Tuesday 26 April 2011

a quick dip at the seaside



What wonderful weather we've just had... and how better to spend the glorious bank holiday than a trip to the seaside.. well thats what I thought whilst traveling to Sunny Hunny!

We arrived at about 11 o clock and I decided I would brave the sea without a wetsuit, to sea if the cold showers we've been having had actually done any good...

I tried to hide my nerves as I strode into the icy water and just tried to keep calm and keep going .. I knew that if I stopped I would most likely chicken out.. so I kept going...

Then came the point where I had to submerge myself in the water and start swimming...

I have never felt anything like it.. cold isn't the word!a

I felt my breath being taken away from me and had to do a couple of breaststrokes to stop myself hyperventilating ... but once i'd got moving I settled into a nice rhythm. The strangest thing was feeling like I wasn't ever warming up.. even after 20 mins my hands and feet.. and my lips were cold. I decided to keep going for a bit then head back to shore before I got too cold and ran into any problems!

I landed back on the beach easily, and felt pretty pleased with myself... and then came The Shakes!... wrapped up in hat, scarf, gloves and tracksuit I was still shaking all over as my body tried to warm up.. it was just plain weird! Luckily I had read similar things online so was prepared (hence the packing of hat and gloves on the sunniest day of the year!) and after a few minutes my body calmed down and off we went for some chips!

All in all i'm pretty pleased with how it went, but now realise how much more cold water swimming we need to get in before the big day so that our bodies are as used to it as they can be!


Sunday 17 April 2011

The Big Swim .....part 2



Another Saturday morning swim and my goodness it was rather long! Kate decided that we would up the distance from 2 one hour swims to 2 one and half hour swims just to give our endurance a bit of a test. So we entered the water at 8.15am and started swimming. An hour went by fairly quickly and I glanced at my watch which read 1.01 indicating only 29 minutes to go and my god they were the longest 29 minutes of my life - it was all getting rather boring by this stage. However, our strokes were strong, energy levels were good - it's just the mental battle we both seem to go through. In fact at one point I seemed to slip into a swimming type coma and was rudely awoken by Kate turning on top of me - no injuries sustained!

Anyway the hour rest was well deserved and we sampled some more energy delights. I went for an a different high carb energy bar - cookie and cream flavour, 400ml of a low GI / creatine mix and of course 250ml of "go go juice. I felt that I should have eaten some more but I just couldn't stomach it. Kate stayed with her malt loaf and "go go juice" and sampled a high carb bar for the first time. The hour once again passed quickly, although this time I was feeling stiff so I engaged in some mobilisation exercises which got my body going again. I was also feeling a bit sick which concerned me and I was worried that I hadn't taken enough fuel on board and that I should have force fed myself! Anyway hat - check; goggle - check - off we set, another 90 minutes up and down the pool with of course our beloved drag shorts which make the experience so much harder.....great!

Time went by slowly but we both felt strong and maintained the same stroke rate - so between 460 and 520 lengths later (Kate's faster than me!) and over 3000 calories we got out, showered, drove home and spent the rest of the day eating........this truly is the best thing about training for a channel swim!

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Tickets on sale now

You can now get your hands on tickets for our big fundraising night on 25th June at the Lady Bay Pub. Tickets are £5.00 each which includes disco, karaoke and BBQ - how fab is that!
You can purchase your tickets from Just and Kate. Come and swing your pants - we need your support!

Sunday 3 April 2011

The start of the big swims

So kate and I were back in the pool at 8.15 am Saturday morning to embark on the first of many long training swims. The purpose of these swims is to start the real toughening up process. We have to condition ourselves both mentally and physically for long tedious swimming and just as importantly work out our nutritional needs during our 1 hour rest periods.

So this session, to start us off was just 3 hours. An hour in the water, an hour rest and then back in the water for our final hour. And to be honest it wasn't as hideous as we expected - in true Just and Kate style "we just got on and did it". The first hour swimming seemed to drag on longer than the second and unsurprisingly the rest period felt like 15 minutes. However, we set a steady 4km an hour pace and maintained that for both hours so "tonk your locker" and bring on the channel!

During the rest period Kate entertained a banana sandwich, malt loaf and battery drink (commonly referred to as go go juice) and I went for a low GI and creatine 250ml shake, go go juice and a large carbohydrate power bar. Of course all of this accompanied by OK and Heat magazine. So when we both got back in the water for the second time, Kate felt a little stiff but very quickly got into her stroke and I felt empty - nothing in my locker. I was concerned as I thought I wouldn't make it through the hour but I calmed my nerves, focused on my stroke and all was good in the end. So I need to get my feeding right during rests and eat more - this is why these training swims are so important.

So 4 months to go - the mood is positive and the swimming is strong.