This post is all about our romantical getaway on the Kent Riviera. Two days swimming in Dover Harbour with some additional supporters by the names of Mark and Mike. It was a weekend of firsts for Deirdre, Tory and myself and involved my tears tears, man up princesses and battles of mental demons. Read on for the long version......
This weekend was always going to be a tough training weekend. From the outset I knew the time swum was going to be at least 6 hours on both days (something I'd never completed), the water temp has only just hit 14c and the winds were around 20 mph. Before I even got to Dover, Friday was spent checking BBC & met office weather and wind forecasts along with the CS&PF website for the latest in winds and water temps to assess just how bad it would be. In my head I knew it was going to be tough physically which meant mentally preparing and promising myself I wouldn't have a repeat of last Saturday when I got out early, seasickness aside.
Saturday morning alarm goes off at 6am and the routine kicks into gear - snooze alarm once; get up; swimming costume, t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms on; boil kettle to fill flask; make breakfast and maxim; load car; drive to pick up Deirdre, Mike and Tory from Clapham Junction for the drive to Dover.
Driving down the hill off the A20, the first glimpse of the sea was white horses outside the harbour - immediately I thought what about the harbour. The tide was low which meant the breakers at the far wall were rolling nicely onto the sand, good for now but meant as the tide came in the washing machine would kick it up a notch. The near wall was relatively calm, in my head I knew where I would be spending my time.
On arrival at the beach, swimmers must check in with Freda and anxiously await the General's decision. First comes the questions, name, number, then the 'when's your swim?' then 'how far did you swim last weekend?' Answer 5 hours - response 'you're in for 7'. WTF??? My mouth fell open, 7 hours the longest I'd completed in the harbour was 5, I was mentally prepared for 6 not sure I can do one more. Back comes Deirdre from check-in she has 7 too, Tory has 5 (her tide is later), Boris (another serps swimmer) has 7 and Nick only 6. It was going to be a long day on the beach for our support crew (Mark, Mike & Sakura). Time to glug some more water and maxim, see Barrie for some grease slapped under the arms, back of neck and straps - see you 7 hours he says.
Nine am, I'm loaded to the point of bursting or vomiting with food, water and maxim, my toes have hit the water, the watch has started and as it's low tide you could walk the length of the harbour, time to start swimming. As always the swim with the current & wind toward the far wall is easy, I was making real progress with the waves picking me up and pushing me along toward the ferry terminal. On reaching the wall and turning around the stark realisation hit, I'd have to swim back through that. Remembering the advice of Kevin Murphy last week - stay horizontal, swim hard and you won't get sea sick, easier said than done. Wave number one went straight over the top, my left arm in its recovery phase got battered and I was contorted into a twisted pretzel shape. This continued for 30 minutes as I swam against the current and waves across the harbour until reached the calm of the near wall. With only 45 minutes of my allotted 7 hours down and 5 mouth fulls of salt water already taken, I administered a strong 'man up princess' I was cursing the sea, cursing the person I'd seen in a wetsuit and getting angry. This would most definitely keep me in. The two hour feed came and we were rewarded with jelly babies and hot maxim. My tactic going forward was to down the feed swim back to the calm of the near wall, then sail down the harbour to the slopey groin, turn slog it back through the waves to the near wall then back to the beach for the next feed. This one hour circuit was repeated over and over, occasionally popping up to say hi to another swimmer or how about these waves it's tough going.
At 5:15 I was in an unhappy place my arms hurt, I still had 1:45 to go. I saw Deirdre by the near wall, it was calm with no wind and we decided swimming laps of the wall seemed like a really good idea to preserve our sore arms and shoulders. So out against the wall we swam to the end, in the protection of the wall this was nice swimming, you could get into a rhythm, stroke properly and breathe properly, pure bliss. Then came the moment when I turned around to swim in, the tide was running out and all of a sudden I had a realisation that my idea had not been so good. With the tide running out, I was swimming looking at the same lamp post which I didn't appear to be passing. Time to put in the after burners, stroke a bit harder and start to kick, otherwise at this rate I may start my channel swim a little earlier than planned and end up outside of the harbour walls. This only served to increase the pain I was feeling. Once reaching the safety of the inshore I continued on my laps until the 6 hr feed. By this stage people were getting out, I was cold, tired and wanted out, but I still had another hour. I kept thinking Man up Princess as I was edging my way up the rocks, preparing to do a runner and get out as Mike came scurrying across to give me a feed, told me I was doing really well and to keep swimming. Damn, I was fed, I couldn't escape, I felt guilty, I couldn't get out now, Mike had given up his birthday weekend to come to Dover to support Deirdre and here he was feeding us.... I had to swim on for the last hour, one more circuit was my mantra, you can swim for one more circuit. The seasickness had now started to set in, the tablets were wearing off, I was cold, sick, dizzy & miserable. On finishing, I got up, fell down, got up, fell down and was hauled out by Mark, after which he had to help dress me as I kept falling over with seasickness and dizziness.
Saturday over, Sunday begins with rain, wind, cloud and cold. On checking in Freda was threatening Deirdre and I with 6 hours off the back of our 7 the day before. On some pleading over our sore arms and shoulders we were let off with 4 and Tory was not impressed when she was given 6 to our 4. In the pouring rain we were greased up and straight in the water, the two hours went so slowly, I was cold, my arms hurt and hadn't loosened off from the day before, the wind was bad and while there weren't white horses in the harbour just yet I was determined to make it through the first two hours. There was man up princesses flying through my head, along with cursing Freda, the warm people on the beach, the sea, the wind, the rain and the cloud. Then I remembered my friend Jenny was running some stupid amount of miles between the Lizard and Lands End for fun, and at least I wasn't running. At some stage in there a pack of relay swimmers swam straight over the top of me, to make it worse, the guy who actually hit me, then pushed my head under for a second dunk before I was allowed up. There were tears welling in my goggles, I was gasping for air and now I really wanted out. No it was man up princess time, I was staying in the threat of experiencing that feeling of failure again was enough to get me going until the 2 hour feed.
When I got to the 2 hour feed I was still toying with getting out, I could just get out, I was cold, tired, sore, I hurt. Mark gave me a banana and Sakura some form of words before I could even get my complaint out. I'd had my feed I now had to go off and do one more circuit for the next feed. At the 3 hour feed I stood next to Deirdre who was thinking maybe we should stay in for longer, we looked at each other and thought no way in hell, I'm out at 4 hours. Triumphant I hopped out at 4 hours feeling rather tired, cold and exhausted, and really glad I had only been given 4 hours after my shameless pleading. Tory pulled out her first 6 hours in the harbour, cold and exhausted she emerged and had enough energy to throw her fists into Nick who was out and dressed warmly after hopping out early to help relay swimmers.
This weekend saw Deirdre, Tory and myself get in 11 hours of training, the first 7 hour swim for Deirdre and I, first 6 hour swim for Tory and Mike Deirdre's husband completed 1 hour on Saturday and 30 minutes on Sunday for his first swim in Dover harbour.
Monday 25 June 2012
Monday 18 June 2012
Kristy V Dover Harbour Washing Machine
This past weekend was a proper test of my mental strength and ability to man up when the going got tough. It was my first double dip of the year and featured sunshine, White horses and force five winds. In this story I can promise you tears, puke and alot of 'man up princess chat'. So read on.
Saturday Deirdre, Tory and I drove from London to Dover for our romantical weekend escape training in the harbour. On driving down the hill toward the harbour our first glimpse was 6 foot waves crashing against the harbour walls and stony beach. Going through my head was o'crap this isn't even the harbour. Inside the harbour we were greeted with 4ft white horses bouncing off the walls - so bad that our usual 700m stretch of water to the far harbour wall was cut in half due to the size of the waves that end. The somewhat calm end of the harbour was home to the champion of champions event which meant us channel aspirants coped the White horses for as long as Freda determined.
I was sent in for 4 hours - sun creamed up and seasick tablets on board I jumped in and powered with the waves down to the no swim border. On turning around to swim back I was battered by wave after wave and tossed about like a cork in the sea. My seasickness tablets weren't working and 25 minutes in I was looking at my watch to see how long until the 2 hour feed. It seemed every 10-15 minutes I was checking my watch willing the time to pass faster, attempting to swim as I was being thrown around in the waves while trying to complete an 800m loop. I was administering many man up chats to myself but none were working. The seasickness got to me, I started getting sicker and dizzier as the 2 hours went by. At one point I received a huge mouthful of sea water and threw up some more; horrible. I got to the 2 hour feed went to stand up and take my feed, the dizziness hit badly, the tears welled in my goggles, Barrie sent me to Freda to determine if I was actually sick or putting it on. Freda's comments - "you're rather green around the gills - and it's not your beard - go get dressed". Relief I didn't have to go back into that nasty washing machine!! Then the sense of failure - I'd f'd it up - I got out early!
So there I sat on the beach rugged up, sick and not very happy watching as my friends completed their allotted training. I had failed - had I stuffed it up mentally? - maybe? - could I have kept going with that sickness and just thrown up a few more times - I'll never know. In talking to Freda she said "you always have to have a bad training day to get better" next her words of advice "go home, beat yourself up over this and come back stronger tomorrow". I failed the Washing Machine had won this round.
Staying overnight in Dover meant afternoon naps, and more sleep for Sundays session. We got down to the beach on Sunday am and were greeted with 2-3ft waves and a decent swell at the far end of the harbour. The only respite was at the near wall, however on Sundays you can't swim there till after 12.
On registering I was chastised by both Freda and Barrie for getting out early the day before then was given 4 hours. I discovered that Deirdre who was on the same tide as me have been given 5 hours to my 4 - laughter ensued from our Serps group. On greasing up I was given another chat by Barrie and I thought right I can do this I'm not going to let the sea sickness beat me. We all waded into the water and flew down to the far wall with the waves pushing us along - once reaching the far corner and turning the real fun began. Swimming back head first into White horses I was determined to stay horizontal and power through I was not going to let the washing machine beat me. One hr down was the first time I looked at my watch, then again at 1:50 where in the water I met up with Tory, deirdre and nick to enjoy some of nick's 'pants' treats. A packet of chocolate buttons produced from his trunks - ripped open and consumed while treading water - Awesome!! Two hours in no sea sickness, time for a feed and go again - this time back down to the far wall to play in the washing machine once again. It was fun going down there but took forever to get out. Three hours down another feed, the wind was picking up, my arms were tiring but I was not giving in. I ran into Deirdre at 3:10 proclaimed I was feeling good may stay in and keep her company for 5 hours, she told me I had a whole hour to change my mind & not to make any promises too soon. Thirty minutes later I almost collided with Kevin murphy 'king of the channel' and he asked how long I was in for - response - 4 hours but I think I'll stay in longer.
The four hour mark arrived rather quickly - decision time as I swam in get out and be proud or stay in and seek channel redemption. I was staying in - man up time!! I got a thumbs up from Barrie and a big smile from Kevin (who by this time was changed and on the beach) as I yelled I was staying in, took my feed and swam off to the calm of the near wall. The last hour was short laps in the calmer water flying down toward the far wall and a hard slog back to the near wall.
In getting out at 5 hours I felt somewhat vindicated for my poor performance the day before, strong in the knowledge I held my head and pushed through the demons - when the tough got going I stayed in! Best part was I'd done an hour more than prescribed and got a big hug from Barrie and a pat on the back to say well done for going back in and facing where I'd stuffed up the day before. It was probably the different sea sickness tablets, could have been the kicking I gave myself for stuffing up the previous day anyways I 'manned up princess' and I won!!
Current score Kristy 1 Dover Harbour 1
Saturday Deirdre, Tory and I drove from London to Dover for our romantical weekend escape training in the harbour. On driving down the hill toward the harbour our first glimpse was 6 foot waves crashing against the harbour walls and stony beach. Going through my head was o'crap this isn't even the harbour. Inside the harbour we were greeted with 4ft white horses bouncing off the walls - so bad that our usual 700m stretch of water to the far harbour wall was cut in half due to the size of the waves that end. The somewhat calm end of the harbour was home to the champion of champions event which meant us channel aspirants coped the White horses for as long as Freda determined.
I was sent in for 4 hours - sun creamed up and seasick tablets on board I jumped in and powered with the waves down to the no swim border. On turning around to swim back I was battered by wave after wave and tossed about like a cork in the sea. My seasickness tablets weren't working and 25 minutes in I was looking at my watch to see how long until the 2 hour feed. It seemed every 10-15 minutes I was checking my watch willing the time to pass faster, attempting to swim as I was being thrown around in the waves while trying to complete an 800m loop. I was administering many man up chats to myself but none were working. The seasickness got to me, I started getting sicker and dizzier as the 2 hours went by. At one point I received a huge mouthful of sea water and threw up some more; horrible. I got to the 2 hour feed went to stand up and take my feed, the dizziness hit badly, the tears welled in my goggles, Barrie sent me to Freda to determine if I was actually sick or putting it on. Freda's comments - "you're rather green around the gills - and it's not your beard - go get dressed". Relief I didn't have to go back into that nasty washing machine!! Then the sense of failure - I'd f'd it up - I got out early!
So there I sat on the beach rugged up, sick and not very happy watching as my friends completed their allotted training. I had failed - had I stuffed it up mentally? - maybe? - could I have kept going with that sickness and just thrown up a few more times - I'll never know. In talking to Freda she said "you always have to have a bad training day to get better" next her words of advice "go home, beat yourself up over this and come back stronger tomorrow". I failed the Washing Machine had won this round.
Staying overnight in Dover meant afternoon naps, and more sleep for Sundays session. We got down to the beach on Sunday am and were greeted with 2-3ft waves and a decent swell at the far end of the harbour. The only respite was at the near wall, however on Sundays you can't swim there till after 12.
On registering I was chastised by both Freda and Barrie for getting out early the day before then was given 4 hours. I discovered that Deirdre who was on the same tide as me have been given 5 hours to my 4 - laughter ensued from our Serps group. On greasing up I was given another chat by Barrie and I thought right I can do this I'm not going to let the sea sickness beat me. We all waded into the water and flew down to the far wall with the waves pushing us along - once reaching the far corner and turning the real fun began. Swimming back head first into White horses I was determined to stay horizontal and power through I was not going to let the washing machine beat me. One hr down was the first time I looked at my watch, then again at 1:50 where in the water I met up with Tory, deirdre and nick to enjoy some of nick's 'pants' treats. A packet of chocolate buttons produced from his trunks - ripped open and consumed while treading water - Awesome!! Two hours in no sea sickness, time for a feed and go again - this time back down to the far wall to play in the washing machine once again. It was fun going down there but took forever to get out. Three hours down another feed, the wind was picking up, my arms were tiring but I was not giving in. I ran into Deirdre at 3:10 proclaimed I was feeling good may stay in and keep her company for 5 hours, she told me I had a whole hour to change my mind & not to make any promises too soon. Thirty minutes later I almost collided with Kevin murphy 'king of the channel' and he asked how long I was in for - response - 4 hours but I think I'll stay in longer.
The four hour mark arrived rather quickly - decision time as I swam in get out and be proud or stay in and seek channel redemption. I was staying in - man up time!! I got a thumbs up from Barrie and a big smile from Kevin (who by this time was changed and on the beach) as I yelled I was staying in, took my feed and swam off to the calm of the near wall. The last hour was short laps in the calmer water flying down toward the far wall and a hard slog back to the near wall.
In getting out at 5 hours I felt somewhat vindicated for my poor performance the day before, strong in the knowledge I held my head and pushed through the demons - when the tough got going I stayed in! Best part was I'd done an hour more than prescribed and got a big hug from Barrie and a pat on the back to say well done for going back in and facing where I'd stuffed up the day before. It was probably the different sea sickness tablets, could have been the kicking I gave myself for stuffing up the previous day anyways I 'manned up princess' and I won!!
Current score Kristy 1 Dover Harbour 1
Wednesday 13 June 2012
How far have I actually swum....
I know I said in my intro I would never talk about distances swum, but this post is dedicated to my newest toy and one can only talk distance and time in this post.
I usually count my open water training in hours unless I have an idea of how far I have travelled between points and can add them up.... Not any more - I have me a new toy courtesy of Nick Adams.
I took my Finis GPS for it's maiden voyage today and discovered a number of things:
- My 400m loop at the Serps is actually slightly longer
- I can hold a decent pace for the entire 30 minutes
- AND IT WORKS!!
The output is pretty amazing - see below. I swam for @31 minutes, covered 1.7k and have 100m splits, distances travelled - I can now analyze my open water swims down to the 100m. Sad but it's about the only excitement I get at the moment - knowing how fast/far I've swum - now I can tell when I'm slacking off and hopefully when I've had a man-up chat with myself and given it some welly.
Output is on the following link but the photo below provides a summary.
http://www.finisinc.com/streamline/share/workout/view/4fd8f9309887d
I usually count my open water training in hours unless I have an idea of how far I have travelled between points and can add them up.... Not any more - I have me a new toy courtesy of Nick Adams.
I took my Finis GPS for it's maiden voyage today and discovered a number of things:
- My 400m loop at the Serps is actually slightly longer
- I can hold a decent pace for the entire 30 minutes
- AND IT WORKS!!
The output is pretty amazing - see below. I swam for @31 minutes, covered 1.7k and have 100m splits, distances travelled - I can now analyze my open water swims down to the 100m. Sad but it's about the only excitement I get at the moment - knowing how fast/far I've swum - now I can tell when I'm slacking off and hopefully when I've had a man-up chat with myself and given it some welly.
Output is on the following link but the photo below provides a summary.
http://www.finisinc.com/streamline/share/workout/view/4fd8f9309887d
 |
| The GPS Map/ Stats Output |
Wednesday 6 June 2012
50 Days out
50 days until my channel window opens, I could go earlier - I could go later but this is a small milestone worth marking with a short update.
The training has been going - at times not as well as I would've wanted but at other times better. I'm slowly building on my distance and actually managed some rest and recuperation in there too.
This past weekend was a swimming and eating Jubilee weekend in the Lakes District. Lots of 3 course meals and triple breakfasts in order to put on the pounds. It also involved some shorter 1 hour swims in various lakes. Boat traffic and gusting winds meant we did not complete as much swimming as we would have liked - not complaining too much the rest was wonderful.
Dover has really kicked up a notch and I'm expecting to be thrown in for 6 hours quite soon - most likely this weekend... Eek!
For an idea of a standard training day in Dover see the photos below - Swim then feed :)
The training has been going - at times not as well as I would've wanted but at other times better. I'm slowly building on my distance and actually managed some rest and recuperation in there too.
This past weekend was a swimming and eating Jubilee weekend in the Lakes District. Lots of 3 course meals and triple breakfasts in order to put on the pounds. It also involved some shorter 1 hour swims in various lakes. Boat traffic and gusting winds meant we did not complete as much swimming as we would have liked - not complaining too much the rest was wonderful.
Dover has really kicked up a notch and I'm expecting to be thrown in for 6 hours quite soon - most likely this weekend... Eek!
For an idea of a standard training day in Dover see the photos below - Swim then feed :)
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