Hitting new swimming targets

Last night I cycled straight to the lake after work. When I got there Stu was waiting with my swimming kit, so I got changed as quickly as possible.

We headed down to the lake and I zipped up my wetsuit. Unfortunately, the rip in it is getting worse and every time I bent over, I could feel it rip further :’-(

I decided to try out the ear plugs that Stu bought me a while ago (Love is… some ear plugs from your partner!)

The water felt a bit chilly as I got in, but I think that’s because it was very warm outside and I had been standing around with my wetsuit on for too long. After a minute or two of floating, I decided to start swimming. My last long swim was 10 laps of the lake, but I’ve got a 5km swim in just over a week, so I wanted to push myself and go for 12 laps, which would be about 4.2km. I decided to aim for a more continuous swim than last time as I need to get used swimming non-stop. My plan was to swim 4 x 3 laps.

I quickly got into a rhythm and decided not to look at my watch. After three laps, I was feeling strong, so I decided to do four laps. By the time I had done four laps, I was feeling good, so I changed my challenge and went for six laps.

After six laps, I was still feeling good, so I decided to push on for as long as I could. I could feel that my wetsuit was rubbing my neck (I had failed to put any bodyglide on), but decided to push on as there was nothing I could do.

Although I had been sceptical about using ear plugs, I found that I was enjoying my swim much more when using them… and I couldn’t feel them, which is what I had been concerned about. (I never wear earphones as I hate having things in my ears!)

By lap 9, I was starting to get tired, but I realised that my longest ever continuous swim was in my sights, so I pushed on. At the end of lap 10, I saw Stu getting ready to get out of the lake. I thought about speaking to him, but didn’t want to stop, so I gave him a smile and carried on.

Finally, nearly 2 hours after I started swimming, I had done my 12 laps. I staggered out of the lake and looked down at my watch: 1:54:09. I was a little disappointed that it had only recorded 3789m, but that’s still a PB for me. My previous longest continuous swim was 3111m at Eton Dorney and my longest ever swim was 3750m during a double tri club session, so I beat both of those. It was also nearly 30 minutes longer than any other continuous swim that I’ve done 😀

This weekend, I’ve got my first sea swim of the year at the BustinSkin Gu Weymouth Triathlon (1500m) – I hope I can beat my time from last year. Next weekend, I’ve got a 2.5km sea swim and a 5km lake swim. I might be slow, but I think I can do this!