Swim possibly 2 weeks away, weather allowing... best I get some more training in! (and a few pies).
Training is actually going ok, did 4 hours last weekend and felt strong. Next week I will be doing a number of 3 hours swims in a lake which will add strength and speed.
At the moment, the biggest risk is the cold. Because I am doing so much training, the weight is falling off me and I am struggling to eat enough.
Weekend before last I went up to Ireland to do a test swim, climbed in 1 mile off-shore, swam directly at the shore for 1 hour and .... finished up 1 mile off-shore. Oops. Didn't exactly go as planned, but we did learn from it. The currents are so much stronger than I imagined, just mind blowing! When I was stopping next to the boat to take a feed during the 1 hour swim, I was travelling at times at 10.6km per hour! and I wasn't even swimming!
The biggest surprise was the jellyfish. I knew there would be some, but it was the massive number that was, quite frankly, terrifying. I was seeing a big jelly fish every 20 to 30 seconds. Most were down around 5 feet and therefore not a problem, but now and again there would be one near the surface and I would need to swim around them. I really didn't want to be stung and kept looking forwards.... by the end of the 1 hour swim I had a very sore neck. Can't do that for the 9 hours. So need to find an alternative solution.
Fund raising is picking up, the company next door to our office is owned by an incredible guy called Kevin Dougall (he owns D-media and the Red Lion Pub in St Margaret's at Cliffe) who heard about the swim and overnight is sponsoring about £2000 worth of kit / collateral etc to help Community Rescue Services raise money. Humbling.
Can't wait... am both excited and terrified!
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