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!
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