Coaches Report - Sept 2010. TEARS, TANTRUMS & TRIUMPHS

It’s been a good month.  We are slightly ahead of schedule, and apart from a niggling arm injury, which seems to be settling down, things are looking good. 

At the end of August, we headed off for 3 days camping, trekking and swimming across Crummock and Buttermere in the Lake District.  This was more for the benefit of getting used to the cold water (14 degrees), rather than distance training.  The highlight of the weekend had to be when Karen decided to wear a wet suit after hypothermia almost settled in on the first day!   About 400metres out, she realised she was extremely uncomfortable and needed to get it off quick.  I had the opportunity to swim on this day, rather than be my usual ‘human kayak’, swimming beside her with all her little luxuries, so I had moved on ahead.  Just as well I took a sneaky check on her because way, way back in the distance was this little hat bobbing around, not swimming.  I quickly realised she was in trouble; so a quick dash back to the rescue and a quick unzip of the suit was called for.  This wasn’t sufficient though. She was still uncomfortable and the panic attack kicked in! She couldn’t breath and needed to get it off.  Our safety kayak whizzed over and insisted that she held onto the side, while I doggy kicked backwards as hard as I could whilst tugging at her wet suit.  I almost disappeared under the kayak myself a couple of times.  Any of you regular wetsuit users will know how difficult they are to remove, let alone trying to do it in a 14 degree lake!   As this was not the first panic attack that Karen has suffered, she has now reassured me that there’s a little song she’s gonna sing that will calm her nerves in future when the fear takes over.  So here’s looking forward to the next panic attack to see if it works!

Penny Lee Dean, once world record holder of no fewer than 13 open water long distance records has written an excellent book simply called ‘Open Water Swimming’ and we have both been glued to it during September for inspiration.  It was extremely re-assuring to read that our own training plan was not too dissimilar to her advice.  So, with a slightly tweaked training schedule fully in place for the next nine months, it’s now full steam ahead.

A combination of 6 x gym/run/bike or weight training sessions, and 4 x swims each week is tough going and each month, the continuous non-stop swims step up a mile or two. This will be the form for the rest of 2010 where it will increase to 6 swims a week.   It’s little wonder that tears crop up every now and then.  Usually instigated by frustration, but sheer exhaustion also plays a part.  And it’s the exhaustion that sometimes means you physically cannot find the strength to handle the frustrations encountered with heavy training.

Our local pool has offered to sit down and discuss how they can assist with undisrupted lane swimming so that we can attempt some of the longer swims during the winter in the pool.  This is much appreciated and we are both looking forward to their proposals.

Having already achieved a continuous 5.2mile (8.4k) swim in 3 hours at Dover harbour in September, things are looking good.  The 5 mile stage was not scheduled to be attempted until October so Karen is doing real good.  Freda Streeter (mother of Alison Streeter who has swam the English Channel 43 times!) has welcomed Karen to her channel group of swimmers that regularly meet at Dover on Saturday mornings and we have been enjoying their company for the last few weekends.

The stroke count range is now stable, the monthly schedules are set, and Karen is getting fitter and faster.  Sponsor letters are going out, posters are starting to appear in shops/gyms etc, Essex radio have been in touch and we’ve even had a small amount of local press already.  Best of all, the charity donations are already starting to come in.  This is the really exciting bit.  Knowing that we have so much support, it really does help to spur us on when we are so tired. 

October will see us working a percentage of each training session at a different heart rate level. Getting to know what the ranges are and what they feel like will assist Karen to change to a different pace quickly, which is obviously going to be called for during the challenge.

Several people have asked me, “don’t you both get bored just continually swimming”?   There is so much to take into consideration when training for a channel swim that it’s not really about continuous swimming.  I have a mountain of knowledge on pool swimming but when you look into long distance open water swimming, it makes you realise that there is so much more to learn.  There is the nutrition to work out, the best weight ratio, best times to feed, studying how your body works in 14 degrees as opposed to 17 degrees, the tides, the weather, the cramps.  Too much to mention, but everything has to be studied now as we need to be prepared for every single possible eventuality.  So it’s not about getting bored, it’s about keeping your mind occupied all the time and thinking ahead.  So why do I call this report, Tears, Tantrums and Triumphs.  Because, at the moment, I don’t mind the Tears and Tantrums because it helps us to learn how to deal with them.  I would rather face every horrible obstacle now than encounter it first hand on the day.  And as long as we know how to deal with all these obstacles, I am confident that the Triumphs will be just a formality.  After all, it is only 1 length isn’t it. 

The Luck of the Tide

Do we have to swim in that?



Grease me Up



I've come to realise that open water swimming is 20% training, 30% mental attitude and 50% luck.  You never know what to expect when you set out for a swim or what you are going to find. 

Last week, I went to Dover Harbour for the first time and met Freda Streeter, mother of Alison Streeter who has swum the channel a staggering 43 times.  Freda and friends spend every Saturday and Sunday from May until September at Dover Harbour supporting and helping channel hopefuls to train. 

After introducing myself, I was greased up and told to hurry up and get in.  I had taken my mum with me to try and show her it is not as bad as she thinks as she is quite concerned about my little challenge.  So here we get to the luck bit.  I was told by my swim buddy that she doesn't remember the water being so rough before.  Oh well, I waved to my mum hoping she would not freak and went for it.

Boy was it rough.  I felt like a rag doll being thrown about half the time and took several stinging slaps to the face from being dropped by the waves.  I spent two hours in the water thanks to both my training and keeping my mental attitude positive.  After the agreed two hours I got out and felt really great as if I could have swum and swum.  Once out, I discovered my mum had had a bit of a challenge herself.  She nearly had a punch up with some passer by who was telling his son that the only word for the swimmers he could see was "stupid" to which my mum replied "oh do you mind my daughter is out their swimming".

The other thing an open water swimmer has to have is no inhibitions as you have to get dressed where ever you can.  The most important factor when you complete your swim is getting warm and not, can anyone see my bum?
 

Will it ever be calm

Ok back to the luck.  On Wednesday, Lorraine and me went to Southend on Sea hoping to do 12 x 400m swims at Crowstone.  It was overcast, windy and cold.  It was so rough and getting rougher as we swam, that we only managed to do 6 x 400m.  The times were different at every turn as the sea was getting rougher and rougher. The first swim against the tide was 11 minutes and the last one took 15 minutes and was really hard work, but I was glad I had done it.
 



Lovely and Calm but Ice Cold



Now, I have to say that I do have some good luck when it comes to sea swimming.  Back at Dover Harbour this Saturday attempting to achieve my monthly goal of 4 miles or 3 hours in the water.  It was a lovely morning and when we got to the harbour the water was flat and the sun was shining, although, the water was really cold (must remember to take my thermometer to check the temp).  I completed my 4 miles in just over two hours but Lorraine wanted me to go for the 3 hour challenge.  I had just started to get really cold at the end of the two hour mark and desperately wanted to get out but, with Lorraine beside me, I did the 3 hours and managed 8.4k in that time.  Dead chuffed or what.  When I had thawed out I was really pleased and managed to smile.  I must say, I am really grateful to my poor husband who spent the journey there cold as I did not want to put the heating on travelling there but he was boiling hot on the way home so that Lorraine and me could warm up.  I'll make it up to him one day I'm sure.

ups and downs of an open water swimmer

I can't believe where the time is going, It's now less than a year until my little swim across the channel.  We are getting into serious training now and when we are not training we are reading about training programmes, preparation for the crossing, recovery requirements and even organising questions for my support team to ask me to check for a potential onset of hypothermia whilst swimming.  We have a list of things to take with us that's so long that already we're going to need a bigger boat.  I'm also trying to understand the world of sports nutrition to ensure that I don't burn out halfway there.  I think it's going to be easier to swim than to remember what I have to eat and when.

A couple of weeks ago Lorraine and me went to the Western Lakes with a company called Swim Trek for a weekend of lake swimming. It was excellent except for the rain, wind, tent and 14 degrees water temp.  Seriously it was brilliant.  We slept in a two man tent without an air bed listening to the wind and rain during the night.  Our first swim was on the Saturday. We had a short walk to the lake from the minibus. It was really windy but the view was spectacular.  I decided not to wear a wetsuit, being tough and plunged into the water (tip toed in like a girlie really).  It was shocking how cold the water was. When I finally managed to catch my breath and swim, my arms were burning from the cold.  As we swam across the lake, the rain started and everytime you came up for breath you got a mouthfull of rain water.

Picture this, when we finally reached the end of the swim which was approx 2k, we congregated on a grass hill in the middle of two lakes, wind and rain lashing down on us trying to get out of our swim suits (whilst trying to maintain some dignity), into some dry clothing, with one of the kayaks and a large tarpauling for cover.  The weather was so bad, the second swim was cancelled. 

Saturday night's weather was the same as Friday's, wind and rain. Everything seemed to be covered in mud.  It was still windy and raining when we got up on sunday but an hour later, the clouds cleared and the sun shone so off we went for our next swim.  As I was so cold the previous day I thought I would be sensible and wear a wet suit (big mistake).  I was promptly measured and issued with one, but within five minutes of swimming, I felt as if I was being strangled and I could not expand my chest enough to breath properly.  Lorraine, who was in the faster group (no surprise there), saw my distress and came back to see if I was alright. She undid my zip to see if that would help, but unfortunately no.  So there I was, hanging off the end of a kayak bobbing about in the water with Lorraine pulling off the wet suit so that I could carry on swimming.  Oh what memories I'm going to have.

Unfortuantely, I have had a shoulder injury with some bicep pain, I've spent the last couple of days resting it, taking anti inflammatories and ice packing it. I'm glad to say that it feels a lot better, so I am going to give it a test run down the pool tomorrow night and if it is ok I am going to head off to Dover Harbour on Saturday to see if I can get my first swim under the supervision of Freda Streeter.  I'll let you know how I get on.

the end of the tent

It was a very sad occasion last week when Lorraine's home made (or should I say designer) tent was laid to rest.  She finally realised that it was not doing what she needed it to do, so after the swim she took it home and put it in the bin.  Note to myself - make sure I do what she needs me to do, I don't fancy ending up in the bin.