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....

Great week.....

Have had a great training week this week. Am finally getting a bit faster, and feeling much stronger than last week. The reward at the end of the week was a fantastic double lap of Sandycove Island in Kinsale, Cork. I was joined by Gabor Molnar, Sylvain Estadieu, Ned Denison, Mike Harriss, Liz Buckley and John Conroy. I was a bit nervous about the cold as it wasn't as sunny as it has been for the last couple of weeks, but Gabor gave me the push I needed, and I really enjoyed the swim. Another boost for the confidence.
Mick and Derek also got in for their first open water swim of the season, both got on great and enjoyed themselves. Last but not least, my daughter Niamh got in for a fantastic effort so early in the season. Great to have so much company!

And more swimming......

The week started well, felt strong and felt I was getting faster. Had a bit of a slump mid week, but managed an hour in the river which was a great for the confidence. Was comfortable for the first 30minutes, but started to lose heat after that. Was determined to stay in for the hour and made it. Took less time than normal to heat up afterwards which was good too. One of the warmest days of the year and I greeted our neighbour dropping off his son to play with Caelan wearing a woolly jumper, hat and uggboots, shivering. A source of much amusement I'm sure as everyone else in shorts and t-shirts, sweltering.
Had our first team meeting yesterday with myself, John Conroy, and Mick and Derek Hurley. It went well and I seem to have delegated as many tasks as possible so far! Was good to get all the 'to do's' down on paper. It is all of the sudden starting to feel close and I can sense the brain starting to focus...
Planning to go to Sandycove next weekend and am really looking forward to getting back into the sea.

A great week's training...

Had a good training week and managed to catch up on some rest. Took a few days off work while the kids are on holidays and have really enjoyed having some extra time to catch my breath! Finished with a barbeque last night, couldn't resist, the weather is so nice! Managed 32 minutes in the river today. Hard to tell if the temperature had risen, or if I'm acclimatising quickly. Really looking forward to getting back into the sea. More bbq's for the rest of the weekend.....

Back into routine.....

So I'm back in Cork since the second week of March, but it's taken me a while to get back into the swing of things. Back to work and kids back to school was relatively easy, but made the mistake of assuming that I would treat Rottnest as a training swim and just keep on swimming afterwards. It took the body a bit of time to recover, and of course we were on holidays, so sticking to the training schedule didn't happen. We had another long session in the pool on the 26th of March where I really paid for my time off. Just over 6 hours in the pool and then into the sea for a quick dip. I must admit I was paranoid about getting into the sea after being in the lovely warm Indian Ocean, however I was pleasantly surprised and it was just the kick start I needed to get the head sorted. Since then I have managed two 10 minute sessions in the river which has been freezing, but has the same effect on my aching muscles as an ice cold bath. A few more dips and I should be ready for longer stints. Looking forward to it!

Rotto 2010

Well the Rottnest Channel Swim is complete, and I am now enjoying(?) a scorching heat wave in Perth. The swim was tough as the conditions were way rougher than last year, so much so I got seasick for the first time in my life (only to the point that I couldn't eat any solid food from the 8km mark on). It was a new experience to hit the wall so early on in a swim, but I decided that I could be completely miserable for the remainder of the journey, or put the head down, stretch out the arms and focus on swimming until the next drink stop. This I did and managed to feel stronger again by the 10km mark. I kept swimming from feed to feed which were at half hourly intervals, feeling stronger and stronger each time. The last couple of kms were extremely tough as we had to fight against being pushed north. Was a bit like swimming on a tread mill, but I was expecting it as last year I had the same problem only the opposite direction. All in all, the swim took 8hrs 45mins, just over an hour off last year which I owe to my crew, Des McLean, skipper, Mick and Derek Hurley, Matt Holden, kayakers and my increased strength since last year due to the programme my Coach Eilís has set for me.
Have been enjoying a bit of a break since, catching up with family and hanging out with the kids. Back to it today though which is no problem since it's a good way to escape the heat!