Brrrrr, The photos say it all....The swim was was ok. Thought I did well - it was the "getting out" that was a disaster!!!
How come everyone else recovered so quickly. When I finally came round the rest of the team had popped into town. If I'd known there was going to be a shopping opportunity, I may have recovered quicker!!!!! Can't thank Sarah and Jos enough for looking after me.
Now my kids are growing up into teenagers, look at the extreme lenghts I'll go to to get a cuddle these days!
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Alex "the new boy" Manleys training so far (by Sharron)
Sevenoaks Tri 18/4/10 400/m/25km/8km
Equalled my Sept time 1hr 54mins, 1 minute faster on the swim (6.38 400m) 1 minute slower on the run but considering I had a knee op at the start of December its not too bad. I would have been faster if I hadn't been so girly about drying my hair before the bike but it was cold and I didn't want to get ice cream headache. Anyway like most of my school reports said, "could do better" so lots more running
Wiggle ups and downs 24/4/10
Not an instruction a 100 mile bike ride around the surrey hills starting in Dorking. The BBC said it would be the hottest day of the year with not a cloud in the sky so I turned up in my new 6xl white tee shirt and set off in the pouring rain and howling wind with Mark Smith and Phil Payne.
The first 20 miles were very hilly The steepest was before the first food stop at about 25 miles every time I stood up to get more drive my rear wheel spun so I sat back down to get grip and proceeded to pull a wheelie, cue lots of swearing but I managed to stay on and to keep going . Then with the summit in view gasping for oxygen (its the altitude) a car came past me and the passenger shouted "come on thunder thighs you can do it". laughing doesn't help you breath in these situations so I will avoid it in the future. I made it up and round the rest of the course although we lost Phil who took a detour.
Got a puncture in the last 10miles and with the help of Marks CO2 inflator still managed to get round in in 6hrs38mins. Respectable but no Lance.
Dover 2/5/10
The first channel swim at Dover with the team who have been telling me for weeks how cold it was going to be, Kevin even recommending that I take a photo of my wedding tackle so that I could look at it in the future and remind myself of glories past. I was surprised how many other idiots there were there all doing the cold water acclimatisation swims but I was pleased to see that there were plenty of athletes like myself of the chunkier physique, channel swimming must be to swimming what sumo is to martial arts.
It couldn't be avoided and as Julian had driven us down in his car I couldn't run away and in just a pair of speedos two rubber hats and a pair of goggles, in we went. It was mind numbingly cold 9 degrees , my common sense screamed at me to just get out! Luckily my inner idiot the pig head one that my darling wife so loves made me just get my head down and swim hard and surprisingly after a while it wasn't so bad. I was buddied up with team captain Mike (he had obviously seen me eyeing up escape routes). I tried to talk to him but my lower lip felt like I had had an injection from the dentist and I couldn't sthpeek poperly.
We swam about a 1K in 20 minutes got out, got dressed drank hot chocolate and tommy soup and had to wait for 2 hours to warm up before going back in for the second stint. Hero of the day goes to Sue who only just stopped shivering in time to get in for the second swim which showed real character. Andy won fall of the day when his legs didn't work on exiting the second swim but he soon regained his composure.
3/5/10 30km Bike + 5km Run with Mike and Dave Cummins
Lost Dave on baileys hill, he is doing the London to Paris bike ride so he is probably starting to realise what he has let himself in for.
It was pouring down and Mike and I decided that seeing as we were wet and cold already we might as get the run done which at 27 minutes was my fastest yet. Probably Mikes slowest!
4/5/10 10km Run in a bleeding hail storm there is a pattern to this weekend and I want an end to it now bring on the sun.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
First swim of season (by Julian)
Well we couldn't avoid it any longer...Saturday rolled around and we all rolled out of bed at the unearthly hour of 7:00am so we could be on the road in convoy by 8:15am. An hour later and we were approaching Dover...entering the traditional fog that over surrounds the harbour.
Once we arrived though we found that it was only the hill that was in fog...the harbour was in sunshine. And 113 other swimmers were queueing up to register in the new fancy safety system (which proved itself later in the day!).
By 10:15 formalities were done, we were changed and ready for the first swim. Cliff gave his safety talk on behalf of Freda and we lined up along the beach. Then we were off, down the stony shore into the 9C harbour water. Our instructions were easy - out past the channel markers, turn right and head for the end of the harbour, touch the wall and back. A leisurely 30 minute swim.
But at 9C there was no "leisurely" about it...we swam as fast as possible and after about 5 minutes even attempted putting our heads in the water. Quarter an hour later we were touching the barnacle encrusted wall and heading for home, a warm towel, chocolate and sugary tea. Except we had another 15 minutes swimming to do!
Finally we stumbled up the shore and stripped (literally in some cases) to replace our wet costumes with dry warm layers. Then the shivering begins, making pouring tea from the flask quite an exciting new challenge. Getting it to your lips, shows you the true meaning of "many a slip between cup and lip"!
But an hour and a half later we were just stopping shivering and warming through nicely...when we were ordered back into the trunks and repeated the whole exercise again!!!
Finally after 2 swims and lots of shivering, we were back in the car for the hour long journey home. Our support team had prepared a chilli to warm us through...and a few bottles of red wine later and we could nearly joke about the shrinking effects of the cold water. Nearly.
At least it is 2 weeks before we do it all again! Photos are on Facebook at the Arch To Arc Supporters page or Arch To Arc 2010
Once we arrived though we found that it was only the hill that was in fog...the harbour was in sunshine. And 113 other swimmers were queueing up to register in the new fancy safety system (which proved itself later in the day!).
By 10:15 formalities were done, we were changed and ready for the first swim. Cliff gave his safety talk on behalf of Freda and we lined up along the beach. Then we were off, down the stony shore into the 9C harbour water. Our instructions were easy - out past the channel markers, turn right and head for the end of the harbour, touch the wall and back. A leisurely 30 minute swim.
But at 9C there was no "leisurely" about it...we swam as fast as possible and after about 5 minutes even attempted putting our heads in the water. Quarter an hour later we were touching the barnacle encrusted wall and heading for home, a warm towel, chocolate and sugary tea. Except we had another 15 minutes swimming to do!
Finally we stumbled up the shore and stripped (literally in some cases) to replace our wet costumes with dry warm layers. Then the shivering begins, making pouring tea from the flask quite an exciting new challenge. Getting it to your lips, shows you the true meaning of "many a slip between cup and lip"!
But an hour and a half later we were just stopping shivering and warming through nicely...when we were ordered back into the trunks and repeated the whole exercise again!!!
Finally after 2 swims and lots of shivering, we were back in the car for the hour long journey home. Our support team had prepared a chilli to warm us through...and a few bottles of red wine later and we could nearly joke about the shrinking effects of the cold water. Nearly.
At least it is 2 weeks before we do it all again! Photos are on Facebook at the Arch To Arc Supporters page or Arch To Arc 2010
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Lest we forget (by Julian)
Reading through the various blogs from the team brought back strong memories of the 28th April 2006 when "Channel 5" did their first swim in the sea.
So I went back to my computer and had a quick glance through the photos...and came across this video. Lest we forget what it is like in the sea without a wetsuit at this time of year, it is worth watching this interview with Sue after a swim in late May 2006...
So I went back to my computer and had a quick glance through the photos...and came across this video. Lest we forget what it is like in the sea without a wetsuit at this time of year, it is worth watching this interview with Sue after a swim in late May 2006...
Quiet your mind (by Sue)
Just read a great little pice in Tri magazine. This must have been written for me and I guess we can all do with some 'quieting of the mind' in our lives.
“Mental Chatter: You can practice this in every session. If you find yourself going through the mental chatter when the workout gets tough (it’s too long, I’m too tired…), just tell yourself to “shut up”. Silence your mind. Find that place inside that stops the thinking process, but is still aware. Be aware of the world around you; this takes your mind off you and helps you to be internally quiet. I practised this over and over. When races got tough and I started to sabotage my performance with negative thoughts, I would remember to “quiet my mind”. It may not happen immediately but it would happen. When I was quiet, suddenly hope would come back and my body would start working easier and the entire race dynamic would improve.”
“Mental Chatter: You can practice this in every session. If you find yourself going through the mental chatter when the workout gets tough (it’s too long, I’m too tired…), just tell yourself to “shut up”. Silence your mind. Find that place inside that stops the thinking process, but is still aware. Be aware of the world around you; this takes your mind off you and helps you to be internally quiet. I practised this over and over. When races got tough and I started to sabotage my performance with negative thoughts, I would remember to “quiet my mind”. It may not happen immediately but it would happen. When I was quiet, suddenly hope would come back and my body would start working easier and the entire race dynamic would improve.”
It time to go back in the water (by Sarah)
Once again in the Arch to Arc, I have been able to enjoy everyone’s company and cooking at the team dinners. This has made up for the reality of the training schedule, which, as predicted, is quite gruelling and impacts family life. With the long hours he works, Julian often has to do the majority of his training at the weekend. After a long run on Saturday and a longer cycle on Sunday morning I often look forward to a bit of family time on Sunday afternoon, forgetting that just as we are settling in to it, Julian has to leave again for swim training at tri club.
Sunday evening is then a wipe out as Julian collapses on the sofa, barely able to move! We have certainly had our tense moments over this, when I have to remember that I did have the previously mentioned "opt out" clause. The most notable of these was on the day of our youngest daughter’s 5th birthday party in January. As I rushed around getting ready for a party of 20 children in the village hall, Julian’s main concern was organising his cycle training and ‘did I really need the car to transport food, decorations etc to the hall because he wanted it to transport his bike to meet another member of the team’! To be fair he did eventually abandon and come and help me - but only because he had a problem with his bike.
The time consuming nature of the training is set to get worse as the team head down to Dover this weekend. Jocelyn and I are going as drivers: the cold I mentioned before means it’s not safe to drive directly after a training swim in the sea in May. I am partly doing this to support the brave team, but also because Julian has never let me forget that I missed the first training swim of the Channel 5 relay in 2006 as I was on a girls’ weekend away. Never mind that I attended other Dover relay training swims and numerous of his solo training swims, including his first ever training swim in the sea – yes I know that stony Dover harbour beach very well indeed!!
Apart from the vicarious cold swimming, I have also had a tiny (more physical) taste of the training schedule of our intrepid lady participant –Sue. I have started to go to a spin class with her, on a Wednesday morning. In the first session, a few weeks ago, I was feeling quite smug, after being complimented on not vomiting by the teacher -apparently some people do when they first start! ‘It’s really not too bad’ I was thinking to myself, when suddenly I realised that when the teacher said ‘turn a circle’ she did not mean turn the bike (I had wondered HOW you could do that on a stationary bike) but increase the resistance. As we took a drink rest and Sue turned back her resistance knob about 20 circles I realised I had been freewheeling the whole way! Power to you Sue.
Good luck to the fantastic 6 on Saturday – your dedication so far is inspiring.
Sunday evening is then a wipe out as Julian collapses on the sofa, barely able to move! We have certainly had our tense moments over this, when I have to remember that I did have the previously mentioned "opt out" clause. The most notable of these was on the day of our youngest daughter’s 5th birthday party in January. As I rushed around getting ready for a party of 20 children in the village hall, Julian’s main concern was organising his cycle training and ‘did I really need the car to transport food, decorations etc to the hall because he wanted it to transport his bike to meet another member of the team’! To be fair he did eventually abandon and come and help me - but only because he had a problem with his bike.
The time consuming nature of the training is set to get worse as the team head down to Dover this weekend. Jocelyn and I are going as drivers: the cold I mentioned before means it’s not safe to drive directly after a training swim in the sea in May. I am partly doing this to support the brave team, but also because Julian has never let me forget that I missed the first training swim of the Channel 5 relay in 2006 as I was on a girls’ weekend away. Never mind that I attended other Dover relay training swims and numerous of his solo training swims, including his first ever training swim in the sea – yes I know that stony Dover harbour beach very well indeed!!
Apart from the vicarious cold swimming, I have also had a tiny (more physical) taste of the training schedule of our intrepid lady participant –Sue. I have started to go to a spin class with her, on a Wednesday morning. In the first session, a few weeks ago, I was feeling quite smug, after being complimented on not vomiting by the teacher -apparently some people do when they first start! ‘It’s really not too bad’ I was thinking to myself, when suddenly I realised that when the teacher said ‘turn a circle’ she did not mean turn the bike (I had wondered HOW you could do that on a stationary bike) but increase the resistance. As we took a drink rest and Sue turned back her resistance knob about 20 circles I realised I had been freewheeling the whole way! Power to you Sue.
Good luck to the fantastic 6 on Saturday – your dedication so far is inspiring.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Spring Training Camp (by Julian)
So just back from "Spring Training Camp" - otherwise known as Miami. Unfortunately I saw very little of the sun since it was work from 4:30am to 10:30pm in a windowless hotel. But I did manage a swim in the sea and a run along the beach...
The swim wasn't exactly like Dover...the water was probably 70-75F rather than below 50F. The water was a blue rather than green colour. But the waves did bring back memories and after 40 minutes, I could feel the salt beginning to bite under the arms.
Somehow I doubt on Saturday Dover will be like Miami. For a start the BBC weather forecast for Dover says "Heavy rain showers" with a 13mph wind. So should be lots of fun in the "washing machine" that is the harbour, when the wind blows.
The swim wasn't exactly like Dover...the water was probably 70-75F rather than below 50F. The water was a blue rather than green colour. But the waves did bring back memories and after 40 minutes, I could feel the salt beginning to bite under the arms.
Somehow I doubt on Saturday Dover will be like Miami. For a start the BBC weather forecast for Dover says "Heavy rain showers" with a 13mph wind. So should be lots of fun in the "washing machine" that is the harbour, when the wind blows.
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