Woke up for training with a headache. Not the best start to the day. With a breakfast of soluble paracetomol inside me, I met Heath and Chris at the Marlow Club and trotted off to the river bank with a group of triathletes in tow. Maybe 7 of them, all wet-suited and ready to go. I’m sure I saw eye-liner on one of the ladies….that’s hopeful. I can’t imagine there’s likely to be much talent down the Thames at half-six on a Friday morning that’s on the lookout for a sporty lady, in a full wetsuit, with goggles on. Then again, it does leave a lot to the imagination, which might be what gets some swimmers through a long session.
What is the collective noun for a group of triathletes? Anyone?
As soon as I hit the water this morning I noticed 1) the water was clearer than at any time this week 2) the stream was stronger after all the rain from the last couple of days 3) the water was warmer, which blew me away to be honest and 4) my shoulders are seriously sore. On top of my dusty head, I’m now struggling with two sore shoulders. Took me 20-25 minutes at a speed which can only be described as “old-man-plod” before the aching started to dull. Note to self, need more painkillers.
The plod took us the normal route, upstream to Marlow weir before back down to the next island and boatsheds before turning back into the current for 400-500m at a harder pace to the jetty. The jetty which we now know actually moves away from you the closer you get to it. One of long distance swimming’s little tricks. All up it was an hour's swim today, which is the benchmark minimum. Tomorrow morning we're going to Liquid Leisure to do atleast 90 minutes.
Reality check continues, Chris has bought a thermometer from e-bay (I only say e-bay as a caveat to its technical specifications) which we’d dropped into the river when we left. Coming back to it an hour later, it’s reading 18 degrees. 18 DEGREES!!!???? That’s warm by anyone’s standards. I thought the river was a little warmer, but the channel’s supposed to be 14-15 degrees. This is not good news and we’re all a little concerned now.
Chris did swim to the middle of the stream with the thermo’ to see if it would drop but it stayed steady on 18. Does anyone have any large ice bricks like they do at Bondi Icebergs???
Even so, with a slight breeze in the air we’re all shivering slightly when we get back to the car-park. This is our major concern: the cold. We’re all comfortable with the swimming, even Heath, who now knows he can continue to breath only to the left because Andy King (our pilot – see http://www.louisejane.co.uk/channel_crossing.htm) wants all his swimmers on the starboard bow. But the cold and staying warm, that’s another issue.
I have copied across a lot of my thoughts that have been posted to my Facebook page here just to back up my history of the swim. They go back about a month or so but are pretty short and sweet.
Physically, I have found that in the last few days I have been very hungry. I hope this is on account of my training, but since Tuesday I have been constantly hungry. Now, I’m not saying it’s anything like being in the sudan where people are starving, but I’m always hungry. Must keep a check on my intake, both food and liquids from now on. Less coffee, more water.
Until tomorrow, happy trails.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Lyme Regis
Made it to Relatives in Lyme Regis last weekend. Lisa and I stayed with my Aunty Wendy and Uncle Keith in Axminster and were thoroughly well looked after. It's always a positive time down with them, very very energising it is! Cousin Ian also came down for some R&R away from the craziness of London. Good place to find it i reckon!
Saturday was a good day, sunny for a change, and warm. Aunty Wo and I felt like hitting the water that morning, so went to Lyme Regis. Aunty Wo has been known to dabble in some silly swimming in her time, notably a charity swim on Christmas Day a couple years back for the RNLI. Thoroughly silly but suitably respectable for all ocean swimmers! Her love of the water is what drags her in!
So, in the sunshine of a british summer we marched into the waves at Lyme Regis. The lifeguard board said the temp was 15 degrees, THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!!! Superb conditions for it, light swell, nothing too dramatic and just crisp enough to make your face and toes tingle. The taste of salt water comes flooding back to your memory and it was like being back on the northern beaches of Sydney. Good times.
I knocked out a couple of km along the bouys before heading back in. While we warmed up we chatted about it being LifeBoat week at Lyme and I decided to go and find some lifeguards and chat about what they actually find themselves doing on a daily basis.
I found Becky and Charlotte manning the beach that morning. See top pic here. They had just performed a couple of demo rescues to illustrate how they are used to keep an eye on the general public. Surprisingly they are fully salaried life guards. Apparently there are not enough volunteers in that part of the world so they have to have full-timers on patrol six days a week. See, that's where the money is needed, full time professional staff. Charlotte told me that in Lyme it is not so much the rescuing as the first aid that is the needed skill. as there is a 25minute response time from the nearest paramedic, it is vital for them to have the skills to resuscitate and revive while the paras arrive. Tough job and a lot of responsibility. It was good to meet them and they wished me luck for the swim. Check them out at:
All in all a good morning out on the beach.
Updates from earlier Facebook posts
24 July 2009
Good stint in the river this morning with CN. Steady 62mins in which we were buzzed by two kayaks, one sculler (twice), mooed at by one GIANT cow and accompanied by a squadron of the Queen's swans. Quite, quite picturesque, if not still cold. Might make it to the ocean this weekend if i'm lucky and the weather holds.
23 july 2009
race this evening. 1500m lake swim at Datchet (www.openwaterswim.co.uk). should be fun. water temp is apparently 19.6 degrees C....sounds warmer than it is in the river!
RESULTS FROM LAKE SWIM - 17th overall (behind 16 people in wetsuits!!!) 21 mins:49 not so bad. Might be tempted to try a wettie next time to see what it can do. Comparing myself to my friends who swam (in wetties) it should give me 1:30 advantage over the 21 minute race. that's HUGE! Encouraging result for the channel later this summer.
19.6 degrees is indeed warmer than the river. Felt very comfortable in this, although it's nothing like what the channel will be!
23 july 2009
Am already 11% of the way to my target of 1500 quid for the RNLI! not bad going for one day!
22 July 2009
Trained this morning in the river, 50minutes at race pace. With heavy downpour of yesterday the water is colder still and the flow is stronger against the stream. Got cramp in hands and toes started to get cold. Launched just-giving site today, www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-Lovell-Davis which is also linked here....see below!Will keep you all posted over the coming weeks.
20 July 2009
River Thames has cleared up in the last month. Pleasant shade of weed-green and visibility improved. Heaps better than peaty-brown of May & June. 54min swim this morning to Marlow Weir. Training going well.
Good stint in the river this morning with CN. Steady 62mins in which we were buzzed by two kayaks, one sculler (twice), mooed at by one GIANT cow and accompanied by a squadron of the Queen's swans. Quite, quite picturesque, if not still cold. Might make it to the ocean this weekend if i'm lucky and the weather holds.
23 july 2009
race this evening. 1500m lake swim at Datchet (www.openwaterswim.co.uk). should be fun. water temp is apparently 19.6 degrees C....sounds warmer than it is in the river!
RESULTS FROM LAKE SWIM - 17th overall (behind 16 people in wetsuits!!!) 21 mins:49 not so bad. Might be tempted to try a wettie next time to see what it can do. Comparing myself to my friends who swam (in wetties) it should give me 1:30 advantage over the 21 minute race. that's HUGE! Encouraging result for the channel later this summer.
19.6 degrees is indeed warmer than the river. Felt very comfortable in this, although it's nothing like what the channel will be!
23 july 2009
Am already 11% of the way to my target of 1500 quid for the RNLI! not bad going for one day!
22 July 2009
Trained this morning in the river, 50minutes at race pace. With heavy downpour of yesterday the water is colder still and the flow is stronger against the stream. Got cramp in hands and toes started to get cold. Launched just-giving site today, www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-Lovell-Davis which is also linked here....see below!Will keep you all posted over the coming weeks.
20 July 2009
River Thames has cleared up in the last month. Pleasant shade of weed-green and visibility improved. Heaps better than peaty-brown of May & June. 54min swim this morning to Marlow Weir. Training going well.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Welcome and a brief introduction
Hey there, welcome to my pages.
I'm Jezz - good to meet you.
The reason i've pulled this page together is primarily to document that I am swimming The English Channel. As part of a team of four, I will be doing this across the August 2009 long weekend. Partly for the sheer challenge of it and also to raise some money for charity, the team and I are undertaking one of the premier open water swims in the world. It sounds melodramatic and somewhat self-important right now, but it's described as the 'everest' of ocean swims. Not having done it yet, I can't comment. I am sure i'll change my tune when i'm immersed in the swell and the chop of the ocean though.
My target for rundraising is £1,500 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute RNLI http://www.rnli.org.uk which helps to keep safe all users of the UK’s beaches and river Thames.
I am also aiming to raise as much cash as I can for the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol of Australia RVCP, the Ulladulla NSW crew http://www.rvcpulladulla.com.au/ who patrol the waters around Mollymook, Ulladulla and Bateman's Bay.
In addition to plenty of time in the pool with Wycombe Masters, my training for this event consists of hour-long early morning sessions in the River Thames at Marlow to acclimatize to the temperature. From what I hear, the water in the channel is somewhere around 14-15 degrees celsius, so even in hour long relay sessions over the whole 19 mile distance, that gets pretty cold.
You can follow my progress here if you'd like to come along for the ride. Would be great to have you on board!
I'm Jezz - good to meet you.
The reason i've pulled this page together is primarily to document that I am swimming The English Channel. As part of a team of four, I will be doing this across the August 2009 long weekend. Partly for the sheer challenge of it and also to raise some money for charity, the team and I are undertaking one of the premier open water swims in the world. It sounds melodramatic and somewhat self-important right now, but it's described as the 'everest' of ocean swims. Not having done it yet, I can't comment. I am sure i'll change my tune when i'm immersed in the swell and the chop of the ocean though.
My target for rundraising is £1,500 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute RNLI http://www.rnli.org.uk which helps to keep safe all users of the UK’s beaches and river Thames.
I am also aiming to raise as much cash as I can for the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol of Australia RVCP, the Ulladulla NSW crew http://www.rvcpulladulla.com.au/ who patrol the waters around Mollymook, Ulladulla and Bateman's Bay.
In addition to plenty of time in the pool with Wycombe Masters, my training for this event consists of hour-long early morning sessions in the River Thames at Marlow to acclimatize to the temperature. From what I hear, the water in the channel is somewhere around 14-15 degrees celsius, so even in hour long relay sessions over the whole 19 mile distance, that gets pretty cold.
You can follow my progress here if you'd like to come along for the ride. Would be great to have you on board!
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