Challenges, Challenges, Challenges

I've come to realise that there are many challenges to my little swim across the channel, least of all the swim itself.  Some of the challenges include:

• How to feed and what to eat - ever tried eating a power bar in 30 secs whilst treading water. It's worse than eating half a dozen cream crackers without a drink!  I can manage drinks and power gels at present. Next challenge will be rice pudding as it is high in carbs and protein.
• Getting the time in the pool to complete long swims.  This is not too bad at the moment but within the next month or so our training time requirements to achieve the distances will out strip our local pool availability
• What goggles to wear - in the last couple of months I have purchased about 6 pairs of goggles to try and find a pair that do not leak or cause pain.  At the moment I am using speedo aqua socket but the most I have worn them is for 3 hours, here's hoping that as the time increases, they remain comfortable, otherwise it's back to the drawing board.
• The best swimsuit to wear - there are two main issues with the swimsuit, comfort along the length ie not cutting in and lack of chaff potential.  It's not only wet suits that can rub around the neck.  If your swimsuit is wrong, you can end up with blisters and sores on your neck from the swimsuit straps.
• The cold - I am looking at being able to stay in the water for approx 14 hours at temps of 14-16 degrees.  I have to acclimatise to the cold whilst battling hypothermia.  This challenge is one for my family as I won't let them put on the heating and I am sleeping with my windows wide open - much to my husbands disbelief as he is very much a hot house plant!  They may not be suffering in silence but bless, them they are suffering.

The Beauty of the Early Morning Swim

In order to help me with the cold, the plan is to swim in the open sea for as long as possible before the weather dictates otherwise, so Sunday just gone, Lorraine and me set off at 7am to meet Tongie (who was supporting us with the kayak) from the Redcaps at the Crowstone so that I could have an early morning swim. 

With only my swimsuit and a little help of some Vaseline, I tentatively stepped into the sea and rapidly asked myself why, when it was still on the dark side, was I standing in the cold sea and not asleep in my bed?  Eventually, I talked myself into taking the plunge and with brain freeze and a numb body started to swim. 

Why am I not Still in Bed

It's strange to move through the cold water with numb arms not feeling them turning but knowing they are, otherwise you'd be drowning.  Then the burning starts which is worse than the brain freeze and the numb limbs, but eventually, much to your own disbelief, thing seems to settle down and you finally get into your stride just in time to stop and feed and then the whole process starts over again. 

When I got out of the sea and stopped shivering I have to say I was quite proud of myself and what I had achieved.  I had managed to complete about 2 miles in the hour.  Almost at the end of the swim we hit a patch of water that felt like someone had thrown a truck load of ice into it.  As I swam in to it, it stopped me dead and took my breath away but strangely leaving me with enough breath to swear like a trooper (I'm glad my mother didn't hear).  It wasn't until the next day that I found out I had managed to swim for approx one hour in 12.2 degrees, how good do I feel.

Tongie the Kayak Man