Planning the Summer

Planned swims this summer.

TIME STANDS STILL FOR NO MAN, No matter what you are feeling or how life is
going, so it is time for me to put dates in the diary for the swims that I plan to do this year and I figure what better time than now, sitting at home after a short week. Tonight is a night off from training, so instead of driving myself insane THINKING about things, which seems to
be happening with for too much regularity, I thought I would DO something constructive.

Hmmmmm, this is going to be a bit more difficult than I thought. I was planning on doing the 24 mile challenge in 24 hours. That is not going to happen, I will be on holiday in deepest darkest Africa.
So lets look for a decent size swim in May.
Bugger!! The 10km that I was hoping to do in May at Dorney lake is on the 27th of May.  Guess what, I will be in Scotland that weekend, so bang goes that Idea.

Listening to the weather forecast over the last couple of days, meteorologists out there are comparing the lovely weather in Blighty akin to a "mini ice age."  We had our three hours of spring earlier today. You may ask why I point this out? Well ...... as some of you, who know me know..... I DO NOT, and
WILL NOT swim in a wetsuit.  A hippo in a wetsuit is NOT a pretty sight. Mind you, neither is a hippo in orange budgy smugglers!!  Well tough, you will just have to deal with it. Anyway I have lost 10 kg (1.5 stone) this year so my smugglers aren't so snug anymore! I'll just have to get tighter ones.

So the search continues for a decent distance swim in May.

After a fair amount of googling, it seems that there are not many middle to long distance swims in May.  I have however found one  that is not a million miles from me, it is called the Jubilee River Swim. This takes place on the 2nd of June and starts at Taplow and takes in the 10km stretch of the Jubilee river, ending in Eton.

It is ideal for spectators, as they can either walk, run or cycle the whole distance along the edge of the river. I would love the support. For details of the map please go to Jubilee River Swim

My next swim will be 15th June, Champion of Champions. A total distance of  9 miles (14.5km)
          This will take place in Dover Harbour, a place that became very familiar to me in 2008.
          The format is 5 miles, then you get out for a rest. Then get in and do 3 miles, get out for a rest,
          culminating in a 1 mile swim.
You get to choose either 1,2 or all 3 swims. To gain the title of "Champion of Champions" I will have to complete all three of them.
This is an ideal event for supporters to come down and watch. There is an awesome fish restaurant right on the beach that overlooks the swimmming area. For those that do not want to sit and get sozzled in the sun, there is always the amazing Dover cliffs to go for a walk on, then join up with me and the other supporters at the end of the day.

My next anticipated swim will be back to an old wallowing patch, The River Thames Swim between Hampton CourtBridge and Kingston bridge. This will take place on the 21st July. Start times are on a wave basis so will start any time between 8.30am and 10.10am. Another Lovely swim for spectators, who can follow the whole event along the towpath. I will try to beat my time of 36 minutes, unless there is a pretty mean current, I think that will be most unlikely.

The ultimate goal of my "Journey to 21" comes around on the 10th/11th of August at lake Windermere. As I have discovered from chatting to my friends, this needs a bit of clarification, as some of their geography is so bad they could not find a beer at a beer festival, let alone the biggest
lake in England. So there is a place in Britain called Cumbria. Just below Scotland, that is the country that is NORTH of England. In this area of outstanding beauty is Lake Windermere.

The swim is 2 lengths of the lake - I don't think I will have to practice my tumble turns as I will only be doing one of them. 10.5 miles each way.
Sadly, this is not a very spectator friendly swim for a few reasons. It is at night. Most of you will be in the pub. There is no real walk way up the lake.  This does not mean that I would not want to have you support me. You are all most welcome to come up to this part of the world for the weekend. There is loads to do there and the area is stunning.

So there you have my schedule for the summer. There will be other swims along the way that I will use as training but above are the events that I will try to book onto.
  
           So what else is going on with me?

My training is getting better. I have still not broken the 6km barrier this year but I have give up beating myself up about it, it was only dragging me down. I am loving my swimming again.
Whether it is the fact that I can escape life for a while, or just enjoy pushing myself, I do not know. I am in a far better place with my swimming than I was about 3 weeks ago.

My weight loss is good, considering I did not even think about it and it was never a goal of mine.
I have now lost 10Kg (1.5stone) this year and am still losing. As I am losing it, I figure I would like to lose about 5kg  more before I go on holiday in 12 days time. that way, if I put some weight back on, I will not be too bothered.

My holiday will be in Zimbabwe and I will try to put in some training inwhilst I am out there. One thing I will be working on is getting a tan. Lilly white hippos are not common.

This week, for no apparent reason, I have started receiving posts from one
of my swimming idols. Lewis Pugh. I do not know why, but they have just started appearing on facebook. I Really love this guys attitude to life, If I could get just a fraction of his enthusiasm, I would be a happy man. Some of the quotes and thoughts that he has really strike a chord
within me. To Focus, Keep Going and Never give up on your Dreams .

Well that is about all for now and I would like to leave you with a quote that I got of Lewis's facebook.

 

"if someone tells you that you can't achieve your dream, don't waste good time arguing.Walk away and do it."

or in my case swim it.

I do hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy sharing my journey with you.

Till the next time stay well and keep on Keeping on.