After so many weeks of training, our slot to swim the channel has effectively been closed this month on account of pretty miserable weather.
After swimming the first third of Andy Allum's 14km Bridge to Bridge on sunday morning, Chris, Pete and I called our pilot to see what the forecast was. Not good came the reply.
Any chance of us swimming before Friday 5 September was out the window, along with our current training plan. Between the team we've taken the decision to line ourselves up for the September neap tide slot which begins around 24 Sept. Andy King has three other teams to take but says he can squeeze us in. It's not great, but it might work.
I'm still very very down about this turn of events none the less.
Instead I have taken the chance to get myself on vacation in the interim while we wait for winds and moon to align. My Lady and I packed ourselves off to greece for a couple weeks. I'm still pretty disappointed about getting prepared mentally and physically for the swim but to have it become such a non-event this week has been tough to take. then again, that is what makes the channel so tough to swim; you may never even get the chance.
So i'll keep my training up, all be it in the somewhat warmer water of the southern med. Thanks to all you who have supported me in this last week. We will look to make it happen in a few weeks time.
I'll keep you posted - happy trails and keep your fingers crossed for low winds around the last week of september.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
still no joy - but a good morning none the less
We're still no closer to hitting the channel. Pushed back now to maybe Monday or even Tuesday due to the high winds creating a hefty chop in the water. Pilot is not happy with how it's looking.
Apparently his alternative option is to go when the waves die down, even if, EVEN IF we're swimming against the tide. Is this man crazy? The tides can, and often do, run quicker than you can swim! He'd much rather that than swim into a wall of water. Praise the Lord for the gift of experience.
With nothing else to do and no celebration BBQs happening this long weekend, my good lady and I might actually have chance to relax and enjoy the sunny weather we're having. Can't pitch up to this event without some hint of a tan!
It's been a great morning so far, really it has. Our session this morning was a sunny, sociable affair, with our team of four + Matt (our paceman in a wettie) being joined by 7 or so triathletes. We made the jetty feel a pretty small place this morning indeed. The sunshine was actually warm on our backs as we came to the end of the swim and it felt wonderful!
When i got to work i found that i'd made a milestone in my donations, reaching 50% of the target which is brilliant! Chuffed #1.
I then had a missed-call on my phone and listening to the message discovered it was from the Ulladulla radio station 2ST who had been put in touch with me by my ever-resourceful Dad! They wanted to chat to me about the swim. Chuffed #2.
I was gutted to miss them but i'll make tracks to get in touch before we go. International recognition! It's a great feeling! Ok, so many people reading this might not be able to place Ulladulla on a map of the world, but it's close to home and means a lot to me. I appreciate them reaching out and if it helps raise awareness of the RVCP, then I'm all the happier.
Happy trails!
Apparently his alternative option is to go when the waves die down, even if, EVEN IF we're swimming against the tide. Is this man crazy? The tides can, and often do, run quicker than you can swim! He'd much rather that than swim into a wall of water. Praise the Lord for the gift of experience.
With nothing else to do and no celebration BBQs happening this long weekend, my good lady and I might actually have chance to relax and enjoy the sunny weather we're having. Can't pitch up to this event without some hint of a tan!
It's been a great morning so far, really it has. Our session this morning was a sunny, sociable affair, with our team of four + Matt (our paceman in a wettie) being joined by 7 or so triathletes. We made the jetty feel a pretty small place this morning indeed. The sunshine was actually warm on our backs as we came to the end of the swim and it felt wonderful!
When i got to work i found that i'd made a milestone in my donations, reaching 50% of the target which is brilliant! Chuffed #1.
I then had a missed-call on my phone and listening to the message discovered it was from the Ulladulla radio station 2ST who had been put in touch with me by my ever-resourceful Dad! They wanted to chat to me about the swim. Chuffed #2.
I was gutted to miss them but i'll make tracks to get in touch before we go. International recognition! It's a great feeling! Ok, so many people reading this might not be able to place Ulladulla on a map of the world, but it's close to home and means a lot to me. I appreciate them reaching out and if it helps raise awareness of the RVCP, then I'm all the happier.
Happy trails!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Another day further away
Guys - bad news from the English Channel. The winds coming in from the west are kicking up some hefty waves. Andy King our pilot is not taking Team 1 out until Saturday at the earliest.
We are Team 3 (out of the four teams that Andy has scheduled for his nine day window) so that means we are now looking at Monday 31 August as the first day we could possibly go.
Bank Holiday Monday in the UK????? Well, we all know what the weather's supposed to be like on bank holidays, right?
What this does mean is that we keep ticking over, swimming tomorrow, maybe swim saturday morning at Liquid Leisure, or even change it up to Heron Lake. Ultimately, keep in touch with our pilot and keep ourselves fit and ready to go.
Thanks to everyone for your support. I'm only fifteen quid away from another landmark of 50% of my RNLI total and i hear that cheques are arriving in the mail for the RVCP!!
Just to let you know what to expect, Chris Newell who I am swimming with achieved his sponsorship target of 1,500 quid earlier this week and will be sporting some neon pink budgie smugglers for one leg of the swim. Lucky us indeed, but more importantly that's great work by him on behalf of his charity, CLIC Sargent, for children's cancer research. Well done Chris!
Happy trails everyone!
We are Team 3 (out of the four teams that Andy has scheduled for his nine day window) so that means we are now looking at Monday 31 August as the first day we could possibly go.
Bank Holiday Monday in the UK????? Well, we all know what the weather's supposed to be like on bank holidays, right?
What this does mean is that we keep ticking over, swimming tomorrow, maybe swim saturday morning at Liquid Leisure, or even change it up to Heron Lake. Ultimately, keep in touch with our pilot and keep ourselves fit and ready to go.
Thanks to everyone for your support. I'm only fifteen quid away from another landmark of 50% of my RNLI total and i hear that cheques are arriving in the mail for the RVCP!!
Just to let you know what to expect, Chris Newell who I am swimming with achieved his sponsorship target of 1,500 quid earlier this week and will be sporting some neon pink budgie smugglers for one leg of the swim. Lucky us indeed, but more importantly that's great work by him on behalf of his charity, CLIC Sargent, for children's cancer research. Well done Chris!
Happy trails everyone!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
There's bad weather in the channel
Took a call from Peter last night. Today, Wednesday 26 August, has been written off by our captain as the weather is not good. That sets back the first team in the window by one day and therefore our first possible go-time is Saturday 29 August.
He also said that Thursday isn't looking too great either, which pushes us to Sunday at the earliest. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing. Looking at yesterday's post, Sunday looks like it might be a good, flat, sunny day. Wouldn't mind that at all, but then again you can never trust a british weather forecast.
My Dad confirmed that the first few donations are coming in for the RVCP in Ulladulla which is great, many thanks to Anna & Matt Wilkie, Ali Gowland and Tim Collins for their support out there!
Short swim this morning, me, Chris, Heath, Matt, James & Freddy were all in. We only did maybe 40 minutes this morning at a steady pace; just enough to keep it ticking over but nothing too stressful. Shoulders are sore in an odd place, in my triceps, but i'll take that over structural pain. Will be keeping up the stretching this week.
We were once again graced with a formation display from the local goose population in their classic 'flying V'. Maybe 20, 25 birds flew down the river just as we were getting in. Nice sight that is, especially when it's so still around that you can hear their wings beating and the sound of the wind rushing around their feathers.
That may have been the only nice thing this morning, it was grey and did seem pretty chilly in the water. We're all wondering why that might be. Chris's E-bay thermometer still clings to 19 degrees, professing it to be the truth. I just keep thinking about Wile E. Coyote's many purchases from the ACME company as he tried to catch RoadRunner; each of which either flattened him or led to him being smashed into a rock-face. Who did you say the thermometer's manufacturer was, Chris????
Happy trails!
He also said that Thursday isn't looking too great either, which pushes us to Sunday at the earliest. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing. Looking at yesterday's post, Sunday looks like it might be a good, flat, sunny day. Wouldn't mind that at all, but then again you can never trust a british weather forecast.
My Dad confirmed that the first few donations are coming in for the RVCP in Ulladulla which is great, many thanks to Anna & Matt Wilkie, Ali Gowland and Tim Collins for their support out there!
Short swim this morning, me, Chris, Heath, Matt, James & Freddy were all in. We only did maybe 40 minutes this morning at a steady pace; just enough to keep it ticking over but nothing too stressful. Shoulders are sore in an odd place, in my triceps, but i'll take that over structural pain. Will be keeping up the stretching this week.
We were once again graced with a formation display from the local goose population in their classic 'flying V'. Maybe 20, 25 birds flew down the river just as we were getting in. Nice sight that is, especially when it's so still around that you can hear their wings beating and the sound of the wind rushing around their feathers.
That may have been the only nice thing this morning, it was grey and did seem pretty chilly in the water. We're all wondering why that might be. Chris's E-bay thermometer still clings to 19 degrees, professing it to be the truth. I just keep thinking about Wile E. Coyote's many purchases from the ACME company as he tried to catch RoadRunner; each of which either flattened him or led to him being smashed into a rock-face. Who did you say the thermometer's manufacturer was, Chris????
Happy trails!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Getting tense now - when are we off?
Man, it's so close. Today Pete will start the daily call schedule to our pilot, checking out the weather forecast and likely time to go.
Looking at the 5 day forecasts, Sunday might be the best option, but Satuday's not looking so bad either. Friday has some pretty strong winds blowing and waves in excess of 2.5m so to my mind if there's time to skip a day, Friday would be my choice. I've attached the forecast site I just looked at, showing Sunday's best-bet stats. You flick this to Friday and you'll see what I mean about being a day to skip. Look at the windspeed...
http://www.myweather2.com/Marine/United-Kingdom/English-Channel-Western.aspx?sday=5
Current water temp is shown on the link here. If you zoom in on Europe and then France and aim your mouse button to the coordinates 51.1 degrees North 1.81 degrees East and click, you should end up around Calais. Click the yellow icon to the north east of Calais and you'll get the current water temp. Looks to be about 65 degrees Fahrenheit or c.17 degrees Celsius.
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
My kit is in neat piles in the spare room. Now it just needs to be bagged up to stay dry and put into a kit-bag. We food shopped last night, getting stuff for sandwiches, soups, nuts, chocolate bars and also the food coming home which is a little more luxurious. Thinking chicken salad, potato salad, some cous cous - all good nutritional stuff.
I'll keep you all posted with what we hear coming out of Dover.
Incidentally i'm scraping at 50% of my Just Giving target for the RNLI - at 725 quid now, not to be sniffed at and I reckon there's still a few out there who are actually waiting to see proof of success before opening their wallets....which is understandable given the failure rate of channel swims.
Happy trails!
Looking at the 5 day forecasts, Sunday might be the best option, but Satuday's not looking so bad either. Friday has some pretty strong winds blowing and waves in excess of 2.5m so to my mind if there's time to skip a day, Friday would be my choice. I've attached the forecast site I just looked at, showing Sunday's best-bet stats. You flick this to Friday and you'll see what I mean about being a day to skip. Look at the windspeed...
http://www.myweather2.com/Marine/United-Kingdom/English-Channel-Western.aspx?sday=5
Current water temp is shown on the link here. If you zoom in on Europe and then France and aim your mouse button to the coordinates 51.1 degrees North 1.81 degrees East and click, you should end up around Calais. Click the yellow icon to the north east of Calais and you'll get the current water temp. Looks to be about 65 degrees Fahrenheit or c.17 degrees Celsius.
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
My kit is in neat piles in the spare room. Now it just needs to be bagged up to stay dry and put into a kit-bag. We food shopped last night, getting stuff for sandwiches, soups, nuts, chocolate bars and also the food coming home which is a little more luxurious. Thinking chicken salad, potato salad, some cous cous - all good nutritional stuff.
I'll keep you all posted with what we hear coming out of Dover.
Incidentally i'm scraping at 50% of my Just Giving target for the RNLI - at 725 quid now, not to be sniffed at and I reckon there's still a few out there who are actually waiting to see proof of success before opening their wallets....which is understandable given the failure rate of channel swims.
Happy trails!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Final long session
Strangely, I was alone on the jetty this morning at 6:30. Pete, Heath & Chris were away and Matt had put in a long session on the weekend. Integrity and internal motivation took over. "What counts is what you do when no one else is around watching you" rang through my head as I pushed into the weedy water and started on my normal route.
It's odd to think that in a week this whole channel push should be a done deal. The Handy Cross pool also opened again yesterday, so as the weather cools down it'll be nice to get back into the water and take on a bit of coaching to straighten out my stroke. It's all a little disjointed right now, i feel like i'm bashing through the water rather than gliding.
I took my shoulders down to the physio this morning for a massage after the session. He expertly identified a series of knots in the usual places, traps and romboids, a result of the lethal combination of training and a desk-bound job. But as I hit this taper week I will be concentrating on stretching and loosening to ensure i'm fresh and ready to feel good.
A quick glance at the just giving site shows i'm a smidge away from 50% of my target. I reckon i'm safe on the pink speedos, but any more would be great to get into the RNLI coffers. I have received messages of support from my Australian friends too who are donating to the RVCP who look after their beaches. I hear it's hotter down-under in the middle of their winter than it is over here in mid-summer. Can't believe that! What's going on with the world?
Alright then, stay posted this week as we keep in contact with the pilot Andy King for our shot. Fri/Sat/Sun 28/29/30 August - keep it here.
Happy trails!
It's odd to think that in a week this whole channel push should be a done deal. The Handy Cross pool also opened again yesterday, so as the weather cools down it'll be nice to get back into the water and take on a bit of coaching to straighten out my stroke. It's all a little disjointed right now, i feel like i'm bashing through the water rather than gliding.
I took my shoulders down to the physio this morning for a massage after the session. He expertly identified a series of knots in the usual places, traps and romboids, a result of the lethal combination of training and a desk-bound job. But as I hit this taper week I will be concentrating on stretching and loosening to ensure i'm fresh and ready to feel good.
A quick glance at the just giving site shows i'm a smidge away from 50% of my target. I reckon i'm safe on the pink speedos, but any more would be great to get into the RNLI coffers. I have received messages of support from my Australian friends too who are donating to the RVCP who look after their beaches. I hear it's hotter down-under in the middle of their winter than it is over here in mid-summer. Can't believe that! What's going on with the world?
Alright then, stay posted this week as we keep in contact with the pilot Andy King for our shot. Fri/Sat/Sun 28/29/30 August - keep it here.
Happy trails!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Round two - night swim
What an odd way to spend an evening. Pitching up to the river at 9:30pm to go for a swim in the dark? That's odd. Bringing a support team with torches while we strap glow-sticks to ourselves? That's weird. Actually enjoying it, that's unexpected, but a good thing.
Top pic - L-R Pete (purple) Chris (red) Heath (blue) Me (orange)
Second pic - Getting capped up - Pete in yellow hat, Chris in white hat back left, Heath in orange hat and me in white hat front right.
Third pic - Pete getting acclimatised! nice pic Lisa by the way!
Bottom pic- Me and Heath, picking our way gingerly through the rotted wooden posts of by-gone jetties.
Yep, our second session today saw us enjoy the Marlow reach of the Thames under a starlit sky which by itself was probably more beautiful than a blue-sky morning, only on account of it being so unexpected.
All in all, we were pretty comfy swimming in the dark. Orange or red glowsticks seemed to work best for us in the water to see, the purple one was too dark and the blue one didn't really make an impact. Tied to the backs of our swimmers with the sticks bobbing along the water didn't work. You just can't see them. So half way we switched to having them tucked into the band of our goggles and this worked heaps better. it's like having your own tail-lights! The support team confirmed this was definitely the best way to spot us. We still have green to try I believe. Have heard it is the most aesthetically pleasing colour, like you'd care when you've got it strapped to the back of your head.
Thanks to Jacqui Newell, Pam & Richard Newell and my Lady, Lisa, for their help last night. Notably keeping us out of the path of a boat.
Twice.
So, the week's run in. Pete's off to the Scilly Isles for a week, going to be in contact with the Captain on a daily basis from Tuesday 26 August. Chris is off to Paris for a long weekend, back Tuesday I believe. Heath & I will be in the river, tapering this week and watching what we eat and drink (maybe!). Keep an eye on the weather in the channel. Low winds are good. High winds are bad. Looks like we may be going some time over the weekend if the long range forecast holds true.
Happy trails!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Double header
Two swims today, morning and evening.
Good set this morning on an unusually chilly summer day.
Got our night-swim later tonight, about 9:30pm, and have roped in family support to walk the towpath and ensure we have spotlights near us. If anyone sees four or five green glowsticks bobbing along the Thames, that'll be us. Please give us a wide berth!
Fill you in on details later!
Happy trails!
RNLI donations to
www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-Lovell-Davis
Australian RVCP donations by cheque made payable to RVCP Ulladulla
sent to Barrie Lovell-Davis
7 Skillman Place, Mollymook Beach, NSW, 2539, Australia
Good set this morning on an unusually chilly summer day.
Got our night-swim later tonight, about 9:30pm, and have roped in family support to walk the towpath and ensure we have spotlights near us. If anyone sees four or five green glowsticks bobbing along the Thames, that'll be us. Please give us a wide berth!
Fill you in on details later!
Happy trails!
RNLI donations to
www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-Lovell-Davis
Australian RVCP donations by cheque made payable to RVCP Ulladulla
sent to Barrie Lovell-Davis
7 Skillman Place, Mollymook Beach, NSW, 2539, Australia
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Another weekend closer
Roughly two weeks to go now until our window for the channel. The British weather seems to be brightening up and it's been a lovely weekend, warming the water a little. If this holds up, it might be a good end to the summer and potentially a good crossing.
So, a good friday morning session then a longer swim at Liquid Leisure Saturday morning. I could only spend an hour and a half in the water but still managed 5.6km in 1hr 24mins, leaving the guys to crack on to 2hrs. I'm still thinking that the distance itself; each hour's stint; each hard push against the tide; is not the issue, it's going to be the cold. The cold, as it always seems to be in channel attempts.
I'm managing my shoulders a little every night now. Too much front-crawl strengthens the muscles on the front of your chest more than those on your back, making you unbalanced and pulling arms into an unnatural position. The ligaments don't stretch too much to accomodate, instead they just rub over bones and joints with a nagging, aggravating pain. It's happened to me before when me and the guys were training hard at North Sydney Pool for the ocean-swimming season. Two options, 1) more backstroke 2) a series of exercises. My physios would be rolling their eyes given my lax attitude to self-balancing. I promise i'll concentrate on backstroke when i'm back in the pool; i promise.
I think Lisa, my good Lady, is reaching the point where she's over the whiff of pond-weed and the swimming chat. Roll-on the long weekend in August, she says, after this date we go on vacation and the muddy waters of the Thames and algae-laden waters of Liquid Leisure will be replaced with the crystal clear, shimmering blue mediterranean waters of crete and santorini. Muddy apples and clean, waxed oranges indeed. My lovely Lady has been wonderful throughout this whole effort, kicking me to get organised, checking the kit lists to see if there's anything she can help with, accepting the potential for sea-sickness and being my support person on the boat, putting up with greenish swimmers and generally being brilliant. Thank you, my Lady!!!
Happy trails!
So, a good friday morning session then a longer swim at Liquid Leisure Saturday morning. I could only spend an hour and a half in the water but still managed 5.6km in 1hr 24mins, leaving the guys to crack on to 2hrs. I'm still thinking that the distance itself; each hour's stint; each hard push against the tide; is not the issue, it's going to be the cold. The cold, as it always seems to be in channel attempts.
I'm managing my shoulders a little every night now. Too much front-crawl strengthens the muscles on the front of your chest more than those on your back, making you unbalanced and pulling arms into an unnatural position. The ligaments don't stretch too much to accomodate, instead they just rub over bones and joints with a nagging, aggravating pain. It's happened to me before when me and the guys were training hard at North Sydney Pool for the ocean-swimming season. Two options, 1) more backstroke 2) a series of exercises. My physios would be rolling their eyes given my lax attitude to self-balancing. I promise i'll concentrate on backstroke when i'm back in the pool; i promise.
I think Lisa, my good Lady, is reaching the point where she's over the whiff of pond-weed and the swimming chat. Roll-on the long weekend in August, she says, after this date we go on vacation and the muddy waters of the Thames and algae-laden waters of Liquid Leisure will be replaced with the crystal clear, shimmering blue mediterranean waters of crete and santorini. Muddy apples and clean, waxed oranges indeed. My lovely Lady has been wonderful throughout this whole effort, kicking me to get organised, checking the kit lists to see if there's anything she can help with, accepting the potential for sea-sickness and being my support person on the boat, putting up with greenish swimmers and generally being brilliant. Thank you, my Lady!!!
Happy trails!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Misty eyed
No, that's not a reference to my emotional state this morning...that would be bleary eyed. Actually it's a reference to the temperate climate in the UK when you mix warm evaporating water and cold air- we swam through a light mist this morning. Very tranquil.
We have been joined by Charles, a work colleague of Chris,Newell's and James, a rowing colleague of Matt Baker's. The more the merrier.
As we were starting our final leg of the usual circular route, Chris and I almost swam into a group of triathletes in their dark wetties. I'd not noticed this about them before as i've not witnessed a group up close but it was like swimming into a shoal of tropical fish. All of a sudden I had splashes of neon filling my goggles; hot pink, sunshine yellow, acid green; from the variety of swimming caps these guys were wearing. They're so much easier to see than our whites and off-orange. Might invest.....
Last night we finally got around to having a team meeting to organise kit lists, clothing lists, food requirements, logistics and team name. It's ALMOST like we might be getting organised. As we sat outside the Marlow Donkey pub we were a few moments away from naming our team "The Marlow Donkeys" in an effort to get free t-shirts from the pub, but we veered away from this at the last minute. Sanity prevailed. Still, all else is sorted, a positive and beneficial meeting.
Tomorrow morning is Liquid Leisure at Datchet again for a two hour stint in the lake. All very positive too. Have a good weekend everyone.
Happy trails!
We have been joined by Charles, a work colleague of Chris,Newell's and James, a rowing colleague of Matt Baker's. The more the merrier.
As we were starting our final leg of the usual circular route, Chris and I almost swam into a group of triathletes in their dark wetties. I'd not noticed this about them before as i've not witnessed a group up close but it was like swimming into a shoal of tropical fish. All of a sudden I had splashes of neon filling my goggles; hot pink, sunshine yellow, acid green; from the variety of swimming caps these guys were wearing. They're so much easier to see than our whites and off-orange. Might invest.....
Last night we finally got around to having a team meeting to organise kit lists, clothing lists, food requirements, logistics and team name. It's ALMOST like we might be getting organised. As we sat outside the Marlow Donkey pub we were a few moments away from naming our team "The Marlow Donkeys" in an effort to get free t-shirts from the pub, but we veered away from this at the last minute. Sanity prevailed. Still, all else is sorted, a positive and beneficial meeting.
Tomorrow morning is Liquid Leisure at Datchet again for a two hour stint in the lake. All very positive too. Have a good weekend everyone.
Happy trails!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Thanks to our first sponsor - VOLVIC MINERAL WATER
I wanted to say a big thank you to our first sponsor, Volvic Mineral Water. http://www.volvic.co.uk/
They are supplying 36 litres of Volvic to our team to take on board with us and make sure we have conveniently sized water available with the minimum of fuss. As we'll be swimming in salty water, the most important thing is to keep hydrated with fresh clean water, this should do the trick!
Thanks again and happy trails to the Volvic team in the UK!
They are supplying 36 litres of Volvic to our team to take on board with us and make sure we have conveniently sized water available with the minimum of fuss. As we'll be swimming in salty water, the most important thing is to keep hydrated with fresh clean water, this should do the trick!
Thanks again and happy trails to the Volvic team in the UK!
A midweek update - helpful reading
I'm currently reading a book by a female swimmer Sally Friedman (although i don't think she ever swam the channel, but was the first woman to swim from Rhode Island to Long Island and has also completed the 'Round Manhatten' swim a couple of times). It's called "Swimming the English Channel". I like it, a simple title, does what it says on the cover.
In the early pages (which is as far as I have read thus far) she describes in great detail and with clear emotion the joy and exhilaration of open water swimming, marathon swimming actually, in cold cold water. Now I'm not quite there for 10 mile swims on the bounce, not quite, but I have just read some technical information she gives about the mechanical yet strangely artistic side of each underwater stroke. As such this week I'm going to be focussing on the three-dimensional 'S' of the freestyle pull. Out and down - In and up - Out and down. By keeping each stroke longer and more powerful, you become more efficient in the water. You spin your arms less and make each burnt calorie a positive use of energy. As I expect to be battered by the waves - but worse the 'chop' - (where the tide runs in opposition to the wind, creating small repetitive mini-waves that smack into your arms and make it difficult to snatch a breath) I'll need to be as efficient as possible. The constant correction to being knocked off rhythm by waves is tiring and burns needless fuel.
Otherwise, I'm good right now. Have worked out that one rest-day is good but two rest-days are bad and allows the body to get comfortable. This is important to the taper week and if we have to wait at all before we go. You can't wait too long between swims but you can't sit around resting if the weather-window does not open.
Team meeting tonight to clarify plans and kit lists. We might almost get to a stage of being organised! My wife, Lisa, jokes that you can tell there are no girls in the team on account of us having planned absolutely nothing! Now that's funny because it's true.
Happy trails!
In the early pages (which is as far as I have read thus far) she describes in great detail and with clear emotion the joy and exhilaration of open water swimming, marathon swimming actually, in cold cold water. Now I'm not quite there for 10 mile swims on the bounce, not quite, but I have just read some technical information she gives about the mechanical yet strangely artistic side of each underwater stroke. As such this week I'm going to be focussing on the three-dimensional 'S' of the freestyle pull. Out and down - In and up - Out and down. By keeping each stroke longer and more powerful, you become more efficient in the water. You spin your arms less and make each burnt calorie a positive use of energy. As I expect to be battered by the waves - but worse the 'chop' - (where the tide runs in opposition to the wind, creating small repetitive mini-waves that smack into your arms and make it difficult to snatch a breath) I'll need to be as efficient as possible. The constant correction to being knocked off rhythm by waves is tiring and burns needless fuel.
Otherwise, I'm good right now. Have worked out that one rest-day is good but two rest-days are bad and allows the body to get comfortable. This is important to the taper week and if we have to wait at all before we go. You can't wait too long between swims but you can't sit around resting if the weather-window does not open.
Team meeting tonight to clarify plans and kit lists. We might almost get to a stage of being organised! My wife, Lisa, jokes that you can tell there are no girls in the team on account of us having planned absolutely nothing! Now that's funny because it's true.
Happy trails!
Monday, August 10, 2009
An icon for our boat on the navigational charts
My friend, Kathryn, designed us a little icon to be used on the navigational map as we bob across the channel.
All I need to do now is to convince the AIS that they should use this as their normal convention for all channel swimmers instead of the normal boring blue pentagon.
Thanks Kathryn, this is very very cool of you!
Just not feeling the love this morning
Groan- I am not feeling it this morning.
After a wonderful weekend on the south coast, finally with some sunshine, the return to the banks of the Thames this morning was a bit of a chore. The boys were just as jaded after a busy weekend of parties though!
I didn’t manage to eat anything after my swim for about an hour and a half, which meant that within an hour of finally eating my body was saying to me, “wait a minute young man, you’ve asked me to work hard, which I did, but you’ve not taken care of me afterwards and I’ve not refueled for two and a half hours. As a result of your ingratitude, I’m going to have a rest now while I wait for the fuel to make a difference. To hell with what your brain thinks, they’re coming along for a kip too.” It was a bit of a battle this morning to get enough umph into the day to be honest! Lesson learned, must eat quickly after the exercise!
Happy trails!
After a wonderful weekend on the south coast, finally with some sunshine, the return to the banks of the Thames this morning was a bit of a chore. The boys were just as jaded after a busy weekend of parties though!
I didn’t manage to eat anything after my swim for about an hour and a half, which meant that within an hour of finally eating my body was saying to me, “wait a minute young man, you’ve asked me to work hard, which I did, but you’ve not taken care of me afterwards and I’ve not refueled for two and a half hours. As a result of your ingratitude, I’m going to have a rest now while I wait for the fuel to make a difference. To hell with what your brain thinks, they’re coming along for a kip too.” It was a bit of a battle this morning to get enough umph into the day to be honest! Lesson learned, must eat quickly after the exercise!
Happy trails!
Friday, August 7, 2009
What a difference the rain makes....24 little hours
Wow, what an amazing training session this morning. I am stoked for the whole day, whatever happens, i'm up, quids in, ahead of the curve, out in front. Ready.
I have to take you through this one, it was an exceptional morning in the Thames!
For those of you not in the UK, it rained here in the south-east of England all day yesterday. Not just pitter-patter, but proper rain. Constant rain. Couple that with the deluge from Wednesday afternoon which was shorter but torrential to the point of grey-out and you've got waterlogged countryside and a high water table.
When Chris, Pete, Nathan and I got to the river this morning, our plan was for a long steady session, 1 hour plus. What we found was that the water level was now some 15cm higher than it was wednesday morning, and remember that's 15cm across a stretch of water maybe 50m-75m wide. That's a lot of water coming through the gates! You could see clearly from the bank that the current would up the ante for us and this was not going to be an easy session.
Normally our paddle to Marlow weir takes us 22 minutes up to a small boat, Sapphire Blue i think it's called, that is the last moored boat before the weir. This morning the boat was not getting any closer, no matter how hard we swam. It's a disheartening game trying to guess distance at water-level, things just take much longer to get to. No matter, Pete and I cranked it up a notch and slowly reeled this flaming little blue and white boat in, slowly and steadily. I reached it first, maybe 20m ahead of Pete, but when i put my hand out to grab the sides, i immediately found myself moving backwards. I had to resume swimming hard again, just to make it back to the boat and keep swimming with one arm as i reached up to grab a conveniently placed rope. Madness. Looking round, i was astonished to find that Pete's still 20m away and he stayed there for about another minute as he dug in to make the boat. While I'm merrily swinging in the current, gripping this wonderfully secure rope, Pete finally reaches up and gets a fingerhold on the stern, enough grip however to manage a gutsy high-five! It was a good effort to reach the boat and we're both a little out of puff to be honest! Instead of 22 minutes, it had taken us 44 minutes this morning.
Looking further downstream, Chris was still gamefully bashing away maybe 30m off, while Nathan was even further back at about 50m, even with his bouyant wettie. It got cold waiting so we decided to use the Thames as our very own infinite lap-pool, slipped out from behind the boat and continued to swim at the same pace as the current flowing in the opposite direction. It was hilarious to be swimming away quite happily yet knowing we weren't getting anywhere! I estimate the water was running at about 90 seconds per 100m, 4km an hour, which is what we expect to average in the Channel.
After a couple of minutes, we checked in on Chris, still a distance off, so we decided to go out and spot him into the boat. Honestly, five strokes and we'd covered the distance to him downstream, where we collected ourselves, made ourselves known and as a trio dialled it back into the boat. For the second time, Pete and I dug in and reached the stern with Chris in tow, more high-fives between us and the realisation that this was exactly what to expect from the Good Lady Channel.
Now, what to do with Nathan? Knowing he's a gritty competitor, Pete didn't think twice about not making him reach the boat and we paddled off to collect and chaperone him through the current. As soon as the three of us broke the waters and gave him a little drafting room, he started to move forward at a steady pace, crossing the main stream from the Buckinghamshire to the Berkshire bank, finally reaching the boat. Good on the man! Awesome finish!
We were now at something like 55 minutes of battling up stream and thinking that our plan to swim all the way back to the normal boat house might take us the rest of the morning! We hastily revised it, knowing we all had work to get to, and made a dash for the landing jetty. Man it felt good to be moving so quickly! We covered the return leg in about 10 minutes, which says something about the pace of the river we'd just fought with.
Mentally, being able to see your progress, however slow, is encouraging. But in the channel, we'll not have any stationary objects against which to guage ourselves. Will any of us want to know that we're not making headway even when we're pulling as hard as we can? At what stage do the team on the boat communicate to the swimmer that as hard as they're working, they need to work harder to push through a tide? We need to work this out between us. It will make a big difference for sure to the mental side of the swim, which takes on more significance than you would think.
Anyway, enough of swimming upstream. I'm going to try to swim downstream for the rest of the day and make my own positive current.
Again in the words of Og Mandino (god, this man's good with words ain't he??? a quote for everything!!!) "I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit". Well, it certainly did this morning!
Oh, we made the pages of the illustrious Maidenhead Advertiser this week! The journos want to do a follow up after our swim aswell. Somewhat hilariously though, the article states that Captain Webb (the first guy to swim the channel) is taking us across in the boat. They seem to have got their research mixed up with our facts: Andy King will be taking us across.
http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/4542447.Marlow_swimmers_take_on_the_channel/
Happy trails!
I have to take you through this one, it was an exceptional morning in the Thames!
For those of you not in the UK, it rained here in the south-east of England all day yesterday. Not just pitter-patter, but proper rain. Constant rain. Couple that with the deluge from Wednesday afternoon which was shorter but torrential to the point of grey-out and you've got waterlogged countryside and a high water table.
When Chris, Pete, Nathan and I got to the river this morning, our plan was for a long steady session, 1 hour plus. What we found was that the water level was now some 15cm higher than it was wednesday morning, and remember that's 15cm across a stretch of water maybe 50m-75m wide. That's a lot of water coming through the gates! You could see clearly from the bank that the current would up the ante for us and this was not going to be an easy session.
Normally our paddle to Marlow weir takes us 22 minutes up to a small boat, Sapphire Blue i think it's called, that is the last moored boat before the weir. This morning the boat was not getting any closer, no matter how hard we swam. It's a disheartening game trying to guess distance at water-level, things just take much longer to get to. No matter, Pete and I cranked it up a notch and slowly reeled this flaming little blue and white boat in, slowly and steadily. I reached it first, maybe 20m ahead of Pete, but when i put my hand out to grab the sides, i immediately found myself moving backwards. I had to resume swimming hard again, just to make it back to the boat and keep swimming with one arm as i reached up to grab a conveniently placed rope. Madness. Looking round, i was astonished to find that Pete's still 20m away and he stayed there for about another minute as he dug in to make the boat. While I'm merrily swinging in the current, gripping this wonderfully secure rope, Pete finally reaches up and gets a fingerhold on the stern, enough grip however to manage a gutsy high-five! It was a good effort to reach the boat and we're both a little out of puff to be honest! Instead of 22 minutes, it had taken us 44 minutes this morning.
Looking further downstream, Chris was still gamefully bashing away maybe 30m off, while Nathan was even further back at about 50m, even with his bouyant wettie. It got cold waiting so we decided to use the Thames as our very own infinite lap-pool, slipped out from behind the boat and continued to swim at the same pace as the current flowing in the opposite direction. It was hilarious to be swimming away quite happily yet knowing we weren't getting anywhere! I estimate the water was running at about 90 seconds per 100m, 4km an hour, which is what we expect to average in the Channel.
After a couple of minutes, we checked in on Chris, still a distance off, so we decided to go out and spot him into the boat. Honestly, five strokes and we'd covered the distance to him downstream, where we collected ourselves, made ourselves known and as a trio dialled it back into the boat. For the second time, Pete and I dug in and reached the stern with Chris in tow, more high-fives between us and the realisation that this was exactly what to expect from the Good Lady Channel.
Now, what to do with Nathan? Knowing he's a gritty competitor, Pete didn't think twice about not making him reach the boat and we paddled off to collect and chaperone him through the current. As soon as the three of us broke the waters and gave him a little drafting room, he started to move forward at a steady pace, crossing the main stream from the Buckinghamshire to the Berkshire bank, finally reaching the boat. Good on the man! Awesome finish!
We were now at something like 55 minutes of battling up stream and thinking that our plan to swim all the way back to the normal boat house might take us the rest of the morning! We hastily revised it, knowing we all had work to get to, and made a dash for the landing jetty. Man it felt good to be moving so quickly! We covered the return leg in about 10 minutes, which says something about the pace of the river we'd just fought with.
Mentally, being able to see your progress, however slow, is encouraging. But in the channel, we'll not have any stationary objects against which to guage ourselves. Will any of us want to know that we're not making headway even when we're pulling as hard as we can? At what stage do the team on the boat communicate to the swimmer that as hard as they're working, they need to work harder to push through a tide? We need to work this out between us. It will make a big difference for sure to the mental side of the swim, which takes on more significance than you would think.
Anyway, enough of swimming upstream. I'm going to try to swim downstream for the rest of the day and make my own positive current.
Again in the words of Og Mandino (god, this man's good with words ain't he??? a quote for everything!!!) "I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit". Well, it certainly did this morning!
Oh, we made the pages of the illustrious Maidenhead Advertiser this week! The journos want to do a follow up after our swim aswell. Somewhat hilariously though, the article states that Captain Webb (the first guy to swim the channel) is taking us across in the boat. They seem to have got their research mixed up with our facts: Andy King will be taking us across.
http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/4542447.Marlow_swimmers_take_on_the_channel/
Happy trails!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Donation milestone
A short write-up went out today in the Chalfont News, an e-newsletter that covers the three sites here in Little Chalfont, about our channel challenge. It's been so exciting to just get the word out there and have people hear about it. Obviously the usual response is "you're mad" but then it's followed up with "it's a great cause you're swimming for" and that brings it right back to why i'm going to put myself out there.
So, my donations tally for the RNLI now stands at a beautifully uneven GBP500.98 (forgive my US centric keyboard, no pound symbol) which is a great milestone to hit. That's a lot of money and to make sense of it, it would buy three full wetties and a rescue tube for the Lifeguard on the beach. I'm a little way off generating enough money for a full-on rescue craft, but you know, you can try.
I remember the sentiments from a book called "The Greatest Salesman in the World", written by Og Mandino. It's a short book that I would read daily each morning on the book-field where I spent three summers working whilst at University: "If you shoot for the moon, chances are you'll strike a rock. If you shoot for the stars, chances are you'll still strike a rock, but there's always a chance you'll strike the moon".
Interestingly, the great man has another pearl of wisdom which aptly fits my current situation.
"To do anything truly worth doing, I must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gusto and scramble through as well as I can".
And so I close up for the night, ready to hit the river again tomorrow morning, knowing that it may well be a touch cooler, given all the rain from wednesday and thursday but also knowing that it's one more step on the road to being prepared.
Happy trails!
So, my donations tally for the RNLI now stands at a beautifully uneven GBP500.98 (forgive my US centric keyboard, no pound symbol) which is a great milestone to hit. That's a lot of money and to make sense of it, it would buy three full wetties and a rescue tube for the Lifeguard on the beach. I'm a little way off generating enough money for a full-on rescue craft, but you know, you can try.
I remember the sentiments from a book called "The Greatest Salesman in the World", written by Og Mandino. It's a short book that I would read daily each morning on the book-field where I spent three summers working whilst at University: "If you shoot for the moon, chances are you'll strike a rock. If you shoot for the stars, chances are you'll still strike a rock, but there's always a chance you'll strike the moon".
Interestingly, the great man has another pearl of wisdom which aptly fits my current situation.
"To do anything truly worth doing, I must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gusto and scramble through as well as I can".
And so I close up for the night, ready to hit the river again tomorrow morning, knowing that it may well be a touch cooler, given all the rain from wednesday and thursday but also knowing that it's one more step on the road to being prepared.
Happy trails!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Beware drunken mermaids
I think I may have a new nickname. From the swimming fraternity at least.
About 90% through our training set this morning, we paused for breath before the final high intensity stint of 400m. Chris paddles up and matter of factly says to me "I liken your swimming this morning to that of a drunken mermaid. You're all over the shop!"
Fair comment actually. When I up the intensity I have a bad habit of meandering along the river. I nearly swam down a backwater on monday morning because I wasn't looking where I was going. Now that would be disastrous mid channel to be paddling off in the wrong direction!
Anyway, with that said, I can see the backprint for my team t-shirt already!
Just a reminder, donations to the RNLI can be made through my just giving site www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-Lovell-Davis
donations to the RVCP can be made through my Dad as per the blog post from 4 August.
About 90% through our training set this morning, we paused for breath before the final high intensity stint of 400m. Chris paddles up and matter of factly says to me "I liken your swimming this morning to that of a drunken mermaid. You're all over the shop!"
Fair comment actually. When I up the intensity I have a bad habit of meandering along the river. I nearly swam down a backwater on monday morning because I wasn't looking where I was going. Now that would be disastrous mid channel to be paddling off in the wrong direction!
Anyway, with that said, I can see the backprint for my team t-shirt already!
Just a reminder, donations to the RNLI can be made through my just giving site www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-Lovell-Davis
donations to the RVCP can be made through my Dad as per the blog post from 4 August.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
You know the channel is the busiest shipping lane in the world....
This is a wake-up call! I found this linked to a channel swim website. It is a real-time vessel tracker for UK ports. The linked page shows the traffic in real-time between Dover and Calais, through which we're going to be swimming.
Hilarious!!! What should a channel swimmer's icon look like? A small floating rubber duck?
http://www.shipais.com/currentmap.php?refresh=2&count=1&map=folkstone
Hilarious!!! What should a channel swimmer's icon look like? A small floating rubber duck?
http://www.shipais.com/currentmap.php?refresh=2&count=1&map=folkstone
Australian Royal Volunteer Coast Patrol Donations
I have been asked by more than one person how it might be possible to make donations to the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol, Ulladulla Division.
Coastal Patrol in New South Wales provide a volunteer service to all ocean users; ocean vessels in distress, passing vessels on the radio providing information about the shoreline, recreational boats out for a spot of fishing, of course providing a rapid response for swimmers like me and many many more activities.
In 2008 the number of volunteer hours provided in NSW was 759,502 which equates to a benefit to NSW alone of $22.8 million! That’s a lot of support.
According to the 2008 stats for NSW, there were 1,157 reported incidents with 2,634 people rescued, a staggering 7 people per day for every day of the year.
Breakdowns and searches required 721 outings of a rescue boat of some sort, with the fuel bill alone reaching $170,294.
The RVCP is a 100% charitable entity and maintains phenomenally high standards of care and service to the Australian beach-going community. Without contributions, there would be no coastal patrol. I realise that cash is hard to come by for all of us right now, but if everyone can make a contribution of a few dollars and send this message to a lot of their friends, then the dollars will stack up in the end.
Coastal Patrol in New South Wales provide a volunteer service to all ocean users; ocean vessels in distress, passing vessels on the radio providing information about the shoreline, recreational boats out for a spot of fishing, of course providing a rapid response for swimmers like me and many many more activities.
In 2008 the number of volunteer hours provided in NSW was 759,502 which equates to a benefit to NSW alone of $22.8 million! That’s a lot of support.
According to the 2008 stats for NSW, there were 1,157 reported incidents with 2,634 people rescued, a staggering 7 people per day for every day of the year.
Breakdowns and searches required 721 outings of a rescue boat of some sort, with the fuel bill alone reaching $170,294.
The RVCP is a 100% charitable entity and maintains phenomenally high standards of care and service to the Australian beach-going community. Without contributions, there would be no coastal patrol. I realise that cash is hard to come by for all of us right now, but if everyone can make a contribution of a few dollars and send this message to a lot of their friends, then the dollars will stack up in the end.
May I say a big thanks to my Dad who has taken to the volunteering life and is helping me co-ordinate this element of my channel challenge! He is a qualified for radio operation, navigation, seamanship and first aid as required for all crew members and he is current under training for Skipper Level one.
Given that the RVCP are not connected to something like Just Giving, we’re taking a more manual approach here so bear with me! This is important if you’re an Australian tax payer and you can claim back the tax effect of the donation.
If you would like to contact the RVCP Ulladulla crew directly, you can get in touch with Doug Musker, the Division Commander through their website:
http://www.rvcpulladulla.com.au/
Please make cheques payable to RVCP Ulladulla and send them to my Dad who volunteers for the RVCP (see the Ulladulla write-up that I attach to this email and how he pulled together the Charity Golf Day) and he can pay these into the Coastal Patrol account and arrange to have your tax receipt sent to you from the RVCP which is a registered charity in Australia.
Send your cheque to
Barrie Lovell-Davis
7 Skillman Place
Mollymook Beach
NSW 2539
AUSTRALIA
with a short cover note saying;
"Jezz Lovell-Davis Channel Challenge - RVCP Ulladulla Donation"
"YOUR NAME and ADDRESS"
If you have any questions about this, please get in touch on the blog or my email jezzld@hotmail.com
Given that the RVCP are not connected to something like Just Giving, we’re taking a more manual approach here so bear with me! This is important if you’re an Australian tax payer and you can claim back the tax effect of the donation.
If you would like to contact the RVCP Ulladulla crew directly, you can get in touch with Doug Musker, the Division Commander through their website:
http://www.rvcpulladulla.com.au/
Please make cheques payable to RVCP Ulladulla and send them to my Dad who volunteers for the RVCP (see the Ulladulla write-up that I attach to this email and how he pulled together the Charity Golf Day) and he can pay these into the Coastal Patrol account and arrange to have your tax receipt sent to you from the RVCP which is a registered charity in Australia.
Send your cheque to
Barrie Lovell-Davis
7 Skillman Place
Mollymook Beach
NSW 2539
AUSTRALIA
with a short cover note saying;
"Jezz Lovell-Davis Channel Challenge - RVCP Ulladulla Donation"
"YOUR NAME and ADDRESS"
If you have any questions about this, please get in touch on the blog or my email jezzld@hotmail.com
A little background knowledge
We had the chance to meet a good channel coach this morning, Greg Whyte. He has swum the channel several times, working with Andy King our pilot and also coached David Walliams in his solo channel effort for Comic Relief. Meeting Greg mid-channel of the Thames, just downstream of the Marlow weir danger sign, me going one way, him going the other, we exchanged glances under a high-arm.
By the time we’d all turned round and swum back to the jetty, he and a friend, Richard, were already toweled down and were warming up. We got their photographic skills working for us and finally took the team photograph for both the Maidenhead Advertiser and my work’s local newsletter. I’ve added the shot here, left to right are Chris Newell, Heath Freeman, Peter Frost and me, the hairy one!
Catching up with Greg again for breakfast, we shot a bunch of questions at him. It was pretty enlightening to hear of some of the oddities of the channel swim. For example we HAVE to wear speedos because the CSA does not allow any suits larger than that, in light of the FINA acceptance of the hyper-technical suits, it does seem at odds.
Confirming what we thought, keeping warm is the biggest thing for us as a relay team, so make sure we’re out the water, dry, warm and get a hot drink in as the number one priority. In respect of the swimming, it’s one hour, head down and go as hard as you can. With three hours of rest time, we can afford to go hard. It might be that we can get a good time out of this. I found it a really useful chat to have over a healthy breakfast of poached eggs on toast. I’m noticing more what I’m eating now, making sure it’s healthy and with a good energy count. I’m forcing myself to drink more as well to keep hydrated. It’s simple stuff that we all know but with three weeks to go I’ve got a heightened awareness of it now.
I wanted to say thanks here to my manager, Pearl Ford, who is being phenomenally positive and encouraging about this swim. I’m not into the office quite as early in the mornings because we’re finishing our sets in the river and I’m trying to get out at a reasonable time to make sure I can put some ks down on the road on my non-swimming days. It’s a balancing act. Most importantly, we’ve got a huge presentation on 27 August to get dialled and there is a high chance that our swim happens on the 28th which could make for an interesting taper week!
By the time we’d all turned round and swum back to the jetty, he and a friend, Richard, were already toweled down and were warming up. We got their photographic skills working for us and finally took the team photograph for both the Maidenhead Advertiser and my work’s local newsletter. I’ve added the shot here, left to right are Chris Newell, Heath Freeman, Peter Frost and me, the hairy one!
Catching up with Greg again for breakfast, we shot a bunch of questions at him. It was pretty enlightening to hear of some of the oddities of the channel swim. For example we HAVE to wear speedos because the CSA does not allow any suits larger than that, in light of the FINA acceptance of the hyper-technical suits, it does seem at odds.
Confirming what we thought, keeping warm is the biggest thing for us as a relay team, so make sure we’re out the water, dry, warm and get a hot drink in as the number one priority. In respect of the swimming, it’s one hour, head down and go as hard as you can. With three hours of rest time, we can afford to go hard. It might be that we can get a good time out of this. I found it a really useful chat to have over a healthy breakfast of poached eggs on toast. I’m noticing more what I’m eating now, making sure it’s healthy and with a good energy count. I’m forcing myself to drink more as well to keep hydrated. It’s simple stuff that we all know but with three weeks to go I’ve got a heightened awareness of it now.
I wanted to say thanks here to my manager, Pearl Ford, who is being phenomenally positive and encouraging about this swim. I’m not into the office quite as early in the mornings because we’re finishing our sets in the river and I’m trying to get out at a reasonable time to make sure I can put some ks down on the road on my non-swimming days. It’s a balancing act. Most importantly, we’ve got a huge presentation on 27 August to get dialled and there is a high chance that our swim happens on the 28th which could make for an interesting taper week!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
A long swim at Liquid Leisure
Laying down challenges, Chris, Heath and I decided to put ourselves to the test and hit Liquid Leisure http://www.openwaterswim.co.uk/ this morning for as long as we could. The lake just outside Datchet is open to swimmers for two hours between half 6 and half 8 and becomes a splash-fest for open water swimmers and triathletes. The water in the lake is hovering around high nineteen degrees, so the need for wetsuits is pretty low but regardless of that all but us and a couple of others are rubbered up in full suits. I shake my head.
Hitting the water just after half six we reckoned on completing as close to two hours as we could. It’s a reasonable test I think, swimming solidly for two hours, even if the water’s not as cold and this won’t cause the muscles to cramp up anywhere nearly as quickly, but if you think about it, it’s a test for the shoulders. Eighty strokes per 100m. Eight hundred strokes per kilometer. Four kilometers per hour, that’s 3,200 strokes an hour. I ended up completing about 6.5km in 1hr 40mins this morning, that’s 5,200 strokes. 2,600 rotations of each shoulder. Forgive me, I am an accountant.
After about 5.5km my right bicep started to tighten up, feeling a little torn, which is never a good feeling in anyone’s book so I’ll be looking after that for the next 36hrs. It could be worse, could be chaffing under my armpits, now that’s sore! Still, I’ll take it easy the next couple of days, don’t want anything letting go now.
Running through my head this morning, for the majority of the swim, was about four bars from the chorus of “The Whole World Reminds Me of You” by Thirsty Merc. I must learn more catchy songs to be able to hum along to. The ocean’s a quiet place.
I have an apology to make here. When I said we were swimming at “old-man-plod pace” on Friday morning, what I MEANT was “reasonable training pace”. It’s all relative really, depending on how you feel when you pitch up to the deck. Friday morning I felt pretty sore, this morning I felt really good and was able to test myself a little, pushing the pace on every alternate kilometer.
I reckon that ability to change pace for a good 15-30 minutes will be crucial when we come to the channel. The tides change so quickly and so dramatically that if you miss a positive tide and get hit by an adverse one it can add hours to your time as you battle against it. In particular we hear the tide that rushes along the French coastline is fierce and it would be the last thing you want to hit when you’re tired and sore. Regardless of what pace you swim at, I’m sitting and watching the world champs from Rome this arvo and the stunning results coming out of the pool are a marvel to watch. Really exciting stuff. And to finally hear the british national anthem at a swimming event, it’s a good thing!
While I have your attention, I wanted to say many thanks and the best for the future for my friend Jonny Loose who owns the Healthy Deli in Henley. He has had the store open for a couple of years now and built it up to be a well known and exclusive center in Henley for local cheeses, cured meats, condiments and chutneys, wines and beers and an assortment of wonderfully tasty goods. It is with great sadness that we walked into the Healthy Deli today to find Jonny in a shirt and tie for his last day of trading. Jonny will be moving onto different things after a period of R&R. I look forward to hearing about your new venture!
Happy trails and here's to the rest of the weekend!
Hitting the water just after half six we reckoned on completing as close to two hours as we could. It’s a reasonable test I think, swimming solidly for two hours, even if the water’s not as cold and this won’t cause the muscles to cramp up anywhere nearly as quickly, but if you think about it, it’s a test for the shoulders. Eighty strokes per 100m. Eight hundred strokes per kilometer. Four kilometers per hour, that’s 3,200 strokes an hour. I ended up completing about 6.5km in 1hr 40mins this morning, that’s 5,200 strokes. 2,600 rotations of each shoulder. Forgive me, I am an accountant.
After about 5.5km my right bicep started to tighten up, feeling a little torn, which is never a good feeling in anyone’s book so I’ll be looking after that for the next 36hrs. It could be worse, could be chaffing under my armpits, now that’s sore! Still, I’ll take it easy the next couple of days, don’t want anything letting go now.
Running through my head this morning, for the majority of the swim, was about four bars from the chorus of “The Whole World Reminds Me of You” by Thirsty Merc. I must learn more catchy songs to be able to hum along to. The ocean’s a quiet place.
I have an apology to make here. When I said we were swimming at “old-man-plod pace” on Friday morning, what I MEANT was “reasonable training pace”. It’s all relative really, depending on how you feel when you pitch up to the deck. Friday morning I felt pretty sore, this morning I felt really good and was able to test myself a little, pushing the pace on every alternate kilometer.
I reckon that ability to change pace for a good 15-30 minutes will be crucial when we come to the channel. The tides change so quickly and so dramatically that if you miss a positive tide and get hit by an adverse one it can add hours to your time as you battle against it. In particular we hear the tide that rushes along the French coastline is fierce and it would be the last thing you want to hit when you’re tired and sore. Regardless of what pace you swim at, I’m sitting and watching the world champs from Rome this arvo and the stunning results coming out of the pool are a marvel to watch. Really exciting stuff. And to finally hear the british national anthem at a swimming event, it’s a good thing!
While I have your attention, I wanted to say many thanks and the best for the future for my friend Jonny Loose who owns the Healthy Deli in Henley. He has had the store open for a couple of years now and built it up to be a well known and exclusive center in Henley for local cheeses, cured meats, condiments and chutneys, wines and beers and an assortment of wonderfully tasty goods. It is with great sadness that we walked into the Healthy Deli today to find Jonny in a shirt and tie for his last day of trading. Jonny will be moving onto different things after a period of R&R. I look forward to hearing about your new venture!
Happy trails and here's to the rest of the weekend!
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