We set off for Dover early Saturday morning (03:00) and arrived in plenty of time to register and gossip with fellow swimmers and the "General". The Champion of Champions consists of 3 races in one day, starting with a 5 miler, followed by a 3 mile effort and finishing with a 1 mile sprint at the end of the day.
We all happily entered the water for the first race and spirits were high. Ali Streeter started us off and I immediately found myself near the back!! I set off at a steady pace telling myself that I shouldn't go off too fast, this ploy worked and I started catching swimmers after 2 miles. I then wondered how soon the leaders would catch me, hoping that I could reach the finish before I was lapped, this was not to be as 2 swimmers flew past me before I'd finished my 3rd mile!! I continued my own race with 2 others, coming in 2nd in our mini race in a race. My time of 2 hrs 13 min was better than I had expected, but poor in respect of the winning time of 1 hr 35 min.
After a good rest it was back in for race 2 over 3 miles, I decided to "race" this one and had a great battle with 3 other swimmers for the majority of the race. Once again I managed a sprint finish to come in 2nd in our little group. I was disapointed with my official time of 1 hr 21 min (Ruth clocked it as 1 hr 18 min), but I enjoyed the race.
There seemed to be a big delay before race 3 got underway and there wasn't quite the enthusiasm for the final sprint, the numbers were also down on the original starting field. I simply went as fast as I could and managed to stay with a big group for the 1st half mile but then had to slow, finally managing to come in under 26 min (just!).
All in all a good day with a provisional 25th place, out over about 66 starters, not bad for a hairy old git.
Sunday saw my back in the harbour for a 6 hour swim courtesy of Freda. All was going well at the 1st 2 hour feed, but coming in for the 3 hour I was feeling cold and was dropping back from Rob. I remember approaching the beach, but the next thing I remember was sitting on the beach staring at Freda, completely covered in towels from everybody on the beach!! Apparently Barry caught me and dragged me out of the water and Freda broke the 30m beach dash!! Thankyou to both and all the others down on the beach last weekend.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Birthday Weekend Swims
Last weekend was a good time for swim progress. Friday I was in Colemere with Ruth at the canoe helm, 5 circuits of the Mere and 2 hrs 15 min later, I was back out feeling warm, but with a very sore right shoulder, a little worrying to say the least.
After a soak and a massage on the shoulder, it felt a lot better, so Saturday saw me in Ellesmere for a 5 hour effort. Today Ben and John were duty paddlers and feeders. We started in sunny conditions, but it clouded over as the day progressed. Brother John was amazed at how the crowds gathered to watch the "Mad Bloke" swimming with the ducks and geese. He said he'd never had his photo taken so many times in one day! The shoulder held up and actually felt better towards the end of the swim, good news indeed.
Sunday we were up at lake Bala in North Wales for the Middle distance triathlon. For the first time in 5 years I was not racing and I felt a little left out, but it was good to gossip. I did a quick lap of the swim course for the triathletes, without a wetsuit of course, just to show off... a little! The race organisers claimed it was 17.4C in the lake, I would say it was a tid cooler than that (I've never known Bala to go above 16C in all the years I've swam in it!!). I was told later how the water temp was taken, but I won't divulge the details here!!
The weekend was a good end to a good week of training, with 35000m in the bank. I will be easing off during the coming week, ready for the Champion of Champions event in Dover next Saturday. More on that later.
After a soak and a massage on the shoulder, it felt a lot better, so Saturday saw me in Ellesmere for a 5 hour effort. Today Ben and John were duty paddlers and feeders. We started in sunny conditions, but it clouded over as the day progressed. Brother John was amazed at how the crowds gathered to watch the "Mad Bloke" swimming with the ducks and geese. He said he'd never had his photo taken so many times in one day! The shoulder held up and actually felt better towards the end of the swim, good news indeed.
Sunday we were up at lake Bala in North Wales for the Middle distance triathlon. For the first time in 5 years I was not racing and I felt a little left out, but it was good to gossip. I did a quick lap of the swim course for the triathletes, without a wetsuit of course, just to show off... a little! The race organisers claimed it was 17.4C in the lake, I would say it was a tid cooler than that (I've never known Bala to go above 16C in all the years I've swam in it!!). I was told later how the water temp was taken, but I won't divulge the details here!!
The weekend was a good end to a good week of training, with 35000m in the bank. I will be easing off during the coming week, ready for the Champion of Champions event in Dover next Saturday. More on that later.
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Four Hour Swim - Saturday 31 May
Last Saturday saw me back in Ellesmere for a 4 hour swim. The aim being to extend the endurance and practice various feed ideas. The sun was out and a very pleasant water temperature (16.5C) made for a really enjoyable swim. Feeding worked well with Ruth lobbing a 500ml bottle of warm Maxim at me. The Maxim was flavoured with forest fruits squash, and I fed after 2 hours and again at 3 hours. The feeds also gave her a well earned break from paddling around as safety cover.
Next weekend will be a 5 hour effort, following the same pattern for feeding though I'm going to try 3 scoops of Maxim per 500ml - should be turbocharged if I hold it down!!
Ruth is going to share the safety cover this week with my brother, John, who had a practice last night in Colemere, as Rob and I did 3 laps of the lake. He only paddled over me once whilst he watch an aeroplane practicing aerobatics!! I feel safe really.
I have kick started my bid to raise money for Hope House, and a big thank you to all of you who have given so generously already. If anyone wishes to help this charity, I have included the link below, and you can read all about Hope House on one of my earlier posts.
http://www.justgiving.com/andychannelswim
Next weekend will be a 5 hour effort, following the same pattern for feeding though I'm going to try 3 scoops of Maxim per 500ml - should be turbocharged if I hold it down!!
Ruth is going to share the safety cover this week with my brother, John, who had a practice last night in Colemere, as Rob and I did 3 laps of the lake. He only paddled over me once whilst he watch an aeroplane practicing aerobatics!! I feel safe really.
I have kick started my bid to raise money for Hope House, and a big thank you to all of you who have given so generously already. If anyone wishes to help this charity, I have included the link below, and you can read all about Hope House on one of my earlier posts.
http://www.justgiving.com/andychannelswim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
