Sunday 18 April 2010

End of first week back in training ends in 7 Degrees Centigrade swim at Felixstowe

Above: With Luca prior to getting in the sea for a swim at Felixstowe, Suffolk on Saturday April 17, 2010.

After such a long break from swimming, it was always going to be tough getting fully back into it again. After my inaugural pool training session on Tuesday, I was back in the pool on Friday morning for my second session which I completed successfully with the following session:-

12 Lengths Freestyle Full Stroke Warm Up (300 Metres)
10 Lengths Freestyle Arms Only (250 Metres)
10 Lengths Freestyle Legs Only (250 Metres)
10 Lengths Freestyle Arms Only (250 Metres)
10 Lengths Freestyle Full Stroke (250 Metres)
2 Lengths Backstroke warm down (50 Metres)

Mission accomplished, 54 lengths, 1,350 Metres which was 100 Metres more than Tuesday's session. Next, step was to get back into the sea, so on Saturday we set off for Felixstowe, which unlike the previous attempt at Wells-Next-The-Sea (or should it be called Wells-Nowhere-Near-The Sea!?), was guaranteed water I could swim in.

Beccy and Luca were both hungry so first stop was the seafront fish and chip shop. Glorious sunshine, and fish and chips on the beach, what more could you want? The sea did however, look particularly uninviting. It looked a really wintry colour, as if it had come from a melted glacier. I got undressed and headed down to the water.

As I stepped in it was cold, but I was totally prepared mentally to get in the water, and it didn't bother me.

I did my usual which was to bend over and splash the icy cold water over my body, and kept walking in up to my waist, then dived in and sped off.

I was swimming and being conscious of what my body was telling me. I could feel the cold starting to penetrate through the top layers of the skin, then the ice cream headache started, and my left hand and arm really started to hurt through coldness. I have had this before and it is a weird thing, so I turned round and headed back to shore being satisfied with my first swim.

I got out and walked up the beach where Beccy and Luca were sitting, and was really pleased with my first swim. Having sat out in the sun for about 10 minutes, I headed off for my second swim.

The second swim was much better, and I felt that I had acclimatised already to the temperature. Don't get me wrong, it did feel cold (7 Degrees Centigrade according to the web) but I was OK. I did sprint this time around, at about 70% effort, and it did make a difference mentally. I got out again, and was very pleased with things.

Above: Back on dry land with Luca, Beccy and 'Bump 2' after two successful 7 Degrees Centigrade swims.
After the swim, we went to The Fludyer Arms hotel, where we had a useful meeting with a couple of people and have some great ideas for IOWSA events. When I have discussed it with the committee, I will update the blog. All in all, a very good first week back.

Total swim Distance 2010 - 3,000 Metres.

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