After the second set of 80lengths I stopped for half a fig roll as a treat and then proceeded to start on the 40s - the first of which was pull. This forty lengths I thought about all my amazing sponsors and the support they have given me over the last year and the support they are continuing to give as the A2A grows ever closer. I also thought about the charities I am choosing to sponsor, notably HULA which is the closest to my heart as I volunteer there and see first hand the difference people's charitable donations make - SPONSOR HULA!! (www.justgiving.com/rachaelcadmanHULA). The next 40lengths I though about my family notably my Mum who has supported all my endurance events including crewing through the night at the Double - I remember how absolutely dead tired she was when I finished. I also thought of my Aunty Sally who is having to start a new chapter in her life after losing my Uncle last month. I may have mentioned that I though a lot about my Uncle whilst I did the Channel relay and asked him to look out for me and I did feel his presence out there on the wind. The second to last 40lengths I thought about my fiance, Adam and how much I love him and how lucky I am to have him in my life. I giggled along in my head as I remembered speaking to him last week and saying I was having real problems keeping my mouth shut when I swim - I sort of enjoy funneling water through my teeth(!) - I've always done it but it is not going to work in the sea where the salt will ravage the inside of my mouth and throat! He sighed despairingly and said, "See you're a real life whale, floating along sifting for plankton" - Charming!! That's love for you right there!! And the last 40lengths were foe me - thinking about the A2A and how I am going to cope with it mentally and how positive I am about how today has gone as I felt really strong throughout the swim and surprisingly not at all bored during it as I had feared. I did the last 1,000m at pace to try and mimic how I would feel if I was told I needed to 'sprint' during the Channel swim as can sometimes happen if the pilot is trying to 'break' the swimmer through a strong tide. And I still stayed strong, managed to pick up the pace a finished a really happy bunny! The eagle-eyed amongst you will note that I swam 8,000m tonight instead of my alloted 7,750m. The OCD in me did struggle with that as I wanted to do the target no more no less but I reasoned that I often swim a few lengths at the end of a session anyway (again the OCD in me making sure I have done the whole amount in case I miscounted a length or two somewhere) so really doing 8,000m tonight was ok. I wanted to round it up to 8,000m (5miles) as give or take with the Isle of Wight that is my longest swim to date and I am really chuffed by how easy it felt. My feel for the water is much improved and though I still worry about my low stroke rate I can feel how strong I am getting in the water. Reflections on the whole swim challenge will come in the next post but it has been a great experience.
Lastly, the best thing happened as I did my traditional few extra lengths at the end 'just in case'. The pool at my gym has glass walls and just as I was moseying along enjoying the last few lengths of cool down, the local park opposite began its fireworks display! Now I am a massive fireworks fan and 'ooh and ahhh' with the best of them so it was like a wonderful celebration of the completion of the challenge. I floated along on my back just watching the explosions of colour and feeling pretty content with the world!!
Roll on November!
Good Morning, Rachel. It is great to read your blog and follow your progress. Love the story about Mimi and your funnelling water through your teeth (ha, ha...). When I think of Mimi it is really extraordinary, it just proves that age has got nothing to do with our achievements or with how early or late we start with a training routine, as long as our goal is clear.
ReplyDeleteBefore I moved to the UK 20 years ago my passion in Poland was walking the mountains - I was doing at that time 4 or 5 days of 30km a day with about 40kg of equimpment on my back (we had to carry everything ourselves; tents, sleeping bags, food supply, etc) It was great fun and at the end of each day I always had a great feel of achievement. They were 8 to 10 people on the team and usually maximum 3-4 girls only. I remember how proud I was each time when I was picked for the team as one of the girls.
Today, when I read your blog, for some reasons I remembered clearly my "walking mountains" days and this kind of pleasant nostalgia swept my heart. Thank You.