My 10k Swim Challenge: Great London Swim

I remember vividly where it all began...I was working for British Gas and had become a "swim champion"...not quite as grand as the title suggests, but my passion for swimming meant that I and others, were champions for British Gas while they sponsored British Swimming. We worked with local clubs and schools and held galas, in particular for those clubs that would never reach national levels, but were still dedicated swimmers. We would regularly meet weekly to discss upcoming events. It was during one of these meetings that the subject of the Great London Swim came up. British Gas was having it's own wave and we as employees would get a discount for ourselves and a friend in that wave.

The idea appealed to me, not only because I was more than capapble of swimming a mile, but also because it was outdoors. I fancied taking the challenge....so I entered...without a friend..lol It gave me the incentive to keep swimming, but little did I know what I was letting myself in for...!

Here is an account of that day....it's actually an email to a friend who replied saying he had tears in his eyes reading it..he was so impressed with my achievement...!

"It was a memorable experience.....and I did it in 57mins 11secs...the water was warm, the wind was high and the whole thing was tough from start to finish....but it was a very emotional and proud moment when I swam under the gantry...only equalled when I phoned my Dad and told him I had done it....it must have been the toughest physical challenge I have ever done...it was frightening and lonely....but I was determined to finish.... I just kept thinking of all those hours in the pool, all the training, and I think that is what gave me the guts to complete it...I did it and I feel incredibly proud.

It didn't help that I arrived at the docks at 12:15pm sheduled to swim at 1pm. But I had parked a mile or more away. I walked as quickly as i could in the scorching weather, carrying all my gear to get to the start. I had left Caroline in the carpark getting the ticket. When I was almost at the start, I noticed people walking down to the start area wearing their wet suits. But I hadn't seen anywhere to get changed. I stopped a couple and asked them where the changing area was and they said it's by the finish line and it will take you 15 minutes to get there....I had already passed it!! I told him I was due to swim at one and his wife looked at her watch and said you won't make it, it's 25 to now. I was gutted, out of breath from rushing and just started to walk slowly back. then I saw Caroline and I said to her, if I can change around here somewhere I will be able to make it. So I ended up getting changed behind a van!! So I got to the start area and saw Kathy the other swimmer from Southampton ~there were only two of us doing it ~ Had a couple of puffs of my inhaler as my chest was tight and that was it....into the climatisation pool and off to the start.

For the first 500 meters I was panicking, I was battered by the waves as the wind was so strong, i had swallowed half the Thames and was on the verge of raising my hand for assistance! I tried back stroke, but I was veering way off track, but the 10 minutes or so swimming breastroke diagonally to get back onto the course did help me get into a rythmn. It was hard and I just kept thinking "what the fuck am I doing?" I wanted to cry, because I wanted to give up. I felt helpless basically, like at any moment I could drown, it wasn't like going for a run or for a walk where you can stop, sit down and gather your thoughts and ask for help if necessary. It was just like you had to keep going because your life depended on it and also the kayackers never felt like they were close by. In the end I tried to focus on the canoes and imagined that they were 2/3 pool lengths apart and in my head started counting the lengths as i do in the pool. Each bouy became 10 lengths, although I don't know if they really were!! I continued straight down the dock past the half way bouy and thought it would now get easier, after all i was now on the final leg home. the next bouy meant a turn to the left another 100meters across the dock and then another left turn down to the finish. While I was swimming across the dock after the first turn, I passed a couple of swimmers in blue hats from a previous wave and that did encourage me. Then came the turn to the final straight to the finish and i thought I could see the finish, but it felt like miles away. I also thought the wind would be with me so I would be pushed along with the wind. This part must have been the most despairing. I swam and swam and swam and didn't seem to be getting anywhere, The wind still felt the same, and I wondered if I was swimming against a tide...I was phyically worn out, I was just so tired. I turned over on my back and started doing back stroke, the sun was beating down, but I did have specially purchased for the occasion swimming goggles on...and I remember looking up to the sky and seeing a plane overhead and I wondered where it was going and if you were in it...although I knew you were probably well on the way to the carribean or possibly already there! I just felt so lonely, there were very few spectators along the side at this point, but I could hear some shouts of encouragement and then I just turned over and started swimming again and just thought oh well, you have to keep going you can see the finish and I just kept thinking of all those long hours in the pool, that it is a lonely sport, you can't chat to people while you are swimming, and I just had to get on with it...so I plodded on and on and then as I got closer to the finish the people in the next wave the green hats, started passing me, they were so fast!!!...and then finally I swam under the gantry and I just thought I've done it....and I felt very emotional and proud, but there was still another 20 feet or so to the exit area and thankfully there were people there to help pull you out of the water, as my legs felt like jelly!! I felt completely disorientated. Would I do it again next year? As I was swimming the course, I thought no there is no way I would ever do this again, but on reflection I think I would. I know what to expect now...I know the fear and the lonliness and the sheer physical exhaustion, so perhaps I could deal with them better on a subsequent swim...don't know...but for the moment I feel really proud of my achievement and I allowed myself a lie in with no swim this morning!!"

Even reading it now makes me feel emotional...but it also shows me how far I have progressed...that was just one mile....just 1600m...I am now aiming for 10km. But each journey starts with a step and I have never forgotten the pride I felt and the emotion inside me, as I swam under the gantry and knew I had done it. Even my time didn't matter...what mattered was that I had finished.

Yes today is, two weeks before I have my first event at Bournemouth, 9 weeks before I swim the Great London Swim, 11 weeks until I swim at Blenheim Palace and just 12 weeks until the 5k swim at Eton Dorney....time has suddenly become important to me and I feel the panic rising. I want to lose a few more pounds before the 5k swim, in fact I would like to have reached my 100lbs lost goal and also swim 5k.....what an achievemnt that would be!!

To that end I have added an hour a day of walking to my regime. This will also help to strengthen my legs, although you wouldn't think so today! After doing an hour at the steady pace of 3mph my hip is hurting bad and the tablets just aren't touching it...I can't wait for my first swim so that I can get some relief!!

First swim done...in my new goggles..zoggs predator...oh the feeling of being able to see clearly...I even did some sneaky sighting..but was concentrating on my swimming really...wanted to get some good results! I came home, a bit despondent as I had lost count at 50, so my fate was in the hands of swimtag!!

And wow...I am happy...!

Linda has completed a 2000m swim at Gosport Leisure Centre with SWIMTAG

Swim Time: 51min 14sec | Ave Pace: 153.7sec/100m | Ave Stroke Rate: 25strokes/min | Calories: 518 kcal | Ave DPS: 1.50m/stroke

For my second swim of the day:

Linda has completed a 2050m swim at Gosport Leisure Centre with SWIMTAG

Swim Time: 54min 32sec | Ave Pace: 159.6sec/100m | Ave Stroke Rate: 25strokes/min | Calories: 531 kcal | Ave DPS: 1.45m/stroke

And in the last few lengths, I was able to sight...albeit half drowning, half sighting...but it's a start I wasn't trying to breathe while looking down the lane...!

Calories eaten today: 1580
Exercise calories burned: 1342

My 10k Swim Challenge

Saturday, 23 August 2014

all aboard....

Thursday, 17 July 2014

Reflecting on my first open water swim Great London 2012

Sunday, 29 June 2014

Getting really fit begins!

Blog Archive