A great week so far....

Had a couple of great swims so far this week. Early morning starts, but worth it! Feeling strong and looking forward to some great training, and maybe a small bit of misbehaving (what's that again?) in Caherdaniel, Co Kerry this weekend. Hope the weather is someway settled!

Fundraising fun...

A huge thanks goes to the brilliant kids who helped with bag packing at Tesco the other day to help raise funds for Barretstown, giving up an afternoon of their holidays. The icecream and chocolate bribes were not even needed (although vanished anyway) not a moan or groan from any of them, in fact, I found it hard to get them to stop. In total they raised €934.00 in just 5 hours. A huge well done and thanks again to Niamh and Caelan Hurley, Marie and Paraic O'Leary, Eimear O'Leary, Lorraine Dromey, Aisling McCarthy, Ashgan O'Dea and Niamh Ni Chuanachain.

Not long to go....

The excitement is building! Have had a few intensive training weeks, one or two more to go before the tapering period starts. Met some other Channel aspirants from the UK during Ned Denison's training camp-great to get a different perspective on training techniques and things to bring on the boat etc.. Very tiring, but great fun to swim in different locations around Cork for the week.
Had a brilliant 6 hour swim at Warren Beach in Rosscarbery last weekend with Ciaran Byrne and Gabor Monar. What a pretty place to swim. Felt strong and happy with the way the swim went.
Lat week I met a coule of fellow Aussies, Chloe McCardel and her boyfiend Paul McQueeney. Paul successfully crossed the Channel last year and Chloe is attempting her 2 way crossing in a coule of weeks. Had a lovely swim at Inchadoney in Clonakilty with Chloe and Derek and a great chat afterwards. Great to get the Aussie perspective on things!
Looking forward to the weeks ahead with a coule of trips to beautiful Kerry, and warmer water ahead!

Hooray for sunshine!!

Had a great week again, with a couple of long swims in different locations, Inchigeela, Inniscarra and Sandycove. The week was spent building up to another 6 hour swim in Sandycove, which we did yesterday. I was a bit nervous all week about only one thing, the cold. This proved to be no problem, with the water temperature 14 degrees at it's warmest, another great boost to the confidence. Today I feel pretty much the same as I did after swimming Rottnest, the mouth feels strange from the salt water still, and the body is pretty tired. Going to spend today lying in the sun trying not to think about all the housework that needs doing, and maybe bring the kids for a fun dip in the river! Have a coule of big weeks coming up, but some new locations which will be nice.

6 hour swim completed...

Been a while since my last post, but the great news is that I completed my 6 hour swim in waters less than 16 degrees, which was my last administration item to deal with for my swim in August. Only 9 weeks to go now. Water is warming up nicely and the long swim gave me a great confidence boost. Have another one planned for this Saturday which should be fun. Had last weekend off training as a very important 9th birthday party for Caelan was to be had and the bouncy castle was calling. Niamh had her 1st open water race (1400m) on Sunday, which at aged 10 is just amazing. Was so great swimming along side her and I was beaming with pride. Back into long sessions this week and the sun is out again, hopefully to stay for a while!

No more pool for me!

So far so good. Made the transition from the pool to the open water full time last week. Didn't take into account how exhausting the cold water would be. The mileage was slightly down last week, but was way more tired than usual. Rewarded myself with a lovely massage on Friday which made the world seem better again! All in all, was very pleased with getting so much open water in, became a bit whiny about the cold by Friday, so needed a slight attitude adjustment this week. Decided that whining about the cold was not going to get me across the channel, and started the week yesterday with a more positive approach. This has made all the difference, but it is still only Tuesday!! Have a variety of locations to swim at this week including Inchigeela, Inniscarra and Sandycove, so that should keep me motivated.

Brrrr......

Met the lads Friday morning for a 9 hour pool swim and then down to Ballycroneen for a dip in the sea which the muscles needed. Had Saturday off and then met Liam Maher, Ned Denison, John Conroy and Sevy McCullough for a swim in Inchigeela. It went well, although a bit cold (about 10 degrees), and we all managed 1 hour and 25 minutes. Went down again today for an hour. Mick and Derek got in and Niamh and her friend, Marie O'Leary actually swam which was fantastic. Our coach, Eilis wants us to stay in the open water from now on which is on one hand great as the pool has become monotonous to say the least, but it is still very, very cold. Will treat this week as a changeover week if nothing else....