Training Opportunities

First and best is the Swimfit+ program, including the Skills classes. We are all used to criticising local authorities. For once, let’s quietly appreciate and support something they are doing exceptionally well.

Day Time Pool who Note.
Monday 06:30-07:30 Hfx SF+ Best to book
07:00-09:00 Brgs SBG New. Starting out – seems very good. You do not need to do the whole 2 hours.
12:00-13:00 Brgs SBG (occ)
18:30-19:30 Hfx SF+
Tue 07:00-08:00 Brgs SF+ Book!!
12:00-13:00 Brgs SBG
Wed 12:00-13:00 Brgs SBG
19:00-20:00 Hfx SF+ Book
19:00-20:00 Brgs SF Skills Book
20:00-21:00 Brgs SF+ Book
Thu 12:00-13:00 Brgs SBG Regular
17:00-19:00 Swby
Fri 12:00-13:00 Brgs SBG Occasional
19:00-20:00 Hfx SF+ Book
19:00-20:00 Brgs SF Skills Small pool with Alona.
Sat 07:00-08:00 Swby SF+ Front crawl and open water skills.
Sun 09:00-10:00 Bgs SBG Occasional. Can be too busy

‘SBG’ refers to our group. This is just an informal. There is no promise that someone will always be there, but there will usually be someone. The idea is that we talk to each other about when we will be swimming.

I suspect that a Facebook group will best serve our purpose. Anyone volunteer to sort this out properly. I have started a group called ‘Swim BGS’. Anyone wanting an invite to join should please let me know. We will get there . .

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Swimathon

The swimming world’s marathon is by tradition, the 5k. Perhaps that will change to 10k – that is more properly comparable to the runners’ distance. Even so . .

Years (many years) ago, I swam the 5k in 1hr 19m. That kept me cheerful for a long time. That was over 20 years ago. I swam it again yesterday at the John Charles pool in Leeds. My time was about 1hr 24m. Beforehand, I would have been just about content with that time. It would have put me 2nd, 3rd, and 4th over the last three years nationally.

I was however severely frustrated by what is known technically as traffic. It would not be polite to discuss what happened in detail, but I had quite forgotten the characterisation of such swims as violent. I will not forget again.

I was at the back of a queue of four swimmers. I swam the vast majority of the race at an amble. They were, between them, determined not to let anyone pass.

It remains my responsibility. I can swim for a long distance at a fair speed. I do not have the power to speed up significantly. These other swimmers were probably faster over a short distance, and taking a measured pace for the race. I should get it from somewhere.

Lessons? I would have been better in a lane with a more variegated pace. That may mean next time (God, thinking there will be one already), putting down a slower time, and doing more overtaking, or a faster time, and being either pulled along, or giving way to someone who overtakes fairly quickly. The faster time estimate seems better.

R swam her half – 2,500m. She managed to swim 2.5k in the same time she was swimming 1.5k about six months ago. She was again, and properly, complemented by a stranger on the beauty of her stroke. Enough said.

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Darlington

Well we went.
Worthy of note was R’s achievement. It was her first master’s event, and she did herself proud. Technically, she got nearly everything right – or more right than she could until very recently. The dives, from a non-diver, were a marvel. The worst fault (well obvious one), was her failure to bash the pads at the end of the race – if that is all we had to complain of. Her times – she was a bit shocked.
LD did her usual magnificent best, coming easily first in her age group, and nearly first overall. Disregarding non-lumpy-bumpy’s she was indeed first.
I was a bit slower on the 200m Free, a bit faster on the 100m free, and a bit the same on 100IM. I wasn’t unhappy – I know that I gave each swim whatever I had within me. The differences were very marginal. Last time, on the 100IM my breast stroke let me down. This time it was the back stroke which, in technical terms, I bucketed. Ho hum. I will just have to stick at it.

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To Darlington . .

. . on Sunday.
Usually I am looking for excuses as the day approaches, but I am a little more optimistic just now. I have got rid of some unnecessary weight, and feel fairly strong.
I am swimming 200m and 100m free, and 100IM. The 200m I want to do under three minutes, the 100m free in under 84sec and the 100IM in . . well, whatever time is allowed!

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Running/Stumbling

Oh dear, this morning I had a first attempt to start running outdoors. I had forgotten, after a running absence of several months, just how uncomfortable the first few minutes would be. There really ought to be a rule requiring us to warm up properly before setting off.
Ooops – there is?
Mercifully, while I did not get far, I did get far enough to get past the initial discomfort. I even had enough (on an early morning) to be able to speed up a bit to look good when being passed by a motorist on a narrow country lane!
No damage done. No great pain. The first step outside is the most difficult – and all the other runners’ cliches – it was done. After about eight months non-running, I have started again.
We are up in Cumbria at the moment. Plenty of hills are available, but being on the coast, there is also plenty of flat. In any event plenty to explore.
Where and when next?

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Not dead yet

No, I ‘m not. I seem to have missed out osting on here for a few weeks – never mind.
We are back in a new year with resolutions slowly gathering the static which will lead in due course to an accretion of a coating of dust.
We have to decide what competitive opportunities are to be followed.
The most obvious early ones are:
1) Darlington Masters – Sunday 25th March 2012 at the Dolphin Centre, Darlington DL1 5RP – see http://www.darlingtonmasters.org.uk/gala12/gala12info.pdf
2) Swimathon – Either 5k or 2.5l swim. The nearest 50m pool (to avoid getting dizzy) is Leeds – John Charles Centre, Leeds, but you can also swim the event at Dewsbury (33m pool).

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Jumping Beans

In the constant struggle to find new ways of embarrassing other swimmers, I give no ground. I think that this time, however I have surpassed previous efforts. The only way I can think we might get to do this would be at Halifax in a swimfit session. I think it needs deeper water than our pool at Brighouse, but there again . .

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Preparing for long distance swimming

Most of us are sensibly folding up, or rolling up, wet-suits for winter. Even so, we look forward perhaps to another season starting in a few months time of swimming outdoors. We think to ourselves, ‘I really must get proper fit this time. None of the part-time rubbish.” and immediately recognise the need to set out now to get super fit in readiness for that upcoming thing-whatever-it-is.
All of which is by way of a reference to a splendid article about preparing for a long distance swim (http://www.swimsmooth.com/downloads/SwimSmooth-H2OpenOctNov.pdf)
It is an intelligent and useful article with several pointers to common sense.

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AM Swim

Saturday mornings are our ‘swimming for triathletes’ sessions – all freestyle and open water specific techniques.

This morning it was (intended) 1000m + 800m + 600m + 400m. We got nearly through then spent the last ten minutes playing with starts and sprints. It is always cheerful persuading newer swimmers of the advantages of cheating.

I really do enjoy sets like the one this morning. I never think I will like it, but by the time I have finished the first swim, an 800m just feels like a sprint.

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Fly – The Perp!

We all know how fly swimmers are last in the queue for singing ‘nearer my god to thee’. It seems there is a reason – the ‘Perp Drill’ or, as it might once have been known – ‘up against the wall . . ‘
Here it is (again from goswim.tv):

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Last Gasp Gaddings

We were back up at Gaddings twice this week. It is now October. On Thursday it was still September. We have had several days of glorious and unseasonal sunshine. It grew warmer, and on Thursday we swam in the evening. It was glorious and the sun went down in a clear sky.
This morning we went training first – to acknowledge that it isn’t really hard training up at Gaddings. Then across and the walk up there – well OK that bit is always a stretch, and then in and around a couple of times.
Getting into cold water is harder than being in it. The very first time, it is not at all easy. Each time you go, it gets, overall, a little easier. Until the point where it doesn’t, when in any event it is manageable. Doing it once is really quite a challenge. It is less so as you go on. It may also be that I have put back on a few pounds since June.
Gaddings makes it a treat. There is a sandy floor which only slowly descends. It has more than the occasional rough stonework to take the mind off the cold, and you cannot see it for the brown water. Also, perhaps as a gift, there is usually such a wind that you are struggling between feeling the cold of the wind, and the spray which comes with it, and the anticipated next stone. Keeping your balance is not easy.
In and amongst all this, getting bloody cold bloody quick doesn’t seem as much of a challenge. I still splash myself as I walk in. Face first then chest, and last and most difficult of all my back.
Eventually you get to the point where you might just as well dip below the waves – and you are done.
It is at this point that any person sensibly wanting to retain whatever warmth might be left would head off across the dam. It is also at this point however when, looking around, you see that the wet-suit wearers are still there struggling on dry land. Having done the dunk, the worst bit is waiting the next five minutes for the rest to catch up, and then wondering, as they edge gently across the sand what can possibly be causing this reluctance. They are – after all – wearing wet suits!

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Soft Hands

This video is informative about how the hands lead and the body adds tension in the early part of the fly stroke.

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Being hacked . .

This site has now been hacked twice by people proclaiming themselves to be moslem jihadists or similar. The trouble for them is that they are just as likely to be christian fundamentalists pretending to be moslem jihadists, and so there is no possible point of value to be drawn. I do not know who did, and never will.
Still, I know know better how to recover the site . .

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Lost count of re-starts

About two months ago (at least) I failed to heed the warning signs and succumbed to a trapped nerve in my neck. It was painful – for a few weeks really quite painful. Patience, a little physiotherapy and a fair bit of ice and latterly rest has left what I hope now is a real improvement.
We were on holiday in Jersey last week, and sea swimming does not really go well with sprinting, so gentle mile-a-day was all I got. It worked, and on the Friday I casually remembered that I had been injured. It has gone.
So it is back to trying to get fit properly – again.
I think the way it works is to swim further and less gently each time to the point where what feels like a sprint inside looks such from the outside, and the times reflect it, allowing for my standard. This, having just turned 60, I feel is justifiably losing a little edge. I had to get a little weight off – again. This always feels like an excuse to do a little more exercise, but the most effective remedy is very definitely to eat less.
I shall start out with the fond hope of avoiding further injury. How? With the best intentions, and possibly a bit of planning and a determination to stick to the plan. Cross training in the gym may be in order.

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And again . . running

I began running for the times when I was injured swimming. Having been injured swimming, I have tried returning to running – just a little and very carefully.
So far so good. I am running staying on the balls of my feet. I run in old style gym pumps. Over a week or so I have built up to 20 minutes without any apparent difficulty for my knee – yet. I am not going to make it worse. If it isn’t working, I shall stop running. My intention is to build up very slowly so that the new muscular strength I need is there before I use it. My intention is to run until a heel drops to the floor then walk until I can go back to the new style running. It may be a month at least before I could run properly with anyone else. Patience is all.
I know I have tried this in the past, and I have failed. Optimism is a virtue I suppose.

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Trapped Nerve

My last few weeks have been dominated by the revival of my old swimming injury – a trapped nerve in my neck. It came, it was really quite painful and disabling and unnerving.
What have I learned?
This begins when I do too much. My shoulders get all tied up, and sooner or later there is a little crunch. The crunch get a little inflamed, and amid the tension, the inflammation catches fire. I get pains across my shoulders and then in a spiralling pattern down the outside of the arm around and across the elbow down to the hand and eventually fingers. Allowed to continue, in addition to the constant ‘dead-leg’ type pain I begin to get first tingling in the hand and then a loss of sensation. Cheerful, aren’t I?
Mercifully this time, I stopped it getting worse, and am almost at the point of beginning to recover. I haven’t quite lost fitness, though some has gone.
Management. For the immediate inflammation, diclofenac seems to work best for me. I have seen it said that except in certain conditions, there is little to choose between diclofenac and ibuprofen, but I know what seems to work for me. I take it as prescribed for a couple of days, and reduce it then. I have yet to take it longer than a couple of weeks.
Next (this time) – exercises designed to take away the pressure on the nerve. The most effective seems to be lying flat and supine, and then slowly pushing the back of the head further away. It is a question more of relaxing into it than anything else. Once you get used to the sensation, a similar result can be obtained when seating of supporting the back of the head, allowing the chin to drop forward, and then relaxing and lifting the head a the rear.
Last and above all, to reduce the inflammation, the use of ice. A simple way is to get a sandwich bag, put about 8 ice cubes it it, seal it and then place the ice cubed part down the back of the collar of my shirt. No doubt it looks pretty damn silly. It does, but it works.
The pain in the arm and hand persists and goes only slowly. It can be relieved a little at night by sleeping on the back, lifting the arm, and stuffing the hand down the back of the mattress.
Two stretches suggested by my physio (who was a great help) are:
Neck side stretches – supporting the head as it slowly pulls away from the painful side. Again it is a question of encouraging a relaxation extension movement rather than of pulling the head. The hand operates as a weight as much as anything.
A more complicated stretch is for the arm in pain. Stand with the arm by the side. Lift the back of the hand (arm still vertical) out and up. Rotate the hand to the rear, still with the back pointing up. Keeping the hand at the same stretched angle, the forearm is raised forward, so that the palm now faces to the sky, with the fingers pointed forward. This should maintain a twisting sensation. Turn the hand out to point away from the shoulder. Then push the hand away until the arm is in one long line from the shoulder. At all times, the palm remains flat and facing up, creating a twisting stretch.
In swimming, the pressure on the arm and nerve can be reduced by fist swimming. In any event, there are plenty of kick drills to maintain fitness.

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Records

We were promised a drought of world records until . . almost . . the end of time. Instead at the just finished World Championships in Shanghai, we had two. Not a lot, but convincing, and promising of the recommencing of a steady but slow flow. It should be this way.
Not to belittle anything else, the high point, for me, was the 1500m won by Sun Yang in 14m 34.14s, knocking a clear but respectfully small slice from Grant Hackett’s former time. The now beaten record was the oldest on the books, long predating the slinky suit records.
Sun Yang didn’t look it in the water, but he is said to be 6ft 6in tall – about average for a free-styler.
In any event, it was pretty damn good. It looked as if with a little less of a desperate dash at the end, he might, if pushed go faster. His last 100m was in 54s.

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Open Water Swimming

We had another glorious swim at Gaddings yesterday evening. I am still trying to work out what I enjoy it so very much.
First, one thing to report is that very definitely it becomes easier to get wet (cold) as each week goes by. Last night the water was 15.9C and had been measured just before we arrived (saw the chap as he left). That was a good 2 degrees colder than last week, and at a level where some swim organisers would insist on the wearing of a wet suit. That said, I found it easier than last week – also non-wet-suit – and the week before after a wet suit swim – to dunk. Let’s hope it gets both warmer and easier next week.
There appears to be a process after the first dunk when for the first period, the skin feels almost to be burning. It is an exciting sensation. The whole body, from finger to toe tip, and every square inch of it is aflame, or at least atingle.
At the same time, the visual sens is much reduced. The water below and around you is merely brown wit occasional streaks of sunshine. The only sounds are those of arms hitting the water and of the waves lapping around the head. Sound is reduced also by the swimming hat.
Amid all this, what is already an acutely sensory sport comes alive. Every arm stroke has nothing to disturb it, and the body lengthens in the water. You can feel the body turning in the water. The stroke feels purer and stronger.
Just lovely.

Posted in Gaddings, Open Water, Swimming | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Drills

This post should help you identify at least one drill for each stroke and how to progress through drills from the basic roots of a stroke as far as you can.
I never see any point in swimming drills unless you know you have a fault in technique, a particular drill can help cure it, you swim the drill knowing that purpose and concentrating on it, and then after trying the drill, immediately swim the full stroke to try to cement that learned technique in place. It is a process to be repeated again and again until the fault is gone – and then you can move on. When you do move on, you should always be ready to check (or be checked) for the fault, and to return to the drill whenever necessary and to move on.
The next thing is to gently but firmly remind any passer by, should it be forgotten, that I am no coach. I swim a lot, think a lot, and talk a lot.
Below is (will be) an ordered list of drills for each stroke

  1. Back
    1. Body Position – Absolute basic – Best position is
      Kick on your back
    2. Arm Shape – http://www.goswim.tv/entries/5776/backstroke—4-back-3-free-catch.html – 4 Back – 3 Free – Good
    3. General – See http://www.goswim.tv/entries/c/10/backstroke.html
  2. Breast
  3. Fly
  4. Free
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Thundery, but nice

Hmm . .
After blagging on yesterday about safety, I went swimming yesterday evening in a thunderstorm in dam on top of the moors.
In truth the thunderstorm overtook us, but the lightning, thankfully never got close.
For some reason obvious no doubt others, but not me, the dozen or so who turned up last week failed to ascend the heights. True, the sky glowered and spat, and the footpath ran, a little, with tumbling water, but hey – we were going to get wet anyway!
I was quite wet enough thank you before getting to the water, and for once it was not difficult getting in. The temperature had dropped over the week, but I cannot say what it was with any precision. It was cold enough out to be easy to clamber in.
We swam. I think I begin to understand the advantage of a wet suit in terms of speed. I flatter myself as to my speed, but had difficulty keeping up with two swimmers with wet suits. They were probably twenty years younger than me, and six inches taller, but since when was a reason a good excuse?
As time ran on the weather cleared a little. In the distance we could see what might pass for a beam of sunlight. In the other direction, the more cheerful other swimmer pointed to a very substantial column of rain. We could hear thunder. We went on another lap. I am sure I felt that I was being peppered by hailstones.
Twice around was enough for me, I could feel an imminent cramp in my thigh.
The column of rain was nearer and the sky darker. We dressed and set off down the hill. My knees aren’t what they should be and going downhill is more uncomfortable than getting up. Just as we got to the bottom, the column of rain began to wash over us. I dipped quickly into the car (suddenly frightened of getting wet?). Driving home was one of those occasions when it was simpler and safer to pull over and give it five minutes for the storm to pass.
After the event, I am sure that in a thunderstorm, swimming atop a hill is not the very best place to be.

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Safety – Open Water Swimming

Open water swimming does seem to be bl**dy marvellous. Nevertheless my Google news feed for swimming tells me of several deaths a week in the activity. I do not think we should not do it, but there may be some ways we can reduce risks.

  • Not alone. We swim at Gaddings. The nearest passer by to the dam will be half a mile away and exactly the same layout which makes it such a glorious evocation of isolation means that you are just that – isolated.
    Given the size also of the dam, and the fact that you are, necessarily, at water level, you will not be able to see much of a swimmer more than a few yards away. It might be better to swim as a kind of loose shoal. That doesn’t mean swimming on each other’s feet, but it does mean knowing who you are swimming with and where they are and that they are not too far away.
  • Wear a swim hat (or two). It should be brightly coloured – and not of a colour which might otherwise already be there. Avoid any dark colour and, suprisingly perhaps, not white or silver. A hat keeps your head warm, it would otherwise lose heat quickly, and is the only bit of you which can be easily spotted at a distance.
  • Wet suits. I have one but do not use it regularly. A wet suit will keep you afloat if all else fails.
  • Whistle. You will hopefully never need a whistle, but kept on a rubber band around your wrist or stuffed up the leg of your swimming costume, or wherever, it will not get in your way. If you get in trouble, repeat three short blasts, keep your hat above the water and visible if you can, and wave an arm in the air. Tread water rather than swim on your back. If sans whistle, learn to whistle loudly. Depending on conditions, a big splash is also visible from a distance.
  • Cramp. Cramp is an intermittent fact for swimmers. It can be acute and very painful, and it can be disabling. In an open water swim it can be a threat. You cannot predict it save to say that energetic activity in cold conditions is more likely to generate it.
    • Swim hydrated. Poor hydration can also severely affect your performance. I do not drink the water I swim in, and in any event, by the time you are exercising, it is too late to hydrate. You will, at best, slake a thirst. Hydration starts several hours beforehand, with nothing more complicated than drinking one or two large glasses of water. Do it. Your urine should be nearly clear. If it isn’t, start again. As the swim approaches, top up with smaller glasses, switching (perhaps) to an electrolyte drink about an hour before swimming.
    • A banana can assist in maintaining levels of potassium – and the absence of which will increase the chances of cramp. I used to ask jokingly where to put the banana, but the answer, simply is to eat it a good time before the swim. Of course, we should all be properly fed so as not to have any such deficiencies, but a multivitamin a day will assist, and in any event, I like a banana.
    • It is said that a proper loosening warm up might help. I am not convinced – a cramp will usually occur some considerable time into a swim and long after any effect of warming up. Even so, it will not hurt.
    • Cramp is associated with those people who are getting fit. If you aren’t fit, you possibly cannot do enough to be threatened by cramp, and if you are fit, you might be beyond it. If you are cross training, remember that fitness is specific to the activity. You may be fit as a lop on a bicycle, but if you are just starting swimming, you are only getting-fit-for-swimming. Your muscles are learning new strengths.
    • Listen to your body. If you start shivering, that is an indication of the need to bring what you are doing to an end fairly quickly.
    • If you get do get cramp, stay calm, stay long, and stay gently swimming. The real threat is when you bend the part of the involved. Remember that typically in a pool, a cramp comes after a turn. Contract the muscle and you risk it continuing to contract – to cramp. A minor cramp you should be able to swim through – with care but it might make sense to swim a little closer to the bank until it passes. Major cramps are usually preceded by lesser cramps. Again, listen to your body. That lesser cramp may presage something more challenging.
  • Acclimatise
    • Get yourself into the water slowly, splash’n dunk. The first and immediate reaction to cold water can be a physical one making it impossible even for a good swimmer actually to swim. Give yourself a minute between a first full dunk and setting off.
    • Get used to it. The more you swim in cooler water, the easier it gets as your body reacts less violently to that first dunk. Recognise this and take one or two opportunities for shorter swims at first.

Above all enjoy it. Common sense and proper caution are all that is required.

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I must have been holding them back . .

Hearty congratulations to the swimmers of BOK Masters.

See

http://www.examiner.co.uk/sport-news/other-sports/2011/07/05/swimming-borough-of-kirklees-masters-swimming-club-land-33-gold-medals-at-yorkshire-championships-86081-28992581/

I left BOK in September 2010, and wrote about the pain I felt on leaving, and the friends I (still) miss. I was most pleased to read the above report. They have, it is clear, gone from strength to strength. I really could not be more pleased for them.

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Gaddings Again

This evening I swam at Gaddings Dam again. This time, the water was warmer (approx 18C) amd the sky blue with clouds, and a fair breeze.

I swam the circuit twice and without a wet suit. It was definitely better. I am quite overcome with just feeling so good about it.

At the same time the water pushes you back in on yourself. When swimming you see only the water below the surface and before. There, the sun shines down through the top few inches.It is, for several strokes, an entirely isolated world. You are left with the purity such as it is of the stroke, and the splashes of water in waves and the drops blown from the top of the waves. Your sense of the self both grows and is severely limiited. You can see a little, and you have an acute feel for a small area surrounding you. Beyond that is nothing. Inside that world the self expands to fill a balloon surrounding you with several feet of intense experience.
Every so often you must raise your head to sight ahead – are you still going in the right direction. This is easiest if there is someone a few yards ahead of you. Otherwise you must ‘sight’ – lift your head to check your direction.
At the same time all the swim training comes into effect in a slightly different context. The same feel which is chased after in a pool is pursued with less pressure on speed, but under a greater challenge from the sense of isolation and waves.
Above all is the big question – this is colder – a fair amount colder – than I am used to. What effect will that have? Might I get cramp? At what point do I consider the possibility of hypothermia or worse? I suspect that greater experience will give greater confidence. Only timne will tell.
Last, and again, it was just a most glorious experience – one of the most spectacular and unexpected life experiences.
Sold!

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