5 hour Swim done.

Slightly unplanned swim.....

Well, last week I got a message from a few wannbe channel swimmers to say that they would be heading down to Dover and would I like to join them. Vicky  was going to do a 7 hour swim and Lisa was planning on a 6 hour swim and Kate ws hoping for a 5 hour plus swim. As I am in need of doing a 5 hour swim as a qualifyer for my Zurich wim, I begrudgingly agreed to head down on the Saturday for a 5 hour swim with them, whilst also having the opportunity to catch up with a lot of the Dover crowd, which is always a good thing to do as they are a lovely bunch of people.

I must admit I was a bit apprehensive about doing it, for the following reasons: -

- I have not done a 5 hour swim in about 4 years.

- the longest Swim I have done in that time is about 2,5 hours

- I have not trained in the ocean for a while as I am doing

most my training in the lakes - which are warmer.

- I still hate the taste osf salt water.

- The drive back from Dover, after a 5 hour swim

was not somethingI was looking forward too.

Friday Night blues

I was really having my doubts about the following day. For the above reasons but I made a commitment and I needed to do this at least to get my 5 hour swim out the way. With these doubts came the menacing thoughts that keep me up all night, along with the most amazing storm, bundled together with lovely lightening and Thunder. Well, after finally getting to sleep at about midnight, then waking at 2am, 4am and then finally getting the hell in and geting out of bed at 5.30am to get some food in me for the swim ahead.

I jumped into the car at about 6.45am and headed down to Dover, about an hour and a halfs drive from where I am. Arriving at Dover at just after 8 and then parking the car and finding a loo and then off to register for the day ahead. It was great to see the dover bunch and they all greeted me like a long lost friend with Big hugs and kisses. Then it was time to get dressed - well undressed and don our costumes and get greased up by the shingle stomper. Quick catch up with Vicky and Lisa.

After final briefings from the Channel General (aka Freda) we were set on out way. Vicky and I agreed to swim together as we swim at about the same speed - at least for a while!!! Saying that, she does have her Channel swim in about three weeks time. her blog is Vicky's blog. In my humble opinion, she is more than ready to take it on, seeing how strong she was after a 7 hour swim. Lisa is doing a 2 way Channel relay later this year, with her sites set on a solo channel crossing next year. You can read all about her adventures at lisaswim. Although slightly slower, still a very accomplished swimmer and with a fair time to go before her solo swim, she will be very much up for it. I just  do hope that she has the tanacity to carry on this training through the winter. 

AND-------We are off. 1st thing that springs to mind is - "this is a bit colder than I am used too"  But hey ho, we have a job to do. First signs that it was going to be a long day was the fact that, when I dived in and could not see a lot. I went to adjust my goggles and soon realised that I did not have them on. Then looking around I panicked as I could not find them -----even though they were on my head, I thought I had dropped them in the harbour. Is this is sign of the future???

After figuring out my goggle dilemma, we were on our way.

Now A lot of people ask me what I think about when I swim for such long distances. Usually, I concentrate on making my stroke as good as possible, right length, right balance, bilateral breathing etc. etc.......  Today seemed different. I was trying to keep my swimming as good as I could possibly get it, BUT........ there was one thing which was now invading my consciousness and overriding most thoughts about my swimming. So below is what I had to mentally contend with for 5 hours

OH MY GOD It is cold, I do not remember it being this cold!!!!

Okay lets deal with this!!

Swim slightly faster to get the body heat up

Kick my legs, as opposed to just letting them drag and keep me balanced.

Not Working!!

Plan  B

slow my breathing down and try tackle it from a mental aspect.

New mantra now

IT IS NOT THAT COLD

IT IS NOT THAT COLD

IT IS NOT THAT COLD

IT IS NOT THAT COLD

IT IS NOT THAT COLD

mentally say that about a thousand times

Next thought that permeates my head

DUDE, GET REAL! IT IS FFFFRIGGIN FREEZING!!!!!

HOW MUCH LONGER WE GOT IN THIS BLOODY ICE BUCKET

4 HOURS 45 MINUTES

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!!!!

HOW DEMENTED AM I TO BE DOING THIS?

OH MY LIVING THIS IS COLD!!!

So for 5 hours, that is what went through my head whilst the outward appearances were being realised by the development of goose bumps the size of mount Everest on my entire body.

2 hours finally came  and we got to get some energy drink and some jelly babies. It was the best tasting energy drink I have ever tasted and was great to get something warm inside me. Psychologically, the time that it takes for that first 2 hour feed to come round seems like eons. After that, the feeds go to every hour and they seem to come round pretty quickly in comparison.

To stop me losing my thoughts in how Bloody cold it was, Vicky came up with a mental game. At the end of each length of the harbour we asked each other questions about 5 sports you would like to be good at, 5 best places to visit, 5 next challenges, then for the next length you  had to think about what your answers would be. This did go a small way to alleviate the constant OH MY GOOD IT IS COLD chatter in my head.

2 Hours Energy drink and Jellie babies, then out for another hour, 3 hours energy drink and bananas, then out for another hour. 4 hours, Energy drink and Milky way chocolate. then Out for my final hour. man it felt good. At this point I told Vicky that I was going to slow my pace down a bit and that she must carry on on her own. during the last 40 minutes of this hour I met up with Lisa again. As my pace had slowed, I swam along with her until the 5 hour mark. That last hour was also pretty tedious with my mind playing games with me about when I should exit. I had to swim past the middle of the beach (Where the organisers base themselves) and the desire to just head for the shore was pretty overwhelming, but I needed to do 5 hours. When I cam in for the last time and emerged from the murkiness of Dover harbour. There was mixed emotions that went through my mind. I was, undoubtedly, glad that I had done it. But I was also dam pleased that it was over. Now the task of dealing with my Everest like goosebumps, the blueness of my body and the unbearable shivering that ensued.

After about 45 minutes, having got some food in me and some coffee and warm clothes - Man I am so glad I keep a spare pair of clothes and warm jackets in my car as all I had come down in was standard Zimhippo attire consisting of T-shirt and shorts and flip flops. I started to feel a bit more human, my lips were no longer purple, my body had lost most of its Blue hue and I could now feel, and account for most of my body parts.

I then relaxed on the beach, catching up with the beach crew and waiting for the the rest to finish their 6 and 7 hour swimmers to come in. Well done to all of you who were out there and best of luck to all of you for your respective swims, I still think you all mad but have huge respect for all of you.

How is it all going Now?

As mentioned before, I am very pleased that I have got that 5 hour swim out of the way. It is something that I have not really been looking forward to and have been procrastinating on it until the absolute last moment I need to do it. The fact that it was done in the ocean has a few benefits associated with it. It also has a few drawbacks as well, let me explain.

Swimming in salt water adds buoyancy to your body that you do not get when you are swimming in the lakes. From that aspect you do not have to worry so much about keeping your body up and streamlined as the water keeps your body floating well. In the lakes you do not have that benefit so we generally have to spend more time adjusting our stroke to keep our hips and legs up and this over compensation can cause back problems as our heads go down more to lift our bodies up.

I am led to believe that the lakes, including Zurich, will be a lot warmer than the Channel. It is something that I have encountered so far. Dover was much colder than Shepperton where I swim. I only hope that is true. having lost a lot of my insulation over the last year, I struggle a bit with continuous cold. I never used to when I was a bit heavier.

With a 5 hour under my belt and still about 8 weeks till my swim, I think I am in decent shape and can now concentrate on my endurance and also look more into my feeding and nutrition whilst I swim. I will most likely stick with what I know  - MaxiCarb pluss chocolate, bananas and jelly babies.

Thank you all to a wonderful day in Dover and thank you all for following my blog .

A saying that was on a lot of the swim caps yesterday which is quite pertinent

Nothing Great is EASY.

Captain Matthew Webb