I have one more very important thing to do before I'm allowed to swim the channel. I'll be brutally honest, I'm not looking forward to it one bit.
The winter has been a bit of a waiting game and it is pretty much over. I've spent more hours in the pool than I have done since I quit swimming competitively those many years ago. I'm not as far along in my training as I wanted to be, I was ill at the start of the year, but I'm still in a good place. I've done a 10km swim in the pool, which is something I promised I would never do due to the boredom of swimming 400 lengths, and I did it comfortably in under 3h. Thank goodness the water is starting to warm up outside, 10km isn't boring when you have different scenery to look at, fish slapping you in the face or when swans are chasing you down the river. The only problem is that with the warmer water temperatures comes my final hurdle, my qualifying swim.
I have to spend 6 hours in water that is below 16 degrees centigrade. 6 HOURS. I swam the whole length of Lake Windermere in less than 6 hours and that nearly broke my brain. Mentally, I was broken after that swim. I don't even want to think about what it will be like in the Channel which will be significantly longer than 6 hours. Without passing this swim my channel attempt is over, finished, dead in the water.
Still, one challenge at a time, and now it is the time to start really pushing myself to get ready for the qualifying swim...
The winter has been a bit of a waiting game and it is pretty much over. I've spent more hours in the pool than I have done since I quit swimming competitively those many years ago. I'm not as far along in my training as I wanted to be, I was ill at the start of the year, but I'm still in a good place. I've done a 10km swim in the pool, which is something I promised I would never do due to the boredom of swimming 400 lengths, and I did it comfortably in under 3h. Thank goodness the water is starting to warm up outside, 10km isn't boring when you have different scenery to look at, fish slapping you in the face or when swans are chasing you down the river. The only problem is that with the warmer water temperatures comes my final hurdle, my qualifying swim.
I have to spend 6 hours in water that is below 16 degrees centigrade. 6 HOURS. I swam the whole length of Lake Windermere in less than 6 hours and that nearly broke my brain. Mentally, I was broken after that swim. I don't even want to think about what it will be like in the Channel which will be significantly longer than 6 hours. Without passing this swim my channel attempt is over, finished, dead in the water.
Still, one challenge at a time, and now it is the time to start really pushing myself to get ready for the qualifying swim...