Catching up...

OMG it's been such a long time since I wrote in here and no doubt you are all probably thinking...she's given up!

I haven't, i now have less than a month to swim 10k..lol

Perhaps I had better recap on my journey to here...I last wrote in here in August.

I was under a lot of stresses and strains and although I lost my mojo for writing this blog, events sort of took over, and I know that is no excuse!

But I have emerged a much stronger person.

I did do my 5k swim at Eton Dorney in September. I completed it in 2 hours 5 mins and 4 secs. The boost to my confidence was second to none.

About a week later, when I was at the pool...I was struggling a little bit, feeliing lethargic...but I told myself..you are a 5k swimmer, you can do this and the surge of pride and knowledge that I can do these things pushed me just that little bit further!

So that was my longest swim completed. It is still my longest swm and I have to swim 10k in four weeks. If I said I wasn't nervous that would be a lie. I am incredibly nervous!

Since that swim I formed a new friendship with someone very much like myself. It's amazing in life how when doors close, others open. Sometimes there is little bit of effort to opening the door as it hasn't been opened before and sometimes it opens like it is well oiled and used daily. My friendship with Carol was the latter.

We went away for a swim in Dorset...Durdle Door to be exact and slept in a Pod. Pod Number Three is one I shall never forget as that was where Bimbel was born. More about Bimbel on a post dedicated to it..! It deserves it..!

For now, this is just to let you know I am still here, and I will be updating regularly! Oh by the way...I am still the same height and weight!! Some things just don't seem to change lol

Just a simple swim with Oliver

Arrived at the Shack and had forgotten my float...Oliver saved the day and gallantly put my shoes into his float and enables my access and exit from the water to be much more elegant than leaving my beach shoes on the pebble beach...ouch!!

We did our usual swim to the 500m buoy, which I am sure kept moving to the right!! Actually we were drifitng to the left and it was extremely hard fighting against the tide. We didn't quite make the buoy as one of the jet ski was once again tearing up and down outside of the jet ski area. It's a shame but the risk is too great...one hit from them and your numbers up!

Fighting to get to the last beach hut against the tide was hard work...but as we moved towards shore it became easier...then back to the shack and out...took us about 40 minutes..so a good work out.

Came home and couldn't face the drills at Bayside..so I am ashamed to say that I didn't go

that is all....

Cooling off at Hill head

Oh my God, it is so hot...it's boiling and there is no let up!! So the sea calls all day..beach, beach, beach is all I can think about as I work in the relentless heat in the van. It's so uncomfortable at times..

So i arrived at the Shack and swam with Shona, Claire and Jeannie...we went out to the 500m buoy and back again. It took about 35 to 40 minutes. Finally...cooled down :)

Unfortunately my Zoggs predator goggles decided to leak and I came away with a very swollen eye!

Sea Swim v Pool Swim

This week I have done more swimming in the sea and only been to the pool on Friday to train with Bayside Tri...I have to admit that when standing on top of hot ovens at work, the idea of a sea swim is far more appealing than getting into a crowded pool full of lane rage. It just has a feeling you cannot match in the pool and that is the freedom. Come and go as you please, plenty of space...beautiful view...what more can you ask for? The only thing is, I just swim, I don't practice anything I have been taught as my stroke depends on the state of the sea...sometimes the waves crash over your head and bilateral breathing goes out of the window as you can only breathe on one side, unless you want a mouthful of sea water each time. The benefit of the pool is that you can train in a controlled environment, albeit constrained into one length roped off..walls each end..lol. I think they both have benefits and I have always believed that I should learn it in the pool and then bring it outdoors to the sea, lake or river.

Today I intended to go for a sea swim, but my Grandson decided he didn't want to go at the last minute...but there was time to get to the pool for the final session...so that's what I did. Fortunately there wasn't many there and I got a whole lane to myself! Brilliant..! Only wish my stats were as brilliant though! :(

Linda has completed a 1650m swim at Gosport Leisure Centre with SWIMTAG

Swim Time: 41min 45sec | Ave Pace: 151.8sec/100m | Ave Stroke Rate: 27strokes/min | Calories: 433 kcal | Ave DPS: 1.43m/stroke

I just can't see any improvement in my swimming at all..the only thing I have improved on is the distance I can swim now...ie the two 5k swims I have done, but other than that, I haven't improved my times at all. Perhaps I am just feeling a bit demoralised with the way I have everything recorded, times, strokes, DPS, and it's taken all the enjoyment out of it...perhaps I'm being negative!!

This evening I went for a walk along Stokes Bay...very pleasant, had my friends dog and he went running up to a young lady who came out of the toilet block..she had just been swimming, but I hadn't noticed her earlier as I walked from one end of the beach to the other...but anyway, we had quite a conversation in the short time I was talking to her....she was lovely to talk to, I gave her a lift home as she was staying just around the corner from my friends house. Hopefully I meet her again, her name was Anne. 

Which brings me to the other side of swimming...I had always felt fairly lonely swimming, particularly as I was doing it mostly at the pool and any interaction ended at the nods and hellos from the regular swimmers. This year I have changed that and joining Bayside Tri was the beginning..training with like minded people is so much fun...we all have the same goal..to get better, faster and win medals..lol...moving on from that came The Shack Sharks at Hillhead and then came the lovely people at Shore Road..it doesn't have to be lonely at all..thankfully! 

Friday's Double Dip

My first swim today was at Hill Head. I met up with Oliver and  we decided to swim to the furthest bouy, which Oliver had been told was 500m away..the tide was high, but going out. We were both in skins and set off towing our floats behind us. It took about 14 minutes to reach the bouy and we chatted for a short while upon reaching our destination. I noticed we were drifting quite fast and it was going to be a hard swim back...so we set off...after a few minutes I stopped and noticed a boat coming out of the sunlight. I was a little nervous as I hadn't been out this far before, preferring instead the safety of parallel to the beach swimming. I signalled to Oliver to look out for the boat and carried on swimming. After a short while I stopped and looked back, to check Oliver and where the boat was...it was directly behind Oliver and was a Police launch...one of the occupants waved, so I waved back and then all three waved..lol...Oliver was not far behind me so I carried on heading for shore. The launch stayed behind for a while and then moved passed the jet ski area and into shore, where it stayed until we both reached shore. It was a hard swim back but it was completed in about 18 minutes...We both laughed as we imagined we had contraband inside our floats...but actually I had my beach shoes :)

As you can see from the picture it was a cloudy day...but it was still fairly warm in the sea

My second swim was at Gosport Leisure Centre with Bayside Tri. Incidentally, I am now the proud owner of a Bayside Tri hoodie :)

The swim was quite tiring with lots of drills, and as always I was last in the intermediate lane...but although I will never be as fast as my lane buddies..they do make sure I push myself and never let me feel that I am holding them up...cheers chaps!! I think they all have events this wekend so Good Luck to them all...!

I had a mental block in the pool with the Pink Watch and couldn't remember how to set it!! So I've relied on swimtag for this session:

My stats in the pool:

Linda has completed a 1725m swim at Gosport Leisure Centre with SWIMTAG

Swim Time: 44min 36sec | Ave Pace: 155.2sec/100m | Ave Stroke Rate: 23strokes/min | Calories: 457 kcal | Ave DPS: 1.62m/stroke

Swimming at the Shack...

Well today was another hot one...and once again I heard the call of the sea. It is becoming such a routine now...finish work, sort myself out and off to the beach. What on earth did I do before?

Also today one of my friends posted this link on facebook and I have shared it on my facebook page and also I will share it here...its called "Coming in Last" and tells the story of an ordinary Mum who challenges herself to do a 5k run. The same can be applied to swimming or any other discipline...someone has to come in last and it doesn't matter if it is you!

Also today I have thought about doing a 3k swim as a stepping stone to the 5k in September. There is one in Marlow which has caught my eye...but sometimes you wonder if its really necessary to do these events. At the back of my mind,  is the thought that I have only ever done the Great London Swim twice...the first time was an ordeal..and perhaps I should post my thoughts on that swim soon. It serves to remind me of the utter despair I went through and yet as I swam under the gantry, the emotion was real. I never thought I was going to finish. The fact that I did showed me just how much guts and determination I actually have.  The following year was much smoother and more enjoyable. But the following year I had the benefit of knowing what was going to happen!! I will give the Marlow swim some thought. It's the week before the London swim...hmmm serious thought needed :)

Back to tonight...my visit to The Shack was eventful. I arrived on time, started getting ready...there were four of us again. Oliver had said he was coming, but he hadn't arrived yet and I was in the boot area of the car. I collected everything I needed and shut down the boot and locked the keys inside...FFS!!! What now? The car was locked...oh hell you're only one swim away from a good mood....so that's what I did...swam and swam and swam and got nowhere as we chose to swim aggainst the tide first...it was tough going!!

No swimming today!!!

Well arrived at the Shack raring to get back into the water...still on a high from yesterdays epic swim....but we were greeted by a load of kite surfers in the swimming area and it was too dangerous to swim....

SO UNFAIR!!!! I wanted to wear my new beach shoes...

Swimming with the Sharks

Met up with Tom and exchanged chill floats....I am now the proud owner of my very own chill swim float :) It is a saga, but eventually it arrived safely into my hands and now I will never let it go !!

So tonight was a swim in quite rough waters with Jeannie, Oliver and one other whose name escapes me right now..lol..it's an age thing!! I am feeling very confident in the water now, and was able to use my new pink watch to time myself...35 minute swim, about 1k I would say, but not too sure... Deborah was at the shack and she had completed a 6km swim from the Isle of Wight to Hillhead Sailing Club the day before...she was on a high and brought some birthday cake which was very nice!!

After the swim I went straight to Zumba and danced for an hour...feeling tired now...so must be bed time!

Back in the SEA!!!

Well it was another scorching hot day...the hottest day of the year so far..! After I finished work and did a few things that I had to do...the sea was beckoning....yes I needed to get in there and swim, swim, swim!!

I didn't get home until 5:30pm and immediately asked if anyone from the Sharks was swimming tonight...and Oliver said he was....! so not time to stop, quickly put swimsuit on and grabbed wetsuit and into the car!! Deborah was there with our new swim hats....couldn't resist a photo....!!

 

It was rough in the sea, but I must admit that I am no longer worried about being out of my depth, or indeed having waves crashing over me....I powered through them and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. There were four of us in all swimming, but two got out early on and Oliver and I weren't quite sure if we were just stupid or just tough cookies!! We decided then to also go back to shore :) I suppose we must have been in the water about 30 - 45 minutes, but not too sure.

When I got home, I then went for my walk for an hour and immediately after that, it was in the pool. I was going to just do a leisurely swim in front crawl....but someone got in the lane and was hot on my toes....he is a regular there...Mr Splashalot...and swims quite slow..in fact my breaststroke is faster than his front crawl...but today he thought he was on fine form and exhausted himself trying to overtake me but we hit the wall together and of course he was then too slow on the way back...he turned into a bloody nuisance!!!

Anyway....swim tonight:

Linda has completed a 1250m swim at Gosport Leisure Centre with SWIMTAG

Swim Time: 29min 38sec | Ave Pace: 142.3sec/100m | Ave Stroke Rate: 27strokes/min | Calories: 339 kcal | Ave DPS: 1.54m/stroke

Calories eaten today:         1400
Calories used in exercise:  1341