Ullswater 2019

So...one way Ullswater swim on 24th August, 4 months and 5 days after giving birth.

I genuinely had no goals for this season apart from to get back to running half marathons in the Autumn. It was way too risky to book anything not knowing how my delivery would go or how I would be coping afterwards. However, shortly after I got back in the pool post-G, Keri-Anne asked me if I was planning to get back in the openwater this season. I wasn’t - since two way Windermere in 2015 I’ve really got over long swimming. But it did get me thinking. Goals have always been helpful with helping me cope with the day to day. Ullswater has long been on my “list” as the second longest lake in the Lake District. I contacted Colin (who took my first one way Windermere and my two way Windermere and who I can rely on to make me feel safe and to get the best swim out of me) to see if he had any availability and he had one date free! Hooray! So I booked some accommodation, Ken booked a day off work and that was that. I’ve been struggling quite a bit with my mental health in the last month but this swim has really given me something to focus my thoughts on and keep me going much to the utter delight/total bewilderment of the various people from the mental health team. 

In terms of training, I did not manage to train in any sort of way like I used to. I swam 5-6 mornings a week before Ken left for work or with Monday creche managing about 4K a time. But I felt confident that with back to back swims I had the 7 mile distance in me. I did that Lock to Lock 10k in mid July which was a bit of a confidence booster although it’s not the same as swimming a straight 10k in a lake as you get out and there is assistance from the flow. I managed to get to the lake on a Sunday morning 3 times (2x7k, 1x8k) and I wore my thinswim there rather than my actual wetsuit because the lake is a lot warmer than Ullswater. The temperature was the one thing making me worry, especially when four days before my swim I found out that it was going to be 15-16C. I lost a lot of weight in the first trimester which didn’t seem to be compensated for by baby weight as a week after giving birth I was still a couple of kg lighter than I was before getting pregnant and I am 5kg less than when I did 2 way Windermere. There was some panic eating of Emmental in the last week and I could not decide whether to post the tracker on social media or not.

The one thing I did notice being different with regards to training was about fuelling. Previously I have done a ton of fasted training and done really well with that - this time I noticed that I started to run out of energy a lot quicker. I think this is because I was not able to do fasted training whilst pregnant so my body is not used to it anymore. This didn’t really worry me as I stocked up the boat supplies with lots of sugar (orange squash, gingerbread biscuits, dolly mixtures, hot chocolate - all tried and tested on past swims, although in the end I only had the drinks)

Support crew. Clearly Ken was going to need to take care of G who is too small to wear a bouyancy aid (and it’s jjst not fair to subject a tiny baby to the extreme weather conditions on a boat). Luckily Katie lives 45 minutes from Ullswater and likes boat trips and was free so kindly agreed to come and throw bananas at me. She’d not done anything like this before but is a scientist so I wrote a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), she asked some sensible questions and we were sorted.

The two previous swims with Colin had their date changed at last minute due to the weather so I have anxiously been watching Wind guru all week and haven’t been able to believe the predicted forecast - barely any wind at all. You can see this from the photos - the water was like a mirror. Absolutely perfect conditions.

Getting into the water felt cold. The Glenridding end of the lake is much colder as fed by a river but Colin promised me that I would be swimming into warmer water (ha 16C)(no, not really THAT cold in swimmy terms but cold when you have not been able to acclimitise and are a bit low on body fat). The first hour was very tough with cold - my feet were like little blocks of ice. But I made good progress.The sun was also rising and once that came up from behind the hills that started to warm my back.

The swim itself was stunningly beautiful. Since Windermere in 2015 I have moved to prescription goggles which meant I could see a lot of the east side of the lake (the west side being obscured by the boat). The lake seemed very quiet apart from a few steamers and some paddleboarders (quite a contrast with how busy the villages at each end were on a bank holiday Saturday). 

I fed three times, on each hour. Two lots of warm orange squash which gave me a much needed carb boost and one warm chocolate which I kind of regretted even though I had been looking forward to it. The swim went by very fast with these “breaks” and Katie showed me signs for each km.

Ken and G had gone off for breakfast at a lakeside hotel about a mile from the finish. Katie was able to spot them from the boat and held up a sign but i couldn’t quite see them. Shortly after this as we approached the finish, I could see Katie and Colin being greatly entertained by something, and I looked up to see Katia (a friend from the lake in Oxford) on her paddle board on the other side of the boat! She had business to do up here and I knew she was hoping to get there for the end of the swim but I did not expect to see her on a paddle board! This was fab as I was accompanied in for the last half hour by a flotilla! It made for a lovely atmosphere. When we got to the jetty, Ken and the pram were on the side and there was a whole queue of people waiting for the steamer who gave me a round of applause. It was an excellent finish. G woke up for me to be able to pick her up and give her a damp cuddle.

My arms were pretty tired afterwards but not too bad. I was a little disappointed with my time given that the conditions were so good but reviewing the footage of the swim I can clearly see that my stroke needs some work on it. I suspect the cold also did not help. 

Katie, Katia, Ken and I were all able to regroup afterwards in a cafe at the starting end of the lake for lunch which was lovely. Especially as Katia held G so that Ken and I both got to eat our lunch whilst it was hot! We can’t remember when we both ate a meal at the same time. 

I’ve always felt very lucky to be supported by lots of people when I swim but I felt especially lucky yesterday as I really did need a whole team of people to make it happen. Colin continues to be an excellent guide who can manage to look encouraging and smiley for hours on end. Katie did an amazing job on the feeds and communication and also taking some spectacular photos (the bonus was that my phone has a picture of G on the back which I could see every time she held it up for a photo!). Ken looked after G (which I would expect him to do as he is also her parent...but he has been AMAZING on the early mornings when I go out for my swim which is not his favourite time of day). Seeing Katia who was the first person to know about my Ullswater plans and having her get some brilliant photos too was just the icing on the cake.

2017 stats

I’ve been rubbish at posting and owe this blog a post or two but in the meantime here is my Facebook post from today with my 2017 stats

The doors are out and the scores are upon them. This is my review of the year in numbers. It captures some of my year but certainly not all of it; I might write my own highlights post as well or I might not. 

I ran 1020km (down slightly from my biggest ever running head of 1093 in 2016) and swam 1309km (up quite a bit from 1192 in 2016). Not my biggest swimming year  which was 2015 with 1324, but pretty close. I did not get on my bike once!

I took part in 16 running events, all half marathons except for one ten mile road race and one 10k trail race. The standout race was the Hastings Half marathon which was tough but by far the most well supported race I’ve ever done with bonus points for being by the seaside.  I achieved a new half marathon PB three times in January, February and at Bexhill in November where I achieved 1:42:20 which was over 5 minutes faster than any pre-2017 PB. The slowest and hilliest and muddiest race was Killerton in September. The race with the most cabbage fields was Boston half in April and the coldest half was Farnborough in January where the portaloos froze.

Best swim(s) - the little dipette in the small lake by the side of the motorway in Austria and taking Megan around the Great London Swim. Honourable mention to the Rutland 8k which I didn’t enjoy but turned out that I’d won.  In all I took part in 5 openwater Swim events. I only purchased three swimming costumes.

I took up Body Balance in January and attended a total of 30 classes during the year. I took up Piloga in June and attended a total of 25 classes. I attended a single Pilates class and a single Fitness yoga class. I had a brief flirtation with Body Pump (which had to be ditched owing to time and shoulders issues) and attended 12 classes. I had 18 sessions of PT.

I spent 14 nights in a Premier Inn (plus 7 in the Jardin Caleta Tenerife and 5 in the hotel Landhof Ellmau and 2 in a guest house in the lakes). Premier Inn nights were consistent with 2016 but nights in other locations was down. 

I visited the Little Chef only six times and sadly there won’t be a statistic on Little Chefs in future years as they are now shut.

I consumed 34 mince pies up from 31 in 2016.

I held two cake stalls, ran a Crafternoon, sold a lot of little animals and organised a virtual fitness challenge which enabled me to raise £2600 for Mind.

Contacts with the NHS were down again this year (2014: 62; 2015: 33; 2016: 8) to 4 GP appointments, 1 telephone call from GP and 1 blood test (6). 

Swimathon 2017

 I didn't enter swimathon in 2016, after the heady heights of 5 swimathons in 3 days in 2015 as part of two-way Windermere training, it seemed that anything would have been an anticlimax.

However, 2017 was a return to this annual pool event.  200 lengths of the pool and this time I would do it three times.  I'd been feeling in pretty good form since getting back from this year's trip to Tenerife and having had two 1:1s with Dan Bullock so although I wasn't hopeful for a new PB (Peebee set in #2 of 2015 was 1:20:19) I was hoping for some respectable times.

To my surprise, I finished the first swimathon in 1:20:00!  I then went back  a couple of hours later to repeat the experience, however I hadn't quite got my fuelling strategy in between right (needed to eat some actual sugar not just carbs!) and that came in at 1:23:05 which I was a little disappointed about.

On Saturday I attended my usual Saturday morning when I am around Body Balance class and then it was #3 at my local leisure centre (the other two were at the pool where I swim en route to work).  It's not a fast pool (has gutters rather than level with the floor) but they had put the wave breaker lane ropes in which they don't always.  However, there were FIVE of us in the lane so my heart sank a little.  To my surprise, I came out with another Peebee, finally getting under 1h20, to come in at 1:19:57.  I can only put this down to the constant sprinting to overtake people and using that as extra motivation.  Was pleased!

Plates spinning, multiple hats, more pies than fingers to stick them in

Sometimes it all feels a bit overwhelming. I know it's my own choice to do so many things (and to some extent it's linked to my mental health - achieve in order to gain praise, keep busy in order to deal with the difficult things, be a human doing rather than a human being) but sometimes I find it quite hard.

Right now I am training hard (swimming for swim events in the summmer, running so I can run a half marathon every month this year, gym strength training to give me a strong body for the first two and to give me a body shape that I am finally moving towards happy with, Body Balance for the stretchy stuff and because yoga doesn't run anymore at the leisure centre). I have just organised a big fundraising event involving over 120 people and raising nearly £1400 (which takes me to nearly £18k for Mind since 2009). I'm writing an article for the professional press about the research project I ran last year and wondering how else I can disseminate the findings. I'm teaching at the Recovery College once a month. I'm trying to deal with my husband's poor mental health and not getting much support for mine at home. In fact, beyond seeing my GP every 3 months for 10 minutes I'm not getting any support to make sure things don't plummet. I'm working 30 hours a week and trying to make myself indispensable so that they find money to keep me when my contract runs out. I'm studying for a PGCert in Systematic Reviews and applying for Masters (when I already have one).  I'm trying to see my friends occasionally as it feels fabulous to be (mostly) in goood mental health and able to do so.

It's self inflicted but sometimes it's a hard effort just keeping swimming and holding it all together.

Normal blogging service to be resumed...

Back to swim club and 2017 plans

I had possibly the most expensive swim ever last night when I went back to swim club after 6 months off.  In my defence, Sunday evening at 6pm is not a natural exercise time for me, and there were also so many Sundays where I had done an event in the morning.  I had an ace time though; the over 16s now join the masters and we do the same set, based around where they are in their competition cycle.  Last night it was an aerobic set that looked like this:

30 x 100m off 2 minutes.  Broken down as:

5 x (50m drill, 50m FC)
5 x (50m kick, 50m FC)
5 x (100m descending)
5 x (100m paddles and pullbuoy)
5 x (100m choice stroke descending)
5 x (100m with fins)

Fab!  Owing to a little mix up and having to cut the last one short as we ran out of time I swam 2.85k.  The coach said he was impressed with my fitness.  Imagine what my fitness would look like if I went every week!!

Onto plans for 2017.  I was originally planning to do the Manchester Marathon and nail that good for age time that I'm sure I've got in me.  However, the idea hasn't quite sat well with me.  Since the knee injury in June last year, I still don't feel back to the sort of strength where training for a marathon would be a good idea.  The knee is mostly better but now there's a hamstring niggle on the same sie.

Instead, I've decided to concentrate on building fitness and strength to do the things I have lined up to the best of my ability.  This means going to swim club, it means keeping going with PT and my own strength training, it means doing my stretches every day, it means eating better (which is something that I seem to be getting better at in terms of more vegetables and less sugar).   I'm going to do some openwater swims and maybe do a half marathon every month.

Here's what I've got booked in so far:
22/1 Farnborough Half
17/2 Thorpe Park Half
19/3 Hastings Half
7/4 and 8/4 Swimathon 5k
20/5 3.8k Mass Start Swim at Box End
9/6 Great North Swim 5k
10/6 Keswick Mountain Festival 25k trail run
11/6 Keswick Mountain Festival 3k swim in Derwentwater
??16/7 Swim Oxford Swim/Run
23/7 3.8k Mass Start Swim at Box End
29/7 Breca SwimRun 13k running, 4k swimming
13/8 Rutland Swim 8k

Plenty to keep me busy!

2016 in numbers

Have posted this over on facebook but it deserves to be shared here too

It’s the 31^st December, so that means only one thing.  The doors need to be got out for the scores to be written upon them and for 2016 to be summed up in numbers.

Swimming came in at 1192km, down from 1324.4km in 2015 (when I trained for Two Way Windermere).  There was 1093.8km running, up from 826.1km and astonishingly 735km on the bike, that was evidently before I totally gave up on cycling to work… (but down from 1795.5km in 2015)

I went to 11 yoga classes and had 17 hours of PT.  31 mince pies were consumed and two carol services attended.  352 decaff white Americanos were consumed; peppermint tea was consumed in excess of 600 cups.  I had 12 Little Chef Omlette breakfasts.  I spent 14 nights in a Premier Inn, 7 of which were paid for by work.  I also spent 7 nights in Tenerife, 4 in Slovenia, 7 in Austria and 3 in the Lake District which were not in Premier Inns.  I bought 3 new swimming costumes.  I visited the osteopath 11 times and had 30 sports massages.

I did 10 running events including 6 half marathons and 2 marathons.  I participated in 6 openwater swimming events.  Whilst getting a trophy for being first in my category at the Seahorse Swim was pretty cool, the standout swim was the lovely half an hour I had on my own in Rydal Water in May.  Even better than the beautiful lakes in Austria and Slovenia.

I held 3 cake stalls and a crafternoon and raised £1900 for Mind.

NHS wise, I was down quite a lot from 33 appointments/contacts in 2015.  I saw my GP 3 times, two other GPs once each (for hayfever and the chest infection of doom respectively), spoke to my GP on the phone twice, and had an ultrasound on my neck.  So that’s a mere 8.  9 if you include seeing my NHS dentist once.  I was however issued with twenty-four prescriptions, a lot of boxes of pills when you consider that most of those prescriptions were for a two month supply.  And one private prescription when a colleague took pity on me after running out of fexofenadine and wrote me a script on a piece of A4 (I think he couldn’t stand sitting next to my sneezing any longer!).

End of 2016

 It's time for the customary end of the year round up post.  You can see what I wrote last year here (and hopefully link your way back to ?2010??).  The questions are random, but it often pulls out a few highlights,


1. What did you do in 2016 that you’d never done before?
Dyed my hair pink, ran a marathon (twice!), went to Slovenia, went to Italy (briefly), went to a medical conference, stayed in a Premier Inn for work (3 times), got a research project ethics application approved, started a Postgraduate Certificate in Systematic Reviews, started doing Personal Training, learned to crochet.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
goals/plans for 2016.
1. Complete a marathon (umm, might actually have entered more than one and the Atlantic Coast Challenge) I ran the Brighton Marathon and we staggered around the Windermere Marathon.  Knee issues prevented the Atlantic Coast Challenge.
2. Plank a day in January Nope.
3. Keep up with yoga Dropped out of yoga in March, only been once since...oops.
4. Try to do a sugar free day a week This worked some of the time but I didn't adhere to it religiously.
5. Read more books than I read in 2015 (I'm up to 222 as 2015 closes) Another fail.  What with Brexit and Trump, I felt agitated and unable to focus on reading, so turned to rereading which doesn't count in my statistics.  I'm hopefully going to close on 200 this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My friend M had another little girl.

 4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.  But a lot of people close to me lost people.

5. What countries did you visit?
Spain (Tenerife), Slovenia, Austria, and briefly into Italy for a morning.  Oh and Germany, as we flew into Munich for Austria.  What a jetsetting year!  Also went to the Lake District twice, Devon once and Hampshire quite a lot.

6. What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2016?
I'm still struggling to achieve a decent balance - it's hard to say no to things when you're feeling so much better but then it can sometimes end up leading to being overwhelmed.

7. What dates from 2016 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I'm not sure that any can in particular, but dates from previous years - 17th November, 15th August, 2nd August, 16th October, 9th July, do remain etched.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Running by first marathon in 3h47m42s - less than 3 minutes away from a good for age time.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Missing that good for age time?!  Seriously, if that's the biggest failure then it's been a pretty good year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had big knee problems after Windermere marathon.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My new down jacket to replace my old one.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
To be honest, I think mine did.  I've had a good year and it needs to be celebrated!

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Brexiters.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Sports related payments - osteopath, sports massage, PT, swimming memberships, entry fees.....

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Some of work was really exciting.

16. What song will always remind you of 2016?
I listened a lot to the Rend Collective this year.  Boldly I approach was a new one.  And also their arrangement of Be Thou My Vision was fitting when we were remembering 10 years since Emily died (we sang it at her funeral)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
happier
b) thinner or fatter?
fatter (possibly more muscly??)
c) richer or poorer?
richer - no more mortgage!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Just "being"

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my husband.  My parents on Christmas Eve, STAYED AT HOME ON CHRISTMAS DAY.  First time we've ever done that.  Best Christmas ever.

21. Did you fall in love in 2015?
Carried on being in love.

22. How many one-night stands?
Absolutely none.

23. What was your favourite TV program?
Really didn't watch much TV but I did enjoy the Royal Institution Christmas lectures this year.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Trump?

25. What was the best book you read?
Things that got 5* on Goodreads were: Narrow Road to the Deep North (Richard Flanagan); It's All In Your Head (Suzanne O'Sullivan); The Mistake I Made (Paula Daly); One (Sarah Crossan); Am I Normal Yet? (Holly Bourne); The Weight Of Water (Sarah Crossan); Girl in Pieces (Katherine Glasgow); The Outrun (Amy Liptrot)

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Rend Collective

27. What did you want and not get?
Off one of my meds.

28. What did you want and get?

29. What was your favourite film of this year?
A United Kingdom which I saw a couple of weeks ago was very inspiring; I, Daniel Blake, was horrific and moving.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 31 and it was also Good Friday.  I had a nice swim in the morning at Ferry Pool with Helen, then Becci came around and brought me cake and a cushion shaped like a biscuit, then I lay in bed for a bit before we went out for a Starbucks and to see the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 at the cinema.  It was a bit of a miss (the film), but it represented an achievement for me to get out on a day off rather than just lie in bed.

31.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A parking space at work

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2016?
Jeans and trainers to work!  (The novelty after so many years of being presentable, although as the year has ended out, I've ended up in my smarter skirts as still like to wear them!)

33. What kept you sane? 
Swimming and running and PT and my lovely line manager and husband, and doing crochet, and some of my lovely friends (F, H, B especially)

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Leaving the EU

35. Whom did you miss?
As ever, missed my beautiful friend Emily.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Met Amanda in person for the first time! 

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016:
"Not to take good mental health for granted, nor to expect everyone to understand mental health issues.  You'd think I might have learnt these lessons previously, but it turns out that I hadn't.  Hopefully they will stay with me a bit longer this time."

- wrote the above in 2012 and I still think they are a valuable lesson.

^^ and still in 2016

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"This is the art of celebration" - Rend Collective, Boldly I Approach.

 39. So in as few words as possible, how would you sum up your year?
Joyful, for the most part (with the exception of the blip of unwellness in August)

Mojo

Mojo always makes me think of this - a Tenerife training camp staple.  I think somewhere this Autumn I've not had as much of this as I would have liked.  This is in part illustrated by the fact that I never got around to blogging the three half marathons I did this Autumn.  And it's also illustrated by the fact that besides one event, I haven't really made any plans for next year in terms of sporting events.

I got a little bit of that back this week.  I was in London for a conference with work (what a privilege to go; what an interesting three days) and I purposefully chose a hotel that was near a pool - and not just any pool by the London Aquatics Centre - aka the 2012 Olympic Pool.  I have had the pleasure of swimming there twice before but never for my early morning lane swimming session.  And what a treat it was.  It's the sort of pool that makes you feel like you're swimming fabulously well (even if you are not) and you can't help but feel inspired by all of the amazing swimmers that have been in the chlorine before you.  I was quite excited to spot Aimee Wilmott (London 2012, Rio 2016...) over on the far side doing her morning training set.

On Monday, halfway through my usual 4k, I looked up and saw a familiar face on poolside, coaching.  "Dan!" I exclaimed, and waved wildly.  It was Dan from Swim for Tri; the chap who is responsible for making my front crawl look respectable* on 5 consecutive trips to Tenerife (and other occasions).  It was lovely to catch up with him briefly on poolside when my swim was finished.  He invited me to all of the Swim for Tri sessions happening while I was in London, but it was only practical to attend one, the Mile End Wednesday session.

So on Wednesday morning, I checked out of the hotel at 6am, dragged my suitcase 3/4 mile to the tube and took the tube one stop along the line and then dragged the suitcase for a further 3/4 mile to the pool.  The squad was a little thin on the ground that day owing to injuries/holidays/time of year but everyone was very welcoming.  I enjoyed doing a proper swim set with some paddle work, interspersed with some fast swimming, and I was pleased to clock 1:23 for a 100m swim right at the end of the session (I think it could have been a second or so faster if the chap in front hadn't held me up on the first length!).  What a treat it was and quite a bolster for the mojo.

So time now to focus a little better on swimming.  A 1:1 with Dan is booked for January.  I need to work out what I want to achieve in Tenerife this year.  A 10k to enter perhaps.  More time on drills, more time making use of the fact that one of the pools I use is fine with fins/paddles etc.


* although on Monday morning, judging by the couple of snaps he took, it wasn't very respectable.

What is the point of all this exercise?

"What is the point of all this exercise?" the GP asked when I saw him on Friday.

I shrugged.  He said "You tell me!".

I said "it keeps my eating disorder symptoms manageable.  If I exercise, then I don't really worry about the calories, whereas when I don't, I start counting them".

But thinking about it, it is far more than that.

* It gives me a routine
* Sometimes it gives me endorphins or a sense of achievement
* It's sometimes a sociable occasion
* It counteracts the hours spent sitting on my bum at work or on the sofa at home
* I set goals for the summer months and during the winter aim to achieve them
* It gives me a sense of purpose

Mass Start Swim Box End

So...this happened today...

A 3.8k swim at Box End lake where I have swum many times before.  This was a fairly last minute decision to enter after enjoying myself last weekend at Rutland.  It's a good venue if not spectacular and 3.8k is 3 laps.  Conditions were very bumpy on the return half of each loop so the overall time was pretty slow (1:04:32) but it's good to have a bit of a challenge.  During the first lap I had several other girls pretty close to me, but as the race carried on, I was able to put more and more space between myself and them.  My arms were still a little sore after PT on Wednesday (I don't know what the muscles are in one's elbow creases but they hurt!) and started to feel very heavy on the third lap but I felt that I finished strongly.  I feel like my technique is a little bit off though.  My Mum came to watch and hold my towel which was nice as Mr JKS is away cycling today.

So, next week is my big race of the season, the Fuschlsee Crossing in Austria.  I'm not expecting to come out very high up as the race is part of the Austrian cup so there will be lots of very fast swimmers there (the fastest times were about 52 minutes for women last year - for 4.2k!) but I'm hoping for beautiful scenery and a nice day :)

Personal Training

This isn't a post that I could have imagined writing!  I now have a personal trainer and am paid up for 20 sessions until Christmas!

As I've written recently, I have had problems with a wonky knee which probably stem back to a weak glute on the right hand side.  Rest and massage haven't fixed it so it is time for some more drastic measures - building up the glute and other asssociated muscles (adductors etc) - in the hope that I'll be able to get back to running longer distances again.  (It's a bit soul destroying after all the running earlier in the year - I am desperate to do a half marathon again).   I've also finally recieved a payout for my broken wrist of February 2014 and the "treat" portion of it is being used on the PT (ha!).  I asked around and got a recommendation for a girl at a local university gym which happens to be 5 minutes drive from work.  I went along for an initial session and we got on pretty well and I felt like she could help me to get the results that I need.  She has an endurance running background so although she doesn't know a thing about swimming, she is able to support me in my running goals.  So, to take advantage of a bulk discount I ended up booking 20 sessions for the incredibly reasonable price of £450.

Sessions have involved squats and lunges and using a bar and hand weights and all sorts of things I've never really done before.  The pilates style core moves are at least familiar, but most of it is new and fresh which so far makes it very interesting and enjoyable.  It's certainly hard work and my legs are wobbling by the end of it and the DOMS afterwards is really quite spectacular.  Ouch.

[I should note that my side goal is to get me some defined biceps and I am super excited about that #vain].

Swim Rutland 4K

Today saw me swimming in England's largest reservoir in the country's smallest county for a swim.  Rutland water!  It's about two hours away from JKS HQ so we went most of the way up last night via dinner with Mum JKS and then stayed in the Corby Premier Inn (such comfy bed, so hard to leave it at 5.30am!).

It's a shame that it wasn't more sunny as it all looked a bit grey but it was a lovely venue with lots of water! There was a 2k race and a 4k.  The 4k was an out and back and the 2k was just the back, which involved swimmers getting a boat to the other side.  Registration was quick and easy and instead of a t-shirt we were given a kit bag to put kit in during the swim.  There was a small delay in setting off as it had taken a long time for everyone to get on site but soon we were all in the water.  And there were a lot of people!  There must have been about 250-300 people.

Everyone set out very hard as is always the way and this is the bit of a race that I always hate, busting a gut to try to keep up.  After a bit it always settles down into a rhythym and for me I can start to try to pick people off a bit (as I don't have the top end speed).  It wasn't a straight across swim, we swam out to a headland and then across to the church following some buoys.  I was a little concerned as the 2K from the other side was due to set off 30 minutes after the 4k which was just before I was expecting to reach the other side.  As we approached, I could see all of the 2k swimmers in the water waiting.  But luckily, it must have been slightly delayed as we got around the corner before they set off.  Slight technical hitch for me as I tried to do a corkscrew turn around the buoy, getting tangled up in the compulsory towfloat.  As we approached the last quarter of the swim, it got very choppy indeed which was both fun and annoying at the same time.

Out of the water and I had no idea what time I had done as I hadn't bothered to look at my watch or start the timer.  I was hoping to be under 1h10 (I could probably comfortably swim 1h6 or 7 in the pool but OW conditions can often slow down) and Mr JKS says that  it was ~63 minutes on the watch.  The woman at the finish said that I was 5th lady back which is good given the size of the field (I checked the start list and 156 women had entered).  So all in all very pleasing.  I've decided to swim next weekend at Box End (3.8k) to practice the pace again ahead of the Fuschlsee Crossing the following weekend.

Swim Trek Slovenia

I didn't blog about my annual trip to Tenerife this year but I did have a lot of fun with my two friends H and F whilst I was there.  So much so, that by the Monday after we had got back, H and I had booked a swimming trip to Slovenia.  We went last weekend and had a great time.

The trip was with SwimTrek and you can see the itinerary here which I'm not going to rehash in this blog post, just share a few thoughts.

Slovenia was an incredibly beautiful and unspoilt country.  Fabulous mountains and astounding lakes.   I got to see a good amount of the country and I definitely want to go back there with Mr JKS for a more relaxing break.  I found that the trip itself was quite full on - not so much in terms of the swimming, which was around 4k a day - there was a lot packed in, and as an introvert I struggled with the large amount of time spent in a group.  I don't think that totally puts me off going on another SwimTrek as the advantage is that you are able to do things which would be difficult to organise on your own.  The Slovenian Guides in particular were fantastic, both in the kayaks and driving the vans and telling us about the things that we were passing.  It was fab spending time with Super H and we had a good laugh!

Here are some photos of the places that we went to.

On a very hot day, spent mostly travelling around in a mini bus, we did a 20 minute walk to this amazing waterfall.  The water was so cold but it was really refreshing!  That's me to the bottom left of the picture, to give you an idea of scale.

Malcolm the bear by Lake Bohinj

Lake Bohinj.  We stayed adjacent to this lake and swam the length of it on the last day - 4k.

This is Lago Del Predil, a lake just over the border in Italy.  It was incredible swimming in such a beautiful place.

This is Lake Bled where we swam on the first day.  Lovely and warm.

Anda view over Lake Bled.

Lock to Lock Swims

The other swim events that I have done this year have been the Swim Oxford Lock to Lock Swims.  They are a new company who launched with a 4k swim last year which Super H did and really enjoyed.  This year they are running a 4k, 6k and 10k event.  As the events start less than 10 minutes drive from JKS HQ, it seems silly not to enter!

The first event was the 4k in mid June.  This involved swimming from Eynsham Lock down to Kings Lock. I felt a bit frustrated as I couldn't keep up with the front pack and was quite some way from the second pack so it was quite a lonely swim.  I was also still suffering from a chest infection and had to stop to cough my lungs up a couple of times.  On the plus side, armed with my prescription swimming goggles, I was able to sight around the bends of the river very easily.  There had been an enormous amount of rain in the week prior to the event and the river was flowing incredibly fast.  So much so that I was actually surprised to be being ushered out at the finish!  I doubt very much I'll ever swim 4k in under 52 minutes again...  I was pleased to discover later that I was the 3rd woman to finish (although there was only a prize for first).

In mid July it was back for the 6k event.  This time we started in the same place at Eynsham Lock and began with the same 4k stretch of the river.  I felt incredibly lethargic on this swim and found it hard to feel like I was going at the pace I wanted to.  There were more faster swimmers than on the previous 4k and it was hard not to feel disheartened.  As the river wasn't flowing quite so fast, it took a little longer to reach Kings Lock, but only a couple of minutes.  Then it was out of the river for about 200m walk past the lock to get back in and finish off.  On the walk, I was able to catch up with the group of swimmers that I'd been trying to catch up with all swim, and then had some company for the last leg, which really helped.  The final leg was *very* short, there was absolutely no way that that was another 2k.  The swimmer who got out ahead of me had 5.25k on her watch which sounded more realistic.  (Super H did manage to achieve 6k on her watch, but she's not always the best at sighting!).  This time I was 6th back.

All in all very well organised and friendly.  The organiser recognised me (presumably from facebook) before the 6k and said hello and then remembered my name when I got out at the 4k mark.  I don't really eat cake (Mr JKS ate mine) but there is a huge array of amazing looking cake at the finish and very cheerful ladies serving it who give everyone a cheer as they finish.  There was also peppermint tea and bananas and I got a jelly baby at the get out point of the 6k.

I really need to get some longer swims in ahead of the 10k.  Obviously I'm totally capable of 10k but I have not really been swimming further than 4k recently and I'd like to have the stamina so that I can properly enjoy it!

Seahorse Swim Dorset

You wait for ages for a blog post and then three come along at once.  At least, that's the plan as I have three that need to be written!  I have a shiny new laptop on loan so there is no excuse.

First up is a swim that I did at the start of July, the 3.8k Seahorse Swim from Studland beach in Dorset.  Mr JKS and I decided to make a mini break out of it and had a lovely afternoon in Dorchester (where we visited the Teddy Bear Museum, the Dinosaur Museum and bought some Dorset Knobs), and a night in Weymouth before getting to Studland on the Sunday morning.

I'd had a slightly mixed run up to the event.  I was swimming incredibly well on the Wednesday before.  Then on Wednesday afternoon I went KneeBoarding for the first time.  This was great fun but after only 3 goes, my arms felt like they were about to fall out of their sockets, so I sat and watched for the rest of the session.  Unfortunately, the day after, my arms were totally shot to pieces.  I'd been looking forward to a tuning up massage but instead, Jo had to try to make my arms move even a little bit.  I got grumpier and grumpier as Sunday approached and even the morning of the race saw Mr JKS trying to ease my triceps.

I got into the water not having particularly high hopes for success.  I'm never especially fast in the sea and with arms that didn't quite pull properly I felt especially underwhelmed.  However, I wanted to give it my best shot and I did.  There were 2 diamond shaped laps, with pretty equal legs for each side of the diamond, although there was obviously a bit of current/wind in one direction.  I swam as hard as I could and really put my head down for the final leg in.  I exited the water in around 1h5 feeling pretty pleased with myself as I had given it my best shot.

There were lots of very fast and experienced sea swimmers there, mostly swimming without wetsuits, so it was difficult to know where I had finished.  We were in a hurry to get off as Mr JKS needed to do a long run in the afternoon.

The next day I was looking online to see if the finish times were available to confirm the time that I thought that I had done.  As I scanned through the race report here to get to the bit with the results on, I suddenly to my surprise spotted my name!  Although I had been slow by some standards, it turned out that I was actually the fastest westsuit female!  (I would like to note that my time was TWELVE minutes slower than the fastest non wetsuit female).  I emailed and apologised profusely to the organisers and it turned out that I had won a crystal trophy.  Luckily I have an amazing friend who is a courier and he happened to be in Dorset the following week and very kindly picked it up for me.

A catch up on swimming

Well, this is supposed to be a swimming blog...so as promised a post to catch up a bit on my swimming.  Swimming was rather neglected earlier in the year - there were weeks when I wasn't even hitting 20km in the water - and I definitely felt a bit off my game.  Not surprising when my body was so tired from the marathon training!

Masters swimming
After the marathon, I joined the local masters club.  I'd wanted to join them before but they only had one session a week, which was 8-9pm on a weeknight, which just didn't work for me.  There is no way I would sleep after swimming that late at night!  However, this year they introduced a second session on a Sunday 6-7pm.  It happens 3-4 times a month (the other session in the month, the pool is used for lifeguard training) and in general I'm making it along 2-3 times a month.  It is a very quiet session, so plenty of coach attention.  We generally do a mixed strokes warm up of about 1k which is fun and different for me, and then we either do some stroke development (I totally loved the 2 weeks that we spent practising backstroke) or some front crawl fitness work.  I love having a bit of sociable swimming and even though I never feel like going out at 6pm on a Sunday night, I always come back having enjoyed it.  I think just a little bit of fitness work reminds me to swim faster and I feel like I'm noticing some improvements.

Start of the openwater swimming season
I haven't really done so much openwater swimming this season because there hasn't been a huge imperative for me to get in and get on with it.  I've been very busy and tired and so lie ins on Sunday mornings have been more important! I started my season by attempting a 3.8k swim at Box End at the end of April.  It was very cold and I decided to get out after 1.2k as it was just not sensible to continue and this year I have no need to absolutely push myself.  I was a bit grumpy because I am pretty sure that I could have completed a 1500m and I was overly cocky choosing the 3.8k!

Lake District swimming
In the lakes twice in the space of just over a fortnight and I was lucky enough to get in 3 amazing swims.  I had a lovely swim in Rydal Water in May. I'd never swum there before and it was simply incredible to be swimming in this lake all by myself surrounded by wonderful scenery (Mr JKS watched from the bank with the binoculars).  In June, Mr JKS and I did a nice swim in Coniston, crossing the lake and swimming to "Wild Cat Island" and back (probably about a mile in total).  The next day, I abandoned paddleboarding half way through the session to have a swim in Derwentwater which was also pretty good.  I'd like to swim the length of that at some point.

Lock to Lock 4k
Finally, I took part in this very local swim ten days ago.  It was pretty well organised and the fastest 4k I've ever swum, thanks to the gallons and gallons of water rushing down the river after all of the rain in the preceding week!  I came in at under 52 minutes and was very surprised to get to the end so fast, it didn't seem like nearly enough swimming.  I was 3rd woman back which was nice although a shame that there were only prizes for 1st!  I'm signed up to do the 6k in a couple of weeks and the 10k in September.
 

Windermere Marathon

This is a somewhat overdue post since Windermere Marathon happened at the end of May and it is now the end of June, but better late than never.  We had a mixed day out for a variety of reasons but it was lovely weather and a nice accomplishment to have under the belt.  I came down with what seemed to be a cold on the Wednesday before and then turned into a chest infection which I am still recovering from a month later and had a horrific cough. Fortunately, it seemed that exercise suppressed the cough to some extent and I only coughed at the points where we totally stopped and didn't need the cough mixture I was carrying in my bag.  You'll notice in the pictures that I look quite wrapped up - this was more to deal with the photosensitivity that I have as a result of my medication - I had arm protectors on as well.

We did well on the first half of the race, hitting halfway in just a little over 2h and only walking up one very big hill (where there were bagpipers playing!).  I took a few selfies while we were running and a picture of the amazing scenery.

The second half was a lot harder.  Mr JKS began to struggle and was having problems keeping his heartrate at the right level, so we ended up doing a lot of walking with a bit of running.  Unfortunately, by the time he was feeling ok again, with about 6 miles to go, my legs had seized up totally from the hard first half and then walking, so we were only able to continue this to the finish.  However, there was an ice cream van at about 21 miles which we'd heard about in advance, so had some cash ready, and had a "cider refresher" between us which was just lovely as it was very hot.  There was also an unofficial feedstation with a chap giving out flapjack and sweets from the boot of his car in a layby and that was also very much appreciated!

We were pleased to finish and get our medals!  We crept in just under 5 hours which is really quite respectable in my opinion for a hilly course.  Overall I enjoyed it although I didn't feel that I got a full experience of running around the lake that I have swum up and down several times now.  The first half was the most picturesque through lovely rolling countryside, but no views of the lakes.  The second half was mostly along pavements next to the road that goes along the lake, so there were glimpses of the lake, but not very close and more views of the traffic.  But it's pretty cool to have run/walked around the lake as well as swum it :-D  Oh and the goody bag was excellent - local beer, nice neckbuff, kendal mint cake, teabags, a pen...and we enjoyed doing a "smaller" more friendly race to our Brighton/Milton Keynes marathons earlier in the year.

Unfortunately my post marathon recovery didn't go quite to plan and I ended up with a knee injury by running before all of my niggles had been ironed out.  4 weeks later I'm still not running, and we were incredibly disappointed to miss out on doing Coniston marathon (although we still had a fab 24 hours in the lakes with swims in Coniston and Derwentwater and some paddleboarding and lunch at our favourite cafe in Glenridding). I'm really missing running though and not totally sure on the prognosis :( On the plus side, the extra time for my swimming has been good.  And I still owe the blog a post on swimming!  Maybe later this week...