After months of eating and swimming - I'm taking the scenic route to France.
I'll be leaving English shores at approx 3:30am (Midday AUS Time) on Wednesday 25th July
I will be in very good and experienced hands with my pilot Neil Streeter and his boat SUVA. My crew is my supportive and very understanding boyfriend Mark and channel swimming master Nick Adams, to whom I am very grateful for backing up and crewing my swim after supporting his girlfriend Sakura in an Ironman on Sunday and completing his own channel crossing on Tuesday.
My crew will be tweeting on https://twitter.com/krittermac and you can track my progress via
http://www.shipais.com/shiptrail.php?mmsi=235018589
or
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0yeHQ0bluLFqyTf932J6W1nRCQHB5nCif
In completing the swim I'm hoping to raise much needed funds to support Cancer Research in both the UK and Australia. The effects of cancer have impacted the lives of many people I konw and I'm hoping that my little bit of fundraising can help.
In the UK please dontate here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=KristyMcIntyre&faId=206851&isTeam=false
In Australia - please donate here: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/kristyecswim
Thankyou to all those who have donated thus far, provided sound words of wisdom and support I really appreciate everything you've done for me and will be giving it my all out there for you and for those who continue to inspire me every day.
Channel swimming is not an individual sport it is a team effort and there are many people I must thank those that have gotten me this far:
- Mark my house husband/training partner/chef/crew member/support swimmer
- My Australian family who while they aren't here in person have been supportive via phone and email, even my mum who was horrified at how much weight I had gained and has embraced the weigh-in challenge of each phone call,
- The beach crew in Dover - Freda, Barry, Irene, Michelle and the countless other people who give their weekends so selflessly to feed the hungry seals (I mean swimmers) on the beach and yell at you when you need a bollocking or provide hugs when you've done well.
- All the swimmers in Dover - who are going through the same thing as me and are positive and encouraging even when they don't know your name.
- The people of the Serpentine Swimming Club, especially Deirdre, Tory & Boris who I have shared the channel adventure with and the most miserable days in Dover and who have given me words of encouragement when I needed it most
- Nick and Sakura for all your words of advice, swim sets, training time, feeding ideas, patience and general encouragement and for giving me the confidence to go ahead with the idea in the first place
- The amazing Clare McGirr who was the other half of our two person channel relay in 2011 - she didn't have any idea what she was getting herself in for but she came along whole heartedly for the ride
- To all my very understanding friends who have never questioned why but just said go for it.
THANKYOU!!
Tuesday 24 July 2012
Thursday 19 July 2012
Happy Dances
The past weekend marked what I can only hope as being my last Dover Dirty Double for the year. With only two weekends before my swim window opens I expected it to be a medium to hard one.
As always the Saturday alarm goes off at 5:50am and the Dover routine kicks into gear. Pick up Deirdre, Tory and this time special guest Irene from Australia. Drive the 2 hours to Dover and set up camp on the beach. This time we had an addition of a tent courtesy of the super organised Nick Adams. On checking in with Freda and the beach crew the trepidation is always high - the fear/excitement of the unknown - what am I going to get? The usual conversation ensues Freda "when's your swim " me "window opens in just under 2 weeks" Freda ok "3 hours" me "ok that's good" ..... Walked away calmly then happy danced my way across the beach to find Deirdre who on the same tide as me had been put in for 6. Deirdre went back to negotiate and ended up with 4 - Tory who is on a later tide had the inevitable 6. All others who were on my tide ended up with 4 so I felt it only fair I should do an extra hour and do 4.
Suncreamed up, greased up, watered up, we entered the water at 9am. After just 1 hour of swimming I was thirsty & ravenous; this wasn't good I still had 3 hours to go and no pants treats. Small man up chat and kept swimming - the 2 hr feed rolled around quickly and by the 3 hr feed the rain had started to chuck it down and I was glad to be in the water. At four hours it was still chucking it down as we ran up the beach and changed under a shelter. By this stage the thunder and lightening had started to roll in and I heard Freda speak the unthinkable words "Barry they're all getting out at the next feed". I couldn't believe it - The Channel General had uttered those words which are like music to a cold swimmers ears - even though I was out I knew that in 30 minutes there would be some very happy swimmers.
Meanwhile stood on the beach in his bright yellow oil skins Barry was doing his very own rendition of singing in the rain as he skipped across the beach. The rest of the beach crew were soaked through but nothing dampened their smiles :)
The only thing left to do was take a pop up tent down in the wind & rain. This task proved more difficult than thought; but I got it down first go at a price - I wrestled with it, ran along the beach and used it as a kite and with sideways rain was soaked through before I managed to get it in the bag.
We stayed over night at the lovely Sandown Guest house (our usual). Ready for another day of training on Sunday.
Sunday check in with the beach crew and this time its 3 hours again and a hop, skip, jump and dance across the beach in celebrations. With Deirdre and I both getting 3, I felt no guilt nor remorse for only doing 3, I couldn't contain my excitement which was probably not the best of things as my lovely training partner Tory had another 6 to get through. The sun was shining, the sea was flat and I had a lovely time lapping the harbour for 3 hours - this was a real treat - every training day apart from one other had been tough, windy, wet, rough seas, seasickness - horrendous but I had made it through. Dover was giving me a present in return a flat calm training day. Only the second in 11 weekends of training and I relished every moment.
Here's hoping I get it for my swim.
As always the Saturday alarm goes off at 5:50am and the Dover routine kicks into gear. Pick up Deirdre, Tory and this time special guest Irene from Australia. Drive the 2 hours to Dover and set up camp on the beach. This time we had an addition of a tent courtesy of the super organised Nick Adams. On checking in with Freda and the beach crew the trepidation is always high - the fear/excitement of the unknown - what am I going to get? The usual conversation ensues Freda "when's your swim " me "window opens in just under 2 weeks" Freda ok "3 hours" me "ok that's good" ..... Walked away calmly then happy danced my way across the beach to find Deirdre who on the same tide as me had been put in for 6. Deirdre went back to negotiate and ended up with 4 - Tory who is on a later tide had the inevitable 6. All others who were on my tide ended up with 4 so I felt it only fair I should do an extra hour and do 4.
Suncreamed up, greased up, watered up, we entered the water at 9am. After just 1 hour of swimming I was thirsty & ravenous; this wasn't good I still had 3 hours to go and no pants treats. Small man up chat and kept swimming - the 2 hr feed rolled around quickly and by the 3 hr feed the rain had started to chuck it down and I was glad to be in the water. At four hours it was still chucking it down as we ran up the beach and changed under a shelter. By this stage the thunder and lightening had started to roll in and I heard Freda speak the unthinkable words "Barry they're all getting out at the next feed". I couldn't believe it - The Channel General had uttered those words which are like music to a cold swimmers ears - even though I was out I knew that in 30 minutes there would be some very happy swimmers.
Meanwhile stood on the beach in his bright yellow oil skins Barry was doing his very own rendition of singing in the rain as he skipped across the beach. The rest of the beach crew were soaked through but nothing dampened their smiles :)
The only thing left to do was take a pop up tent down in the wind & rain. This task proved more difficult than thought; but I got it down first go at a price - I wrestled with it, ran along the beach and used it as a kite and with sideways rain was soaked through before I managed to get it in the bag.
We stayed over night at the lovely Sandown Guest house (our usual). Ready for another day of training on Sunday.
Sunday check in with the beach crew and this time its 3 hours again and a hop, skip, jump and dance across the beach in celebrations. With Deirdre and I both getting 3, I felt no guilt nor remorse for only doing 3, I couldn't contain my excitement which was probably not the best of things as my lovely training partner Tory had another 6 to get through. The sun was shining, the sea was flat and I had a lovely time lapping the harbour for 3 hours - this was a real treat - every training day apart from one other had been tough, windy, wet, rough seas, seasickness - horrendous but I had made it through. Dover was giving me a present in return a flat calm training day. Only the second in 11 weekends of training and I relished every moment.
Here's hoping I get it for my swim.
Wednesday 4 July 2012
Branded By Dover
I must start this blog post by saying every mishap contained in here is a factor of my own stupidity and I should know better.
This weekend I only trained on Saturday due to having a normal life on Sunday. Saturday training wise was another 7 hour swim which I got through without too much trouble using self preservation swimming strategies to ensure I didn't get too sea sick or injure my shoulders too much in the large waves when the tide was high.
That's the training bit over the rest are the incidents that happened along the way.... Read on.
On Saturday due to a little bit of traffic, having a full car with new friends in it and not driving super fast down the motorway it took 10 mins longer than usual to get to the beach, meaning we were rushed getting ready. We quickly checked in, given 7 hours, cap on, greased up, treats thrown in the back of my costume and walking down to the water realised I hadn't put sunscreen on my back or my legs. No problems I checked 5 different weather forecasts yesterday they all said rain and cloud for the day, I won't need it I won't get burnt.
Mistake 1 - I trusted the weather forecast it was sunny, windy and without a rain cloud in the sky for the entire day - they did get the wind part right.
Mistake 2 - not taking the extra time to get someone to put sunscreen on my back & doing my legs. I now have a defined set of go faster racing stripes from my costume straps, a very dark & painful back/neck and two red & painful lines up the sides of my bum where my costume has ridden up during the day making sitting painful - especially on plastic chairs at the cricket.
Mistake number 3 is hidden in the text above. Guess what it is? No? It was throwing my treats into the back of my costume without taking care as to how and where I put them. This rushed behaviour resulted in two things - my chocolate buttons having a blow out when I got thrown agaisnt the rocks by a wave coming in for a feed. I didn't discover this until a low moment mid swim when I went to grab my buttons for a snack and found they had popped and I now had small half eroded chocolate buttons floating around my costume that I had to scoop out. No I hadn't done a sea poo it was my chocolate buttons I promise. The other issue which I didn't discover until getting home and into a nice hot shower was that the serrated edges of my packets of treats had been rubbing against my skin as they lived in the back of my costume and I now have a severe chaffing mark on my bum which combined with sunburn makes sitting a somewhat painful task.
Mistake 4 - not getting enough grease for 7 hours. My fault should've asked Barrie for more; less grease = more chaffing on my neck and under my arms. I have swimmer's hickeys and grazing, that along with my tan lines make me even more of a delight to look at than previously.
I know you would all like to see photos of my sunburn and chaffing but as most of my pain is related to my bottom I care not to post photos - you can laugh and use your imagination. I have literally been branded on the bottom by Dover
This weekend I only trained on Saturday due to having a normal life on Sunday. Saturday training wise was another 7 hour swim which I got through without too much trouble using self preservation swimming strategies to ensure I didn't get too sea sick or injure my shoulders too much in the large waves when the tide was high.
That's the training bit over the rest are the incidents that happened along the way.... Read on.
On Saturday due to a little bit of traffic, having a full car with new friends in it and not driving super fast down the motorway it took 10 mins longer than usual to get to the beach, meaning we were rushed getting ready. We quickly checked in, given 7 hours, cap on, greased up, treats thrown in the back of my costume and walking down to the water realised I hadn't put sunscreen on my back or my legs. No problems I checked 5 different weather forecasts yesterday they all said rain and cloud for the day, I won't need it I won't get burnt.
Mistake 1 - I trusted the weather forecast it was sunny, windy and without a rain cloud in the sky for the entire day - they did get the wind part right.
Mistake 2 - not taking the extra time to get someone to put sunscreen on my back & doing my legs. I now have a defined set of go faster racing stripes from my costume straps, a very dark & painful back/neck and two red & painful lines up the sides of my bum where my costume has ridden up during the day making sitting painful - especially on plastic chairs at the cricket.
Mistake number 3 is hidden in the text above. Guess what it is? No? It was throwing my treats into the back of my costume without taking care as to how and where I put them. This rushed behaviour resulted in two things - my chocolate buttons having a blow out when I got thrown agaisnt the rocks by a wave coming in for a feed. I didn't discover this until a low moment mid swim when I went to grab my buttons for a snack and found they had popped and I now had small half eroded chocolate buttons floating around my costume that I had to scoop out. No I hadn't done a sea poo it was my chocolate buttons I promise. The other issue which I didn't discover until getting home and into a nice hot shower was that the serrated edges of my packets of treats had been rubbing against my skin as they lived in the back of my costume and I now have a severe chaffing mark on my bum which combined with sunburn makes sitting a somewhat painful task.
Mistake 4 - not getting enough grease for 7 hours. My fault should've asked Barrie for more; less grease = more chaffing on my neck and under my arms. I have swimmer's hickeys and grazing, that along with my tan lines make me even more of a delight to look at than previously.
I know you would all like to see photos of my sunburn and chaffing but as most of my pain is related to my bottom I care not to post photos - you can laugh and use your imagination. I have literally been branded on the bottom by Dover
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