Swim Schwang Gone

It's kind of OK, I can still swim but so far I've cut two sessions in open water drastically short.

At Eastleigh I managed only 4 laps of a 350m course in 29 minutes.  This week it lasted about the same though I took a lift off a canoeist to get back to shore.  Not exactly a nail-biting near-death experience, more of a pleasant tow to make it easier for me to take over from her.  Once I stopped powering with my own arms, however, the water permeated my wetsuit under my arms making it difficult for me to do anything other than shiver when I got ashore.

Everyone worried about me and sent me for a shower and to be honest, it was a nice idea not to argue with them.  I'd wanted to put out another loop but the alternatives were too tempting.  I was starting to worry about the length of the loop, about the canoeist noticing if I got into genuine difficulties and about the distance I'd have to walk in bare feet if I did happen to want to get out on the other side of the lake.

I tested a new technique for keeping my fingers together which seemed to work.  That was the only good thing that came from yesterday morning.

I keep telling myself that it will all be warmer on the day but quite frankly I am worried about tomorrow's 1600m in the river in Wetherby and I am worried that despite any warmth in June, I still have to stay in the water twice as long as I ever have before.  I still shudder when I recall the seething wreck I was after the ADIL swim.  TSK reminds me that the week before and the day of ADIL were biblically wet with the lake 15 inches higher than usual.  But it was the same weekend as Forestman.

So, in the next few weeks I will be throwing myself into as much cold water as possible and eating a lot of cake to try and put back on some of the fat I have lost in the last 6 months.  Let's call it a race insurance policy.  The swim is the only discipline I'm truly worried about finishing because it is out of my mental control.  If my circulation fails me then there's nothing I can do.  It's less arduous to consider the consequences of running a marathon with 5kgs of extra weight.  I mean, it's not like I'm going to break any bones is it?

Open Water Swimming at Rother Valley - the beginings

Open water swimming was great, it really was. I've been so looking forwards to it for many weeks. For me it's not just about training, it's about the freedom of swimming outdoors, even if I am wrapped up in a very expensive, highly technical wetsuit.

I arrived first at Rother Valley country park and kept warm knitting in the vanu until they let us through the gate. All registered and signed-in I took to the novices group to learn some extra techniques. Any knowledge will help.

The first lap was frightening. Usual frozen forehead, sharp breaths. Looking down over the weeds lurking in the depths below I had my usual panic attack but then concentrated and got the hell on with it. I realised it was good to see the weeds meaning the water was so much clearer than many of the lakes and rivers in the UK I have swum in through last years tri season.

The useful technique I learned was turning around the buoy. Very useful, really and I wouldn't have learned it if I hadn't done the novice session but I also learned not to do the novice session again. I stuck around incase I learned anything else and it was good to practice mass starts and draughting amongst friends.

The standing around started to get to me after a while and my hands began to claw. I lasted it out as long as possible, thinking, "I'll just do one more, one more". Finally one more was too many. My technique was going downhill. I called it quits and headed for the changing rooms. Two people declared me genius for bringing the remnants of my morning coffee pot with me in a flask. Seemed like an obvious idea to me.

Satisfied with a good training session which, although not great in terms of distance, great for toughness training and a great deal of fun. Looking forwards to next week.