Lack of Motivation

I ended last week on a total of 7kms after nursing my shoulder and generally recoving from the minor cold. This week saw me lose motivation completely. I think, having got out of the momentum of morning swimming that I had created, I just couldn't force myself to get enthusiastic about swimming. I felt tired most mornings and enjoyed spending a bit of extra time in bed and having lesiurely breakfasts not forcing a bagel down whilst squashed into a smelly tube carriage. I swam on Tuesday morning but an overnight at Cranwell mid-week and my parents being over from France meant I was doing a lot more socially than normal. I think the later returns home contributed to not wanting to get up and a subsequent missing of any evening swims I might have used to catch-up the missed sessions. By Friday I decided that the 3kms I had done on Tuesday were pitiful and I had to force myself to do more so I dutifully headed for the pool on Friday morning only to find someone had put too many chemicals in and it would be unsafe to swim in until after 7.30am! I was fuming. Anyway, it was obviously not to be and I did console myself that I was spending all of Saturday playing Water-Polo so at least I was in the water. I have decided that maybe I was trying to do too much to soon and so I am going to try and get it a steady 3times a week coupled with some running and yoga to keep the variety. If I can managed two mornings and an evening that will see me hit at least 10kms a week which should be fine for the moment. I am also starting to pencil in some summer races which will really start to give me a feel for things. It is annoying that I won't be able to confirm whether I can do the relay or not for a good three months yet but c'est la vie! I must just continue to train as if I am. Fingers crossed this week goes a bit better in term of motivation - I just think life is making me think rather too much at the moment with regards career, house etc. and that is probably not leaving too much capacity for swimming.

Rest, rest, rest

Due to my aches and pains I decided to have Thursday off to try and recover a little. Had a nice lie in which helped and I was glad of this decision. Still had a bit of a sore throat/ear going on and did spend most of the day at my desk massaging my shoulders. My right shoulder is really achy and keeps tightening sporadically so that it feels like the burn of a long work out. Not that great. Got home and put a Deep Heat patch on it. I found it as a trial sample in a magazine and thought I'd give it a go. Despite not feeling that 'warm' unless I pressed on it there was none of the horrid normal smell of Deep Heat and it seems to have really helped. This morning I woke up and it felt looser than it has for a good while. I'll maybe try roping them in as a sponsor as I am sure I'll need many more patches over the months!

I was due to swim this morning to try and make a reasonable total but I still wasn't feeling 100% so hit the snooze button without any of the guilt of Wednesday - a good sign I felt! I didn't feel bad but there was just a small hint of a sore throat and I just didn't feel fully right so I decided not to risk it and just enjoy the rest. It does mean that the total for this week stands at a measly 7kms but I have AGES to go (I bet it goes like lightening!) so, as long as I keep plodding on, I am not that worried.

Have a fantastic relaxing weekend planned with no travelling and all my favourite people around me. Claire (Adam's sister) is down in London this weekend so we are meeting up for a drink this evening when Adam arrives down which will be lovely. And tomorrow my parents arrive from France for a week or so, so Adam and I are having dinner with them and my sister tomorrow night and heading to the Ideal Home Show on Sunday. What a nice casual weekend! Just what I need to get rested and ready to hit it again hard on Monday!

Ladies night...

Well I was a little late getting in the pool due to the finishing of the adult lesson session just prior. My shoulders felt a little tight but generally I felt really strong in the water and was really looking forward to the session. Looking for inspiration earlier I found a pyramid build up alternating between full stroke and arms only so I used this as a basis for the swim first working 100m to 500m then working 500m to 100m. I also did a lot more kick than normal which always takes me a long time and reduced my total from the anticipated 4.5kms to 4.2kms. Still it was a good swim which I ended with some sprints as I know speed is my main weakness. Did 4 x 50m off 60secs with the sprints ending up around40secs. Not bad for the end of a long workout without a dive and having to time myself!! I took it as a good sign that when the session came to an end I wanted to keep swimming for much longer - it is annoying there are not really any times where I can get a really long swim in.

This morning I woke up tired and with a bit of a cold which I don't think I have properly shaken off from last week. Had a massive debate with myself about whether to go swimming or not with comical in bed/out of bed moments. I spoke to Paul Hopfensperger yesterday who was extremely helpful and answered lots of my questions but I'd promised him I wasn't going to push too hard this far away from the swim. However, in the end the guilt got too much and I headed to the pool promising I could have a sleep tomorrow morning as I am going out to meet an old friend tonight. However, I was super-tired when I hit the pool and after about 1km my ear and throat really started to hurt. I decided to cut the swim short at 2.8kms and live to fight another day - this far from the swim it is about consistency, building up strength and speed and keeping healthy and not bored. The time to push myself will come I am sure!

Am currently sitting at my desk with very achy shoulders so I am sure the decision to stop the swim early was a good one. I have been contacted by a Sqn Ldr at RAF High Wycombe who has asked whether I would represent the South-East in the Inter-Regionals. We talked over some times and I am not sure my speed will be adequate to make the team but I've promised to do some splits either tomorrow or Friday morning and see what she thinks. At least it would mean a couple of days off work and, as the champs are at Cranwell, more time with the lovely Adam!

Damn the Bank Holiday!

As Adam had to go to work (boo!) I had assumed that the pool at Cranwell might be open and I could get a session in yesterday lunchtime. As I've been off since Thursday it is definitely time to be back in the pool; my test a few posts previously seemed to suggest no more than 48hours between swims. However, it was not to be and upon arrival at the pool I found it empty and the poolside door locked. Very frustrating! Oh well, I am going to try and make up for it by forcing myself to another night-time session this evening. The pool at Princes Risborough has a 90mins Ladies Only session which will hopefully be not too busy and I can get a long swim in - aim is around 4.5kms. Will let you know if I manage!

Easter week

This week's total was always going to be a bit reduced from the good progress I made last week as I spent the Bank Holiday weekend walking in the Lakes which meant no swimming for me! I was tempted to use Windermere, Derwent Water et al. for a bit of acclimitisation but the snow we had put me off somewhat! Monday saw a good start to the total this week with my longest swim to date - 4kms! I forced myself to go swimming Monday evening as I had been off since Friday and missed Monday morning because of the journey from Doncaster. Was very pleased that I made myself go - shows it is possible to get me out of the house of an evening! Tuesday morning saw a steady 3.7kms to add to the total though I was quite stiff at the start having only got out of the water 8hrs previous; my shoulders loosened off during the session though. Monday evening saw me feel brilliant in the water - strong and efficient - I did 7x500m of 9.30mins which felt easy for most of the time. In comparison I was tired and not as relaxed on Tuesday but that is probably not being used to doing back to back sessions. I felt tired and a bit fluey on Tuesday night and decided that Wednesday morning would be better utilised sleeping and trying to shake off the minor cold coming my way. Adam had been fluey over the weekend so I had probably picked something up from him. I have decided to be very holistic in my training - 18months out is not the time to stress about missing sessions - I need to look after myself, build a routine and keep enjoying swimming. It's no good getting bored with it and stale at this stage - plenty of time for that over next winter!!!

The boss gave me Thursday off as apparently most people were trying to get away for the Bank Holiday weekend so I spent a great 85mins in the pool resulting in a nice 4.3kms. Felt a bit longer than normal but not tiring and not really boring either which was great. These 3.7/3.8/4km length type swims are starting to feel like a normal session length which is great - shows I am building a good base up. Thursday afternoon saw me heading up to Doncaster to start Adam's birthday weekend in the Lakes. I have hired an old school vw camper van called Percy and we are off to the Lakes to spend some time together, do a bit of walking and eat cream teas. Should be great! Total swim for the week ended up at 12kms therefore which is fairly consistent. Happy with my progress to date!

The perfect week!

Having made a commitment last week to establish some routine I managed to have a great week. I swam on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and clocked up 15kms! I couldn't swim on Thursday as I had an early start to Portsmouth but I am really happy with what I acheived. Was hoping to also swim today but Adam forgot his swim stuff and we decided that it might be nice to actually have a lie in this week sometime! So we forgo swimming for a few more hours in bed and brunch at Frankie and Benny's! Next week swimming may be a little haphazard again because of the long weekend taking me away from London but I will definitely swim Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings and must force myself to put a session in on Monday night! It'll be tough because I know I'll be tired but I will really try and make it. I hope then to hit the 15kms weekly target I have set myself as a good start point.

Unfortunately, having spoken to the RAF Swimming Association Chairman it is looking unlikely that I will be allowed to swim the relay which will be a massive blow. I am hoping for good news but I am not getting my hopes up and am preparing for having to complete the solo without having had that experience. However, if it falls through I think I will use the extra money to have a swim trek holiday - many people have rated them and it will get my long distance experience up. Just keeping everything crossed at the moment.......

How long is too long?

So after a good start on March on Monday with my longest swim to date, trips out of London meant I couldn't swim again until Thursday. On Thursday I did my normal early-bird pool routine but, as I had to get an early train, I had only 45mins or so to train in. So I put in a quick 2.4kms. Hmm, quick is a misnomer I think. Fair enough, it was pretty standard speed - 20 x 100m off 1.55 but it was hard work. So, I think I can now deduce that 48hrs is really the maximum time I can be out of the pool without it feeling like I am going backwards (literally and metaphorically!) in my next training session. Eager to make up losses I headed in this morning aswell for a 75minute session where I broke my longest swim barrier to reach 3.6kms. I did a ascending/descending 500m pyramid and though the 500m set felt a bit boring (less than ten minutes, how will I cope with 10+ hours?!) I felt good and powerful in the water again.

All in all a good end to the week. Won't be swimming per se this weekend as I am at Cranwell all weekend training and competing for RAF Water-Polo. I am however, going to try and fit in a 500m set somewhere. After all, then I will have made my first 10km week!!

Longest Swim to date!

I swam another short session on Friday, about 2.5kms but today I started my 9.45-5.45 routine today which seems to work really well. I was in the pool for 6.30am and did a 75minute swim resulting in my longest training session to date - 3.5kms! Still a bit off pace - I would expect to do over 3kms a hour but I suppose that is constant swimming and I have been doing sets with rest, arms only, legs only etc. so I can understand that I am a bit slower than normal. I am aiming for 3.2kms an hour for the Channel which would put the swim itself just under 12 hours and then add in feeds etc - around 14hours. I am putting no pressure on myself to acheive that time at all - I just need to have an aim of being able to do a certain distance each hour for a looooong time so I can see that it will be feasible.

Anyway, am very happy with the new routine - it's hard to pull myself out of bed each morning and I'm not sleeping that well in the new house - but 3.5km is a great start to March and what must be the start of proper and committed training - less than 18months to go now!

The long way back!

So I didn't swim last night. But, before you all quite rightly give me a good telling off, I did swim this morning! Yet again I arrived home tired and once I was settled and had had dinner the thought of rousing again to head back into the dark and cold to the pool was really unappealing. I have always been an early bird and I have realised I need to try and swim in the morning and get it over with so the excuses of the day can't build up.

I am going to ask my new boss if I can work 9.45am to 5.45pm instead of the normal working hours of 9-5. They have already said that they are quite happy for me to work flexible hours so I am hoping this will be no problem and will therefore allow me to get a decent morning swim in.

So, this morning. Still being on the early train I was very time constrained but I wanted to get at least 2kms done. I had planned 10x100m off 2mins and 4x200m of 3.50mins but had to cut that to 3x200m just because of the limited time. I was definitely taught a lesson this morning! Normally these type of sets would be easy - 200m merely a warm-up distance - but it was hard hard work. My shoulders were tired certainly but the biggest difference was how ungainly I felt. People have talked before about the 'feel' for the water that, whatever your style weaknesses, the more you swim the more you 'feel' at home in the water. I wasn't convinced before but I can understand it implicitly now - before I felt in control of the water and powered over the top of it, now it totally controlled me and I had to fight for bouyancy.

Definitely a lesson learnt!!! Roll on tomorrow....

London Town!

Ok, so I arrived back at Boulmer to face the big move to London. It felt like the world's biggest hassle at the time and I have been ridiculously unmotivated to do anything. However, I have decided that enough is enough and tonight I will be facing getting back in the pool after nearly two and half weeks off. I am pretty sure the session is going to be pretty unfun given I will have lost any of the fitness I previously built up but I'm also pretty sure I deserve it and am hoping it will give me a lesson in just how important consistency is in your training.

I wrote to Wycombe Leisure Limited to ask if they would let me train at their pools for free for a month but have yet to receive a response. Luckily the RAF receives a discount at the nearby Princes Risborough pool so the moan that it is too expensive will be quashed.

I really have no excuses left so if I don't go tonight I expect you all to berate me royally!
Fingers crossed.......

Lack of Motivation

I didn't end up swimming on Monday - I was so tired from our late night trip back from Stansted that I didn't think the session would be all that beneficial. However, I did promise myself that I would go to the pool yesterday in the Ladies Only session between 7-9pm and do an uber-session to make up for it. I didn't make that either. :( Yesterday it was confirmed that, instead of all my expected plans over the next month, I was actually going to be posted to the MOD. I don't mind that specifically except all this moving round the country rather throws the motivation to swim. I like establishing a routine and, once that is disturbed, I find it difficult to push myself to just do whatever sessions I can fit in. It will be great when I start my course at the end of March and I am set somewhere so I can properly get a routine and start a build up of volume. In a bit of a slump at the moment about it all.

Holiday!

It seemed a bit foolish to have a holiday having just managed to establish some kind of swimming routine but time off is an uncertain commodity in the RAF so I couldn't really say no! My boyfriend Adam and I flew out to my parents in France for a few days of wonderful home cooked food, some golf and a bit of spoiling before making a road trip down to Andorra for a few days on the slopes. We had a fabulous Valentine's snowboarding (me) and skiing (Adam) and finished the day off with an amazing spa evening hosted by one of the hotels. I've come back with a nice ski-ing tan with the requisite sunglasses marks! We then drove back to my parents for an over-nighter before getting the last flight home yesterday. We had a fantastic time and I have come back totally refreshed and itching to get back into the routine. I am driving back to Northumberland this afternoon but will hopefully make the 8pm swim session with the tri club where I am sure I will see how much fitness I have lost over the week!

I have started a section on the blog for other sites of interest. Currently Mark Robson and Chris Pountney are on there. They are both Channel swimming this year so take a moment to have a look over their sites and appreciate their own individual challenges.

Water-polo

There was a RAFSA try-it session this weekend so I went along to play some water-polo today. I've played with the RAF team once before - the women's section is brand new. Am really enjoying the sporadic sessions - have explained that I can't commit a large amount of time to it as triathlon (and now Channel Swimming!) needs to be my priority- but it is still fun! Most of the girls are swimmers who have decided to give water-polo a try - I have played quite a lot before but not for five years so I am re-learning things too. However, today the coach has asked if I would also go and train with the boys which was nice - glad I have managed to retain some level of skill! Played three hours of polo today, 90mins before and 90mins after lunch. There was then a swim session which I thought I'd also have a go at. Didn't quite realise how tired I had become from the water-polo - managed the warm-up and then did a 400m time trial before deciding enough was enough! Was really tired and had yet another headache - maybe dehyration? Finished off with a a mini cool-down and then called it a day. Still, I have reached my biggest weekly swim total to date - 8.3kms. Not much yet but a starting point!

Hungover swimming?

On Thursday night I went to my friend Katie's graduation from Cranwell. It wasn't too late a night and I didn't drink that much but unfortunately still enough to feel ropey on Friday morning! As I rarely drink, even the five drinks or so I consumed through the evening were enough to dehydrate me and make me feel really tired. Luckily I was off on Friday so could have a lie in, rehydrate and refuel! I really had to force myself into the pool and, once in, I had to force myself to complete the session. I did a short set of 2.2km but for most of the time was plagued by a splitting headache. I have been suffering from headaches quite a lot recently - I'm not sure whether the new routine has made me deficient in something perhaps? Unfortunately in Friday's session it may well have just been the drinking and the late night! Going to keep an eye on it and if they continue I think a trip to the Docs might be in order.

Relay news

So, as I mentioned in my first post, I have also been offered a slot with a relay team. The team is headed up by Damian Westray and, conveniently, is also piloted by Eddie. I think it will be fantastic experience - not only the event itself but also the training. I can imagine that, having set the goal, actually committing yourself to learning how to train, what nutrition to use, how to complete your qualifying swim etc. would be quite daunting and it will be great to have the support of a team, especially one containing members who are already successful Channel crossers, whilst I am learning.

There has, however, been a few admin problems. I start my professional training on the 31st March with a view to completing it around the end of September. Which is the date of our tide. Hmmm. The RAF were initally not very keen with me committing to something which may interfere with a critical time professionally which, begrudgingly, I can understand. However, I have written to the Air Commodore in charge of RAF swimming and hopefully, with his support, I will be allowed the time to complete the relay. We have confirmed with Michael that the relay does not have to be formalised until the fortnight before our tide so I have been bought some time for a while!

Swim frustrations!

Another session at the Cranwell pool yesterday. I thought it would be hard to fit swimming in whilst I am down here but I actually think that this may end up being my best swim week yet thanks to the abundance of sessions available. Compared to Friday where I had a nice serene swim I did find today much more stressful. It was funny because only that morning I had been reading an article in Zest about when sport actually turns from being good for you to being bad if you get too competitive/stressed about fitting it in etc. I was down at the pool early to try and get as long a session as possible only for them to not open the gate until nearly ten past 12. Argh! Then for some reason (I think namely that they are too lazy to put all the swim ropes in) the lifeguards only put three ropes in and then make people swim in clockwise circles round the space. SO annoying especially when you are doing timed sets and trying to swim efficiently. Anyway, in the fast lane we can normally negotiate with upto three people that we'll just swim up and down sticking to our own mini lanes within the ropes. This was working well until we were interrupted at 12.30 (who comes halfway through a session?!!) by a fourth and had to revert to swimming in circles which never works when people are different speeds and doing different things. My greatest annoyance soon reared its ugly head - pool etiquette!!! Why do people not let you past at the end of lengths?? And, more annoyingly, why, having insisted we swam in big circles round the lane, did all three of the other swimmers decide to stop for a chat thus spreading themselves over the entire end of the lane and not leaving me anywhere to turn!! They weren't even dissuaded by some very forceful tumble turns! So, anyway, anyone who actually bothers to read this rant - please, please show courtesy -let people overtake you at the end of lengths or if they tap your feet and, if you are going to stop for a chat, make way for the people still swimming!
Moan over!!!

It's official!

Got an email from Eddie this morning saying my cheque has been received and the No.1 slot on the 13th-18th August 2009 has been officially reserved. For me!! He has also contacted Michael Oram at CS&PF to get me registered with them - I don't think I have to become a member etc until the end of the year but if I do the relay I need to be at least an associate member so will probably get all the membership paperwork in asap. Membership lasts for two years anyway so there's no problem.

Another short swim at lunch - 2.2km but if I can at least keep squeezing these swims into the day then the miles will mount up I'm sure!

Mark Robson left me a comment today - he is aspiring for a solo in 2008. So,'Hi Mark' and good luck for the swim! These blogs are a great way of finding other people with the same foolish ambitions!!

The cheque's in!

Despite being detached down to Lincolnshire, I managed to slot in a quick swim yesterday afternoon. Only 2km but every bit of training helps! I am trying to work on bilateral breathing as I know it will be important when the waves decide to start hitting me in the face on my breathing side! My £250 deposit cheque was popped in the post this morning to Eddie who will hopefully confirm my place over the next week. Hoping to get another training session in on Friday - it is hard once you get out of your own routine but I must keep putting the effort in! Spoke to John, a Sports Masseur at the tri club as I think it will be important for me to have maybe a monthly massage to keep everything loose but hopefully I won't be plagued by the same sort of impact problems I get when I'm running.
Right, back to work!

Donate here!!

My charity pages for Cancer Research UK and the RAF Benevolent fund have now been set up. I am campaigning to get everyone to sponsor me £1/mile - it's only £20 and will make such a huge difference! Please sponsor me!

In the beginning.......

Hurray! After a week of documenting my progress in Word I can finally go live! And it is confirmed! Eddie has offered me No.1 spot for the 13th-18th August tides next year so I just need to get the cheque in the post and we are set. How exciting! I have also been offered a spot swimming with a relay team which I have gratefully accepted. I can't think of any better experience to prepare you for the challenge of going solo. Training however may be slack in the next few weeks as I am detached to Scampton/Waddington and it's hard to keep the routine going. It's been such a joy to join up with Alnwick Tri club and get back into it properly. Frances filmed my stroke in the first week and I can't wait to see what bad habits need sorting!

Mental Training?

I am currently practising mental strength in my battle with online blogging. It is the most frustrating thing and thus I feel it must be good practice for the rigors of Channel swimming. As I have a military computer a lot of stuff is blocked and I am not sure the MOD wants various blog site ‘cookies’ attaching themselves to its system. Thus, for now at least, I am beaten and will stick to trusty Word. However, as part of my resilience training, I will be back!!

Had a response from Michael saying he and his son have two 4th spots available for the summer dates I am interested in and also that other pilots have higher positioned spots. I write back saying I don’t have much of a preference either way and to please just book me in for whichever he thinks best. I just want to have a spot confirmed either way – so that it finally seems real.

Alnwick Tri Club Swimming

Tonight I received a message back from both Michael Oram and Alison Streeter, both saying there is some availability for next year. Looks like the Challenge may be on! Michael has asked which set of neap tides I was thinking of swimming on. Had to admit I had no idea what a neap tide was, let alone which one I needed to be swimming on to make this challenge a reality. Is being some kind of moon pull expert a pre-requisite of being a Channel swimmer??

At my aircrew medical today I got chatting to the Doctor who was interested in my fitness profile. On explaining my training he told me that there was another potential Channel swimmer at Alnwick tri club and I should hunt her down. At training tonight I got talking to Frances, who is planning a swim this year and have somehow agreed to train with her. From being a bit of a pipe dream three days ago this is somehow becoming real. I am starting to get the same feeling I first got when I entered the Ironman online. I was sure some unknown filter computer alien would spit out my credit card details with the harsh message, “You? I don’t think so. You are SO not ready!” But again, nothing appears to have happened. People don’t look at me like I’m a fraud (they look at me like I have a screw loose but that’s another story), they seem interested and excited and the excuses as to why I might not be able to do this Challenge (booked pilots, lack of ability etc.) seem to be diminishing by the hour. Frances was extremely helpful and enthusiastic and has left me feeling ridiculously buoyed up about the Challenge. This may be helped by the fact that training tonight was like a dream – another 2.6kms closer to that cold morning in Dover!

Blogging...

Two days ago I put out an email to all the boat pilots requesting availability for Summer 2009. I have yet to receive any response which makes me think my military account won’t accept outside emails. Plan for the weekend is to write again from my yahoo account. I feel it is early to be planning your pilotage but I am assured that, even at this early stage, I may be leaving it too late as, since Mr Walliams attempt, it has become de rigeur to the endurance mentalists!

I joined Alnwick Tri club on Monday and completed my first coached swim set for over 18months. It felt good to be getting back into it. This morning the club has an uncoached open swim at Willowburn and I got back into training with a 2k set – that’s 2k closer to my goal! Reading over people’s training diary’s I have been astonished at how long (sometimes months!) it can take for them to reach, in training, the distance they will have to swim in one go (38,000m or there about) – I gues I’m in for the long haul!

Will investigate today setting up a blog so I can chart this story online – probably outside my technical capability but is a job for the day!

Until tomorrow…….

Attempt on the Channel!

The background to this should probably explain that I have now wanted to swim the channel for nearly twenty years. This is not supreme lack of motivation on my part it’s just that for the last ten I figured I was probably too old and it was an ambition that should be put aside.

I’m 26.

After David Walliams’ successful attempt last year and after doing a bit of research which puts the average Channel swimmer’s ago a good decade ahead of mine I’ve decided to bite the bullet and finally put the challenge to bed. I haven’t done much proper swim training over the last few years, especially over the last year where officer training with the RAF pretty much took over everything, but in 2006 I completed Ironman Germany so I figure I must have some predisposition to endurance challenges! Having been built for comfort not for speed, challenges where just to finish is a huge achievement have always been my bag and adventure racing, ultra-marathons and long-distance tri are all part of my repertoire. However, realising that the Channel is pretty much the equivalent of a DECA-Ironman (on a good day!) puts the Challenge in its rightful place, at the top of the list!

Starting early January 2008 in a cold and wet Northumberland here is the diary of my attempt on the Channel which I have scheduled (hopefully) for Summer 2009.