel obliged to pass it round of course, but not before making sure I have had the lion’s share first), and at the moment, as I made the decision to give up chocolate for Lent, which by the way may have been one of my most stupidest ideas (but much to my surprise and delight, I was succeeding it, even if it was by the skin of my teeth)! Bake Off Chris had really been pulling the baking out of the bag, and coming up with some non-chocolate variations, which I’m afraid might have meant that the sales of cocoa nibs be temporarily in decline on the back of this! They have bought me coffee, cheered me on and unceremoniously zipped me into my wetsuit, using some much needed brute force at times, as it really had recently become quite the mammoth task! I did think, in my defence, that it had definitely shrunk over the winter. It was safe to say that these people have seen me at my worst! These same amazing people are the ones that also keep me safe in the water, and today was no exception. 

As I said, I am not a fog expert, which definitely showed, because when I emerged from the café a short time later, I still expected visibility to be bad, and although I wouldn’t say it had lifted, I could easily see the far side of the course, and there were swimmers getting into the lake. Who knew? I was about to call it a day and just head for the pool and it’s twenty eight degree water and fog-less air quality…

I have discovered that I am not a swimmer that can just get into cold water and get on with the job in hand (actual swimming) quickly, and today was no exception. The fog had lifted enough for the safety crew at SwimYourSwim to deem it safe to swim in, so once I was suited and booted, I got in… slow and steady to avoid tripping and chipping my nail varnish, or worse face planting the water, which I knew from bitter experience, would be much to the amusement of my fellow swimmers. I also needed to take my time getting used to the temperature too, and this started with a lap of heads up breaststroke. Because I had my head up, I didn’t think there was any point in putting on my goggles, after all it was a lovely excuse (when the visibility was good) to take in the surroundings, by which I meant locating my nemesis swan, and any other above the water line (mostly feathered) lake residents nearby. It was good to be prepared for every eventuality, like finding yourself eye to eye with one of them, and knowing where they were meant I could locate my nearest exit point, and quickly – just in case! Heads up also meant I was completely oblivious to anything IN the water with me, which in a lake where there wasn’t actually anything in it that could eat me, or so Leon (SYS) had informed me, but he had told me a white lie before now – like the time he told me it wasn’t all that cold in the water and it was actually ****ing freezing, but was choosing, in this instance, to believe him, to avoid complete hysteria on my part! Heads up breast stroke without goggles was less lovely when I forgot I was goggle-less and put my face in the water. If I had remembered to put them on I would have avoided the eyeful of nasty cold water, and the subsequent mouthful of the stuff after that, but once I had pulled myself together (basically stopped spluttering) I began swimming really fast. Not really, it was another steady lap. I’m not entirely sure what the stroke was that I used, but it was kind of doggy-paddle/breast stroke combination lacking any style or form.

I became concerned half way round this second lap that the fog seemed to have worsened. I could still make out the safety boat, but the shoreline was difficult to see. I did feel a small amount of panic, and so took off my goggles to get my bearings, only to find that the fog hadn’t worsened at all, in fact, if anything it had lifted slightly, it was just that the inside of my goggles had also become foggy. Double fog if you like! Nothing that a bit of spit wouldn't sort (my own of course…). 

The last two laps were uneventful, which for me was a novelty, but it certainly didn’t stop me from being my usual vigilant, ready to exit the lake at neck breaking speed at the expense of anyone, or thing that got in my way, self and as much I would have liked to/should have swum on, my hands were really cold, and I wasn’t enjoying the conditions all that much, so decided to get out rather than risk hypothermia or the need to be rescued half way round because I wasn’t paying attention to the early signs. It wasn't the mile I had hoped for, but it felt like the right choice for me. 

Getting out sooner rather than later also meant that I would be able to secure a piece of the lovely looking cake that Bake Off Chris had made. I was glad I had made my timely exit, for if I had stayed in much longer I would have risked everyone else eating it all before I got to it. As it was there was already hardly any left, and so only felt like I could have a slither. There was just about enough to replenish SOME of my depleted sugar levels (after what was such a lengthy swim after all), with the delicious, but small slice of cake. In no time at all I had finished, and made my way back outside to the shoreline to say goodbye to everyone, and would you credit it? The fog had completely lifted, and the sun had come out, which was all rather lovely for those clever swimmers that had stayed in the cafe for longer... eating the lion's share of the cake! 

My 2019 open water season has begun in earnest ...

Thanks to my coach, who announced first thing on Monday morning, completely out of the blue, that he had booked me onto a six hour Channel qualifying swim at the beginning of May, I felt I needed to get back into the open water sooner, rather than later - despite the practically Baltic temperatures! I am not actually swimming the Channel, but I am swimming Windermere two way in August, so he thought it would be good to not only to do a long swim, but to also be able to practice feeding from the boat. I was sceptical about it being a good idea, on the back of the temperature, but eventually, after the promise of coffee and a large slice of ‘recovery’ chocolate cake afterwards, I agreed. This meant though that if I was to have any chance of staying in for at least some of the six hours, I really needed to get back into the lake straight away to habituate, and as there was no time like the present, decided to swim that same weekend. 

By the end of the week though, I was seriously regretting the decision that I’d made to do it, because unfortunately as the week progressed, it became clear that the 'uncharacteristically higher than the norm temperatures for this time of year' that we had had for the previous two weeks were not destined to continue, and the predicted forecast on the day of my swim was winds of up to forty miles an hour combined with a lot of vertical rain! Very non-tropical, and not one bit like the weather I had hoped for, or indeed had recently become accustomed to. This change back to the more seasonal temperatures that March brought, made me wonder if it was worth hanging fire until the temperatures were at least in double figures before I braved it, and if I was being honest, I would prefer to hold out for it being somewhere a little more Mediterranean, but that would probably mean waiting until the twelfth of never…

So, I dug out my wetsuit and open water kit bag, and I won’t lie, it was a struggle to remember what I actually needed to pack for the swim, other than the new goggles I'd purchased especially (well it was a special occasion after all)! Thankfully swim bud (Shark) sent me a list that included: wetsuit, hot water bottle, bobble hat, swim socks, swim cap, Swimzi, flask, ear plugs, bucket, tons of clothes and a towel. I noted that she deliberately left off the nasty non-Crocs that I knew she had a lack of love for, but I smuggled them in anyway, knowing that there was a good chance that she would find them and probably try and hide them somewhere, like the bin for example, as my previous arguments in favour of the nasty non-Crocs being an essential part of my kit (regardless of being horrid), fell on deaf ears. She remained absolute in her dislike. Despite the comprehensive list, I was still worried that I hadn’t packed enough. I had been hypothermic before and knew the importance of getting warm again (the right way) after the swim, and so I packed several extra layers, a silver blanket and some hand warmers. I was, in my youth, a Girl Guide, and that “be prepared’ ethos drummed into us all back then, was finally standing me in good stead, even though it put the car’s suspension under some considerable stress! It was a good job really that Shark only came along to hold my towel, demonstrate her David Bailey skills and cheer me on with encouraging words like “put your back into it…” rather than swimming herself, because you could forgive me for thinking that I was including a week long holiday at the same time, I had left no swimming eventuality uncovered, leaving absolutely no room whatsoever for anything else.

I don’t mind admitting, I felt more than a little apprehensive on the drive to the lake, partly because it had been a while since I was last in, but mostly because although I’d packed my wetsuit to wear, I wasn’t entirely convinced that I would be able to fit into it after spending the winter months practically living in the pool which, thanks to the extra practice, had left my shoulders much bulkier than they were last year, and although this meant that they would be stronger, and more able to get me through my long swim (still can’t manage to do one single solitary press up though, despite my very best efforts), but the downside would be that the likelihood of me fitting into my wetsuit were slim at best, but as skins was absolutely not an option, it had the possibility to be the shortest trip ever without so much as me even putting a toe in the water! I explained my fears to Shark, but I needn’t have worried. She was nothing if not determined, and I knew how she loved a challenge. Let’s just say that after a lot of heavy handedness and a knee in my back, I was in. I’ll admit it was very, very snug, but I was in! 

The lake water was a non-tropical six and a half degrees Celsius, and the rain and wind also meant it was quite choppy. Thankfully, just as I got in, the sun found a gap in the clouds for the very short time I was in the water, which made the cold feel a little more bearable. I decided that on this occasion that I would break my modus operandi, and rather than the usual faffing about getting in, I would get suited and booted in the club house and once I was shoreside I would march in as quickly (and safely) as I could manage without injury (or elegance as it turned out). I won’t lie, I did not follow the suggestion to let some water into my wetsuit (to help with insulation) that I learnt at my induction several years ago now, there was just no way that I was opening the top of my wetsuit to let even a fluid dram of the very cold water in, NOT that there was much room to do this in the first place, on account that there was barely enough breathing space as it was, let alone room for spare (very cold) water. The marching in bit could have gone a lot better, I won't lie. I lost my footing a little bit, but managed to stay on my feet. It did result in a couple of colourful words leaving my mouth, but I think I managed to style it out, and no-one laughed (that I heard anyway).

Once I was off and had finally caught my breath I settled into a more even breathing pattern and began swimming heads up breast stroke. Breast stroke for two reasons, firstly because it was really cold; it was the best way to avoid the inevitable and uncomfortable ice-cream head, and secondly because if I’d seen even one fish/tadpole/leaf I know I would have panicked. A lot. And that would have cut short an already really short swim. To be honest, there could have been a shoal of sharks next to me, and I would have been completely oblivious, and I began thinking that this heads up swimming was definitely something to consider as the way forwards for me, solely on the back of that! The last lap I swam front crawl. This was not because I was feeling more confident, but rather instead because I panicked a little at the bottom end of the lake, and then noticed that there were several other swimmers ahead of me, so I figured that if I caught them up (front crawl being the fastest way), any hungry fish that I had convinced myself were in the lake, that were looking for lunch, would be less likely to have a nibble of me if the pickings were rich! 

I wasn’t in the water for very long, but it was long enough to remind me of all of the reasons why I love swimming in open water. I felt invigorated and energetic … and hungry! The very lovely Bake Off Chris, to give him his full title (part of my swim famalam, who is never allowed to not swim there, obviously because he is a great guy, a great swimmer and an all- round good egg, and absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with his amazing baking skills) had made some chocolate brownies, which he informed me he’d made to celebrate me coming back to the lake because he realised that it was too short notice to be able to book a marching band or organise a fly-over in time. This was such a lovely thought, but unfortunately, I had given up chocolate for Lent! If I had known he was baking I would have hinted very heavily that I really liked lemon drizzle cake. All was not lost though, and as I was not above such things, took four of them home with me to freeze for after Easter!

I admit that I was quite apprehensive about getting back into the lake, I’ll also admit that it may not have been entirely just down to getting back into the cold water that made me so …  and whilst it wasn’t the longest of swims, it was a lovely reminder of how much I love being in the open water, how much I have missed my swim famalam and unfortunately how much I really, really need to get myself a new, and better fitted, wetsuit!

One last note, you can also follow my progress on YouTube, where I do a vlog, and I post (usually) daily updates. You can also find me on Twitter, Instagram and on my Facebook page, Open Water Woman, and for those of you that would like to read more about my Windermere one way swim in 2017, my book Open Water Woman Swims Windermere is available on Amazon.

Here are the links:

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

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