Part 3! The swim....

So we woke about 0530hrs as we needed to leave about 0615 to get down to the beach and get my wetsuit on etc. I had some cereal and a cup of tea and a bit of astretch. I felt pretty ok considering the run only a few hours before, no niggles and not too much stiffness. I had a warm shower just to loosen up and then we loaded all the kit into the Endurovan ready for the trip down tothebeach at Playa Blanca. Ed and Adam would kayak with me during the swim whilst Lynn would man the feed point, a little jetty at the far end of each lap. It was still dark as we piled into
the Endurovan and headed down to the beach. I was feeling nervous about the swim as I have done both the bike and run distances before but this was totally new to me. I had done a few ten km swims (just over 6miles) in the pool but hadn't been in the open water for ages! I hadn't even swum open water much last summer as I had been training for the Double swim which was in a pool. I had done the Channel relay last summer but that was all off pool training too - how would I fare?! I struggled into my wetsuit (it is a large and yet it is still a tight fit - how embarrassing and how can that be when I'm only a size 12??!!) and Adam greased up my neck well with vaseline. I popped on my hat and earplugs and stood goggles in hand with Eddie waiting for the command to head into the water. We had a few minutes to go before 0702 am so I had a cuddle with Adam, trying to absorb some of his calm and dispel my own nerves. Finally it was time to hit the water, Ed paddled out in front in the kayak and I headed slowly into the water to start the first lap. The course is 12 laps of just under a mile which I wasn't sure would be good or bad mentally though I am used to lap courses from the Double. It was still only just getting light but the water was warm so I concentrated on just trying to find a rhythm and following where Ed was going. The first lap was spent mainly working out the course, where to avoid the pontoon and buoys that were around, how to sight things and generally waking up the body. I didn't stop on the first lap but just gave Ad and Lynn a wave and carried on. On the way back from the first lap, Eddie left me to go and exchange with Ad who was going to do most of the kayaking with me. I headed on along the course I had been instructed to follow. Normally I am a bit perturbed swimming by myself but I felt quite calm and I knew lots of people were looking out for me. The only time I got a bit of a shock was with the ferries. The ferries and sea cats pull in to dock just past the jetty and they loom huge next to you if you happen to be down that end when they pull in. I wasn't too concerned by them as I have swum close to huge tankers whilst doing the Channel relays and Ed had warned me in advance of them. He had told me that they might sound their horn but not to worry, they are not trying to tell me to get out of the way, it is the sound they make when reversing! So I wasn't worried as one pulled up close by me and headed into the dock. I heard the sound of the horn which sounded deafening as the huge ship manoeuvred into place but what I hadn't realised (doh!) was that to reverse they first have to swing forwards before backing in. So I heard the horn and then saw the boat heading straight for me!! I wondered for a moment whether Ed may have got confused and actually it really was trying to warn me and had a moment of mild panic but I knew I was being silly and put my head down and ploughed on. I looked up to check moments later and it was thankfully now fully into reverse and I wasn't going to get squashed any time soon!

It seemed to be taking them quite a while to catch back up with me but I wasn't too worried at this stage and swam on to the turnaround point at the opposite end of the bay to start lap two. On the way back to the feed point across the bay, I was joined again by the kayak but was surprised to sea that it was Eddie and not Ad who was still in it. I stopped to enquire as to where Ad was and if he was ok but it turns out Ad wasn't quite as confident a kayaker as he might have thought and, not wanting to get in the way of my swim, he had bowed out and Ed had continued as kayaker in chief! It actually worked out well coz it meant Ad could be on the jetty with Lynn every time to do my feeding and seeing him was a nice boost every lap. :)

From lap 2 onwards I stopped every lap to have a drink of H30 Pro or squash or a cup of tea if I was really lucky (!), munch on a macaroon which really seemed to work against the salt, exchange a couple of words with Ad and Lynn and head off again. The sea was really clear and I enjoyed swimming along. There is a pontoon about halfway across the bay which became a good way to break the swim down but as I passed it on the return leg of lap 3, I felt a stinging sensation against my leg (almost like the sensation of licking a battery (don't ask!) but against my leg), just on the exposed bit of my ankle and foot that wasn't covered by wetsuit. I stopped to brush my foot but didn't see anything untoward so carried on. The first few laps were spent establishing marker points, swim out to the pontoon, avoid the row of buoys (babies heads), stop with Ad and Lynn for a macaroon, back past the babies heads to the pontoon and then as I breathe to my left I could watch along the coast for land marks to take me to the turn point. There was Betty's green door (named after my sister), Prisoner Cell Block H which was a terrifying old grey stone building on the headland, and the 'Fish of Doom'! I don't know why they got called that as they were very pretty and I enjoyed swimming along with them every time I reached the place where they must have gathered but the Fish of Doom just seemed to fit! Then it was a case of counting four lamp-posts along the promenade and I was back at the turn-point again. I really enjoyed the first six laps or so which was about 5-6 miles (the maximum I had swum in training) and then it started to become a little bit more tough. The wind had picked up making it a lot choppier and Ed was being thrown about in the kayak every time I tried to come in to the jetty to feed (which was become harder and resulted in a few unglamourous 'beaching' scenarios against the smooth rocks next to the jetty!). I started to get tired and bored of swimming but tried to remain positive. As I turned at the end of each lap it reminded me of the military fitness test the 'Bleep Test' and the little voice would go off in my head, 'Start of level 7' etc. I mentioned this to Ed at the start of level 8 and it seemed to amuse him for a little while! :)

Laps 8-10 were really hard, I was struggling mentally and getting tired (though I found out this really was in my head as my laps times - give or take a bit for the worsening of conditions - stayed pretty constant) and I entertained quite serious thoughts about a) not doing the cycle and b) not doing the A2A but funnily I never thought much about just stopping the swim. And I think that is a lesson for the A2A, think all you want about quitting at a time in the future but never actually quit then!!! I think I told Lynn around this time that I was pretty sick of swimming and I thought I was exhibiting all the signs of being a moaner but both Lynn and Ed said they didn't feel I was ever struggling at all! It is funny how people's perspective can be so different!

By the start of lap 11, I had picked up a little bit as I knew I was on the penultimate lap and I just had to get to Ad (that kept me going each lap - just get to Ad, just get to Ad) turn around and then I was on the final lap and knew I was heading for the end. Lap 12 was such a relief, I swam along trying to enjoy it all and saying goodbye to all my little landmarks (Bye, Betty's door, Bye Fish of Doom!) and counted down those last few lamp-posts until I reached Ed who was there to escort me round the end of the beach into the next bay to the finish.

A few people had stopped to talk to Lynn and Ad as they waited for me to exit and they couldn't believe what I had spent the morning (and the night before doing!) - it was lovely to have a few congratulations from the little crowd as I headed out of the sea. Despite looking like a disheveled porpoise Ad gave me a big hug as did Lynn and offered huge congratulations! I was so excited to be done though the sea really was beautiful and not cold at all so I can't complain too much!

(Much as it looks like it I am not having a good sob in this pic, I am just glad to get the goggles off - will I have marks for ever?!)

Ed gave me a good handshake and promptly set off up the beach kayak in hand! I followed along up to the car park where I was unceremoniously stripped and bundled up in warm clothes to keep me warm. We dumped all the wet stuff into the back of the Endurovan and headed back home happy in the knowledge that we were two stages down! It was my least favourite element to come but I've biked 80miles loads of times and I knew that I could do it, even if it was slow and painful! Lynn laid on a fabulous spread once more and I had a lovely hot shower before settling down to try and have a snooze ahead of the cycling. My swim had taken 6hours and 31minutes finishing at 1.33pm so we were due off at 6.33pm that evening. A night of cycling lay ahead!!