Time for another 10km.
What a difference a couple of weeks makes in Britain. Twelve days after my Dorney lake swim, which took place on a very Typical British bank holiday, wet, Rainy and Grey.
I was once told if you let the weather dictate what you do in Blighty, YOU WILL NEVER DO ANYTHING. I never realised how true that was. Well yesterday arrived and the weather was AWESOME. Not a cloud in the sky - when I woke at 4am. I went and sat outside for about half an hour with a cup of coffee thinking about How I was going to approach a 10km swim along the Jubilee River that lay ahead of me, visualising the journey, the other people, what obstacles I might encounter......... On days like this I do love being a morning person. Admittedly, this habit of waking at 4am is not a good one but it seems that I have settled into my 5 hours sleep a day cycle.
6 am came and it was time for some good old maize meal porridge and fruit to set me up for the day. I was not planning on feeding again on this swim. Possibly not a great idea but I do not often feed on 10km swims. A thought that was invading my mind was "Will this be the year I get ill?" River swimming in this country is pretty hit and miss, as to what sort of bacteria and bugs are floating round in them at the time. Last year at this same swim, if I recall correctly, about half the people got ill in one form or another. I have swum in many rivers, lakes and Oceans over the last 5 years and - touch wood (my head will do) I have yet to get sick in any form. However, I am acutely aware that there will always be a first time.
It was time to leave and head for the registration. I love travelling around London on a Sunday morning at 8 am, the traffic is a breeze. This year, parking was onsite so no 15 minute walk to the registration.Got there, Registered, picked up my timing ship and GOLD swimming cap?? My posse, much reduced from last year was there, thank you Audra for taking time to join me. We sat around for the buses to arrive to take us to the start, chatting to familiar and unfamiliar faces .As this is a Point to Point race, the start is 10km up river from the Race HQ and finish area, hence the buses to take us and our supporters there.
We arrived and disembarked and got ready for the start. My mind was all over the place haveing to go back to the bus twice, to fetch my goggles. 1st time to get them out of my bag, 2nd time to actually get them. It was soon very obvious that I was going to be seriously outnumbered but the Wetsuit Wearing Wallowers. I was looked on with complete envy as it was such a gorgeous day for a skins swim and there were all this bunch donning up 5mm wetsuits and standing around in the baking sun until we were allowed into the water
one small addition to the course over last year was a fallen tree, in the middle of the river, about 300m after the start that we had to keep on our Right. Very close after that there was an island that we had to keep to the left. The racing Chicane was in place then! Soon we were off and the typical start of a race ensued with a lot of thrashing water and people jostling for space.
As you can see, I am right near the close bank with the rest of the field above me. This time, unlike most my swims, I tried a different strategy at the start. Where I usually wait for everyone to go and then start my race, I tried to get in a fast start with the rest of the group. The above mentioned tree now became a bit of a hazard for me. I had a kayaker pushing me out from the bank - to go around the tree - whilst the rest of the group were pushing me towards the bank to get as close as they could to go round the tree. As I slowed to squeeze around the kayaker, and lifted my head to site, SMACK!!! I got someones heel straight in the face, dislodging my goggles and resulting in me seeing stars for a few seconds. I honestly thought I had a blood nose, I swam on with one hand whilst trying to adjust my goggles and check if the flailing hoof had done any damage with the other hand. Luckily it had not. Goggles now reseated and sealed, I carried on up the river.
The race then progressed with the field spreading out. the first section of this swim is 1.9km, after which you get out to go around the weir then back in. I stuck close to the banks and occasionally ended up dragging my fingers on the shoreline so I moved out into the middle a bit where it was deeper and there were more swimmers to contend with.
First section of 1.9km was done in 26 minutes then we had a 3.5km section which was over in 53 minutes 15 seconds before we had to exit again with a slightly longer walk to get back in. At his point I saw how some people get around having to run and swim. They were wearing full wetsuits and a pair of trainers. Whatever gets you through I suppose. The next leg was 2.6Km and this came round in 41 min 25seconds.
These two middle sections were more of a "swim on your own" legs, as the field had spread out quite a bit by this stage and also, in the latter parts of the 2nd leg and beginning of the 3rd leg, we were now starting to catch up to the slower people of the waves that left 30 minutes and an hour before us. Generally the water was open ahead of you and I just had to get into the zone and "just keep swimming! Just keep swimming!"
Towards the end of the 2nd leg, and start of the 3rd leg I was now catching the slower swimmers from previous waves up and also the people that had gone out to swiftly at our start. I Like to have people ahead of me to chase and keep my enthusiasm up so it was good to start getting people to chase again. I was then out for the last weir and the start of the 4th and final leg - a 1.5km stretch to the end. This took me just over 23 minutes. I was overtaking lots of people now which was fun - for me.
Soon enough it was all over. The finish was a bit slippery and muddy but there were plenty of people on hand to help you out and I was welcomed out by Audra and a fair amount of people who had obviously heard about a Hippo in orange trunks, that came to greet me and congratulate me on a passable time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 40 seconds.
Talking to a few people they were commenting on how composed I looked towards the end of the Race. Audra had been counting my strokes again and I was averaging 70 - 72 strokes a minute. this is a much faster cadence than I did at the Dorney 10Km a few weeks ago. I also learnt that I was a hit amongst the spectators as I was an easy beacon to find their wayward wetsuit wearing wallowers by. It was often heard, when looking for their swimmers, "the dude with the orange trunks, ahead or behind him."
I like to be of use to someone so glad I am someone easy to spot.
Synopsis
All in all a great swim and a must on any marathon swimmers list. Pretty easy swim with a few breaks along the way, very easy for the spectators to follow you along 95 % of the course. Great for relay swimmers too. some people doing a 2 person relay whilst others go for the more conventional 4 man team with each swimmer doing a single leg. As the legs are different lengths it is very accessible for those who want a slightly shorter swim or some who want a longer swim. Swimming under some of the bigger bridges can be a bit daunting as you are in bright sunshine then all of a sudden you are enveloped in darkness. Scenery along the way - for those swimmers who are taking it at a leisurely pace - is very nice. Some times the walk around the weirs can be a bit tender on your feet so some swimmers get their spectators to take their flip flops for them to walk around them. Other people wear booties or full on running shoes. For the purists amoung us, anything but trunks is far too much effort.
The silverware is pretty cool this year.
The above is purely my perspective and others may have differing ones but I think this swim is a very good swim to do.
So what is next?
For the Foreseeable future, I have no races to take part in. I will look for another 10km this month or next month. Even If I do not manage to get anymore, I will still be continuing my training for Zurich and plan to do a 5 hour swim before the end of June so one Saturday or Sunday I will be down at the lakes by 6am then swim until 11 am, possibly longer. I think I will be sticking too lake or river swims as that is what I will be swimming in whilst in Zurich As it is with this sport, I am meeting so many more wonderful people. most of which swim because they love to swim rather than want to win. it is such a great group to be around..
To end I am going to use a quote I have used to many fellow swimmers over the last couple of weeks, I know not who said it, but, in my mind it makes sense
It is not about the final destination or the result.
It is all about the amazing journey you have taken
to get to this point!!
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