Days until swim (fingers crossed!): 119
Looking back on this month’s training is a bit of a balancing act for me. Pools remain closed in the UK and much of the training I had planned has been disrupted, if not completely thrown off kilter. I’ve kept active, but if I’m honest with myself I let my foot off the gas and time will tell if this will come back to bite me in due course. A big indicator whether my mind is in the right place is how I take ownership of training. Small things like how I record my training and how I plan the week in advance mean that I force myself to train whether I’m feeling good or not, and I have a feeling of obligation to myself to try hard because my log will show if I’m improving. I haven’t been doing lots of those small things this month, but I’m not being too hard on myself because of all the unpredictable circumstances. I’m just aware that I’ll need the hit the ground running to catch up for time I have lost.
There has been some silver lining, not least that I am now gaining weight rather quickly! Getting heavier was always part of the plan to prepare for the Channel; getting the muscles around my shoulders stronger will make them more durable against injury but, more importantly, fat around my body will help keep me warm and more buoyant in the sea. It’s a part of Channel swimming that looks counter intuitive: some of the best endurance swimmers are pretty chunky looking athletes. Most failures are down to injury or cold so gaining weight is actually a surprisingly important part of preparing for the swim. I began training in January at 78kg and initially lost weight (!), before gradually moving in the right direction. I am now proudly 85kg and (importantly) don’t feel too much more heavy or sluggish for it.
More important news: because of many cancellations over the next couple of months and the money I can save living at home while Uni is shut down, I have now raised enough to pay for the cost of the swim. I am very grateful to everyone who has donated to MCS and my swimming journey – there are more thank yous to make than can fit here, so I’ll be putting up a new page on this site to say thank you properly. Read: I’ll be getting a younger brother who understands Wix better than I do to put up a new page.
The lockdown has also provided the opportunity to get creative with training. Pembroke Circuits Society has gone virtual (and therefore, *global*, watch out). Ben has been helping with some visualisation exercises, most of which ended with him kicking me or me sat on him. If ChildLine doesn’t come knocking first, I’ll put a video up here soon. Luke and I bought some rope and pulleys online to throw together a weights set-up using some of the wood lying around. Log Gym remains an exclusive members-only establishment for now, but expansion plans are in the pipeline.
Log Gym under construction & Ben making some Backyard Gainz
I had hoped that these latter months would make up for the duller pool swimming with exciting races, wild swims and training camps. Like I said, many of these have been cancelled, but as I write this the UK government’s most recent statement means open water swimming is now allowed, given certain safety measures. Training still won’t be able to go ahead as I had planned and – if I am allowed to step off from Dover towards France in August – my journey will not have been the ordinary on to swimming across the Channel. I’m told no Channel swimmer’s is.
I’m looking forward to setting plenty of my own challenges and adventures and still hoping against hope that the big one is on the cards.
Hope everyone is staying safe and well!
Dan
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