Swimming is resting!

Even though I have designated a few weeks off I find myself at the pool doing what I love and what relaxes me. Still a 16km week...!

Today in 12 months...

It is 12 months to the day that myself and my team will be in the UK and be ready to swim the channel.  The 24 months of training will be completed and my body and mind will be in a condition to swim the 34km. We now have flight dates, accommodation selected, and most importantly a team and lots of support people and swimmers around me.

Over the last 12 months i have completed every one of the swimming goals that i set last year.  With nearly 6 weeks out because of the flu I still managed to completed the fitness foundation set at 1050km and successful swum well past the qualifying times and required water temperatures. This foundation will now be what we build upon to ensure the maximum chance of success.

Its been well over a week since i have had a swim and its still another few weeks before i get back into the pool. I have enjoyed the time off but swimming and whats ahead over the next 12 months is never far from my mind...i am rather excited about getting into it but now is the time to rest.

The day after...

The day after I had my first DNF (did not finish) in a swimming event and/or training session is bright and sunny.  As strange as this sounds I actually want to go for a swim.

Gone is the sadness and extreme frustration of having to end my swim early yesterday because of a very painful jellyfish sting under the arm. I tried and I failed, but I only failed because I tried.

I would guarantee 99.9% of the population would not even attempt this swim knowing they had to start in the middle of the night, there were jelly fish everywhere and huge seas and a stormy afternoon predicted for the second half of the swim.  I am proud of been able to swim a further 11km in pain from where I was stung by blue bottles before tipping my hat to the Apolima Channel.

I have a few take aways from this swim.

• Adversity:
• You could not have planned a worse start than what I had yesterday. Not only did I get stung by blue bottle jellyfish we also spent a considerable amount of time swimming blind in the dark without a lead boat guiding me.  As you can see from the start of the track we were more or less put into a holding pattern until our support boat found us. It was only then we could leave the safety of the reef and head out into the deep water.
• Shoulders:
• i need to work on the acid buildup in my shoulders over a period of a weeks training in the open water.
• Support crew:
• My support crew need to know what to do when and if something like this happens in the channel

Even though I did not complete the swim I have learnt a lot about some of my limitations and how far I can extend myself after having things not go to plan.

Green Light...

The swim is scheduled to start on Wednesday at:

5am - Samoa Time

2am - Canberra Time

Because this swim has not been done in nearly 30 years the only estimates as to a duration is somewhere between 6 to 12 hours.

Steps to access Kane’s swim’s tracking map

1. Open the map page by clicking here
2. Type in your name
3. Once you see the map you will also see a red triangle and a red path. The triangle is my current location.    

Remember the GPS is on the boat. The boat may not enter the reef area.

Days going by...

Woke up this morning, logged onto the patchy Samoan internet and saw some great news today.  Ben Freeman became the first Canberran to swim the English Channel over-night. I gave him a call to congratulate him and remarkably he sounded as though he had just swum a 2km race not the pinnacle of open water swimming.  Fantastic effort Ben and Narelle, Lucas and I could not be happier for you!

The wait for a swim here in Samoa continues. I continue to do the 1 hour swim Andrew requested from me each day, it keeps the shoulders moving and the tension out. Today we ventured all the way to the reefs edge and even though it was rough the visibility was good and we got to see some coral and fish.

The seas outside the reef have been very rough and a swim all but impossible. However, according to the weather and tide data things are settling down tomorrow and by Wednesday morning we should have pretty flat conditions. It looks about 5am Wednesday (2am Canberra Time) will be the time…we will just wait and see!

The waiting game is not as difficult as I thought.  However, I have learnt one thing and that is not to have an ocean view room over looking the swim course.  It really becomes an obsession looking out over the expansive water body and thinking I wonder when I will get the chance. I think for the English Channel swim I will stay well inland in a room with no view.

Training is done...

Five training swims down and I think we are now ready to go! I have been swimming in a beautiful blue lagoon that has a powerful current which gives me a good test, especially heading into it. I was only averaging 1.7km/h yesterday into it and over 5km/h back down!

The water has cooled off considerable after a week of strong winds mixing the ocean and 4 days of what the Samoans are calling a cold snap. The water temps are down to about 23 or 24c which should make the swim so much more comfortable than the 28c I was anticipating.

As for the swim the weather report is not looking favourable until late next week. High winds, large seas and thunderstorms are predicted until Wednesday. There is potentially a small window between 2am and 9am on Monday but each time the weather report is reissued that weather window gets smaller and smaller. 

All we can do is just wait and see how it goes. I told the organiser the other day I did not want to spent 8 hours in conditions like Mondays event. Those conditions were nothing short of miserable and I don't think with such strong crosswinds pushing us away from the island the crossing would be possible.

First training swim in Samoa

Today I got to spend a very special 2 hours completing my first training swim in the beautiful Samoan waters. The water is remarkably clear and definitely a lot warmer than what I am used to and these days, actually enjoy. 

We are staying at a place that has their very own fale beside these prestine blue waters. Narelle and Lucas stayed in the shade whilst I completed the set Andrew gave me. 

Second Samoan swim - 10km

Up at the crack of dawn for another training swim. This time a 10km swim in an event...this is unusual for me as I am not a fan of racing, I much prefer the concept of 'just' finishing for self gratification and fulfilment than beating a person or a clock.

I decided I would work on a few areas of my swimming that require attention. That been longer gliding and quickier feeding. The first lap of the 2.5km course was quick and things were going well. This was until about the 90min mark when I lost my breakfast to the fish. The winds had got up and the usually quite waters in the reef were now a mess of white caps and an annoying swell that peaked over the reef outcrops.

After another few unscheduled stops, including one 10 minute stop to dislodge last nights dinner to the fish the 10km was completed in a respectable time, but far from my best.

During those few hours the emotions ranged from wow this is a nice place to this swim is hell and what am I doing here? But regardless I finished with lots of gas in the tank and a positive outlook toward next week considering what had just unfolded.

However, the day belonged to Dave, his first marathon swim done and dusted. Having supported me through my swimming endeavours it gave me such pleasure to watch Dave finish his very first 10km event...even in these tough conditions he came in side by side with his wife Pauline at 4 hours 27 mins.  Fantastic effort considering his longest swim was 4km before this race... u r now a marathon man.

Tapering....

It's now time to start winding down the training in preparation for the big Samoa swims.

This is the part of the training that I really don't enjoy as I quickly start feeling flat and totally out of gas. From past experience these r all very normal emotions but I know that very soon I will be jumping out of my skin with all the extra energy.

Big day out

This weekend was one of the best in a long time!  Started with a night swim in Port Botany where we were treated to something very special; each stroke we took resulted in a luminary delight of whites and greens from prosperous in the water. Watching this show made the time fly by and by the time I knew it we had completed the 3 hours in water that ranged from 13 to about 10c.

25m pools?

My set today was 8.6km. I roll up to the local swimming hole and its set up as f'ing short course! 

As I am walking to the pool deck I think that is 344 laps and one dizzy swimmer!

Tired...

After a massive few days of 6km, 15km, 15km and 9km it was time for a rest and a relaxing Pilates class today. With a speed set on tomorrow it's definitely early to bed tonight!

Big weekend

The weekend saw three sets completed. The first was a 5 hour strength set at the beautiful pool at the Australian Institute of Sport. Ben and I got through the set with relative ease, although I had a few demons creep in about the 3 hour mark.

Sunday was a relaxing pre squad swim set followed up by the squad set of 4km of strength work, lots of ankle band swimming...it's not my favourite drill!!

Tomorrow is gym day...hard work but so rewarding. 

Happy Bday

Today is my annual day off work, i have renamed 2 July to 'Kane Day' where my present is to do whatever i want to do.

I had a split set to do today. The first set was a 3 hour endurance set. This was proceeded by a 2 hour rest before returning to do a gruelling 5km speed set in the afternoon.

This will be followed up on Saturday by a 5 hour consolidation swim. 

Big weekend

The biggest swim weekend for a while is done and dusted. 4 x 5km sets done and done with surprisingly very little effort after such a up and down last 5 weeks.

Thx to Tara and Pauline for both coming along for a few kms.

The week ahead is a 35km week as I ramp up the preparations for Samoa.

First swim in a while

Yesterday was my first swim in a while. I think after about 5 weeks I have finally given the flu the boot...!

The set was a calm 5 km of just one paced swimming with some kicking thrown in the break it up. On the weekend I am going to do that exact set four times. This should start to rebuild the fitness I have lost. 

Finally...

Monday, Tuesday I was back in the gym and today it was Pilates and finally tomorrow I am ready to get back into the pool for a light session.

Sick again...

Unfortunately, i have picked up another bug that has kept me out of the pool all week. This time i have to stay out of the pool until i am 100% as the risk of getting pneumonia is now a lot higher.

This is being ill is rather annoying and is now affecting my Samoa preparation. 

The only positive i can think of is; i am building up all this immunity against these bugs. Hopefully next year i don't get them, or not as bad anyways. 

Over the 1000km mark

I just ticked over a 1000km of swimming in the last 365 days...

With three major swims to prepare for between the end of Samoa and the English Channel this figure will quickly turn into about 1500km.

This should give me about 2500-2700km for the 24 months preparation leading into my swim.

A lot of swimmers do far less than this to prepare for EC swim. It all comes down to what type of swimmer you are.  Because I am not a speed swimmer (nor do i enjoy the high intensity swimming) i need to get the high level of fitness required by just doing the miles. We will all get to the same fitness point at the end, we just do it in different ways.  

Back into it...

Today it is exactly 2 months until my next swim across the Apolima Straits in Samoa.

I am also back into the training after a bad dose of the flu and a chest infection. This is week two of a recovery period that should have me back to 100% fitness within three weeks. These sets are a mixture of slow freestyle, technique work and lots of strength work with paddles. All these sets are designed to minimise the loss of fitness whilst progressively getting back the fitness i have lost.

The training over the coming months will shift back into cold water at least once a week and warm water (same as Samoa) the rest of the time.  

Finally a swim

This flu is dying a slow death and is still driving me crazy. I did get a sneaky swim in yesterday although the 6km covered was about as quick as a Greyhound Bus trip.

Today I felt good enough to complete my gym session too. Things are looking up.

A rather unproductive week so far

Getting a bit itchy as I have not had even one swim this week. The flu took hold on Monday and is only now showing signs of been beaten. I am getting sick of Foxtel documentaries.

The next few weeks will be tough as I try get back the fitness I would have lost. It's always best to do this recovery slowly as extra pressure is put on the heart during these few weeks.

Location:Gungahlin, Australia

First flu of the year

First flu of the year this weekend.  It unfortunately came the day before a 5 hour swim at Balmoral.  I only managed 2 hours, although it was good that conditions were very channel like; rough and lots of current.

Long set today

Today was a 5 hour set at Philip Pool.  Sun was out and the water nice and cool at 17c.

Thanks to Ben for coming along today and swimming the entire set.

Lucky me...

I am rather lucky here in Canberra as i have access to unlimited cold and now a semi-heated outdoor pool. The water temp is 17c however, it was the cold winds coming off the snow capped Brindabella's that made it rather chilly today.

Philip Pool 

Melbourne Cold Water Camp

The four day Vald Swim - Melbourne Cold Water Camp is now over.  Been amoungst swimmers with the same or similar goals as mine and top-notch coaches in distance swimming meant I learnt an awful lot about myself and where my training is up too.

Top: When the coach talks its time to listen
Bottom: My way of getting into the cold water

The Thursday started with a short lecture and then a short swim of 90 minutes in the bay.  The initial shock of the 15c water as we jumped off the jetty was rather intense however, it only lasted a minute or so before i settled into a comfortable rhythm and breathing pattern. I was lucky enough to have Dean from Sydney there this weekend and we swam stroke for stroke keeping each other company during the swim. It is also the only swim that i have been attacked by a dog...yep a dog jumped in and started swimming after me....one way to get the blood going.

Thursday night was a 60 minute night swim in the marina. I struggled a bit with this swim, not confidence or the cold but direction. There were just so many bright lights around the bay and with the rain coming down navigation was rather difficult. On more than one occasion i became disorientated and headed off on my own track.  The EC tide i am scheduled to swim on will mean i will spend 6 hours swimming in the dark. Even though there will only be one light during the EC swim this is an area of my preparation that i will deffinately have to work hard on over the next year or so.

Friday morning started with a 3 hour swim, again the initial shock of the cold water lasted a minute
or so, but was nowhere near as bad as the first swim. Once i had settled down into a breathing pattern the 3 hours swim flew past in no time.  Conditions in the bay were nothing but fantastic, small swell light winds, and a few welcomed warm patches.  Completing this swim was a good confidence builder going into the 8 hour swim the following day.

Latter on Friday we were ordered back into the water for a 75 minute swim. These followup swims in the afternoon are mentally hard after been in the water, then warming yourself up, then been told to get back into the water again.  The theory behind this method is to allow the body to consolidate the cold conditions experienced during the main set.

Friday night was a rest night and preparation for the EC qualifying swim. More importantly, it was refuelling my body to swim further than it has done before in more extreme conditions.

Top: just having a look around
Bottom L: Andrew knows when to turn up
Bottom R: bit of a crappy day

Saturday morning came around ridiculously quick. It was 0530, cold, rather windy and pouring with rain. We found some refuge in the Brighton bathes club house where it was up to Andrew to do worst task of the day putting the lanolin and vaseline on.

After a minutes silence at 0600 to remember the service men and women on the 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day the starters gun sounded and we were off into the darkness of the bay. The first lap was interesting, as again navigation was hard and wow it feel lonely out there, something that stayed with me the whole day. Interestingly, I cannot remember feeling the initial cold shock like i had in the past swims.

Because of the rough conditions Andrew and i made the first feed quick.  It was just over the planned 30 minute mark but i was feeling super comfortable.

For the next 6 hours i swam strongly and quickly clocked up the kilometres. I knew i only had to do 6 hours to qualify but i desperately wanted to complete the 8 hours.  I knew if i could swim this distance it would give Andrew and i a massive boost of confidence 16 months out from our EC swim. It would also show we have the training formula right...!

Coming around to the jetty for another feed I could see a few of our group were struggling and some  were already out of the water.  Seeing that was hard as I was deffinately not the most experienced swimmer out there.  As i swam away from the jetty for another lap I was wondering what had gone wrong for these swimmers.  It then became my own mental challenge; I was not feeling cold, i was not tired, i was not in pain and i started to wonder why I was not feeling whatever was affecting the others. I started to again feel very isolated and alone and it was at this time Andrew turned up in the kayak, he seems to always knows when i need that support...sign of a great coach and one who knows his swimmer!

About 15 minutes later i swam close to Vald who was also on a support kayak.  I asked him what the time was. Instantly upon his response i knew i was past that 6 hour mark; whole crap...i had just qualified to swim the English Channel.  Instantly, the pressure of the day/camp lifted and the next 90 minutes or so become less about making the distance and more about having fun and enjoying what Andrew and I had just achieved.

My last lap was a joy to swim. I felt so privileged to be out in there and so honoured to be swimming with so many very accomplished swimmers and so many future English Channel swimmers. I finished the lap quicker than expected so I was told to do laps of the Brighton Bathes until 3pm. These 15 minutes were the longest of the day, time seemed to stand still. I figured that the bathes were about 50m wide so i knew i if i swam across 20 times i would be at the 8 hour mark.

Finally i got the thumbs up from the coaches and told to swim to the beach, my swim was over.

It was there i saw Ben, the other Canberra swimmer.  Finding out he had made the qualifying time just made my day.  At that time Ben and i became the first Canberrans to qualify to swim the English Channel and hopefully Ben is going to be the first to swim it in August followed by me in 2016.

Now the worst part of the day...getting the lanolin off!

Top: This year's swimmers
Bottom: Dean, Kane, Dan

After a quick bite to eat we were back into the water for another hour. This was not a swim but more of a paddle and debrief of the day with the other swimmers. Again, its about getting back into the water to get the body to remember and consolidate the sensation of been cold.

The following day was a shocker...it was typical Melbourne weather, raining, windy and the water was so rough.  We were swimming the weekly dash with the Black Ice group. It was too rough to go safely go outside the marina so organisers altered the course accordingly. The swim was about 2 km and with the excitement of yesterday still flowing i swam a quick time.

We had breakfast with our hosts and then it was time to leave for home.

There were lots of lessons learnt however, the biggest takeaway from the week was 16 months out from my swim is Andrew and I are diffinately on the correct track to complete my goal in August 2016.

The two coaches with the knowledge/experience I need

Quick Trip

Just completed a quick trip to Sydney for a 10km swim at Balmoral. Conditions were tough with a decent swell coming through Sydney heads.  At the change of tide it felt like we were swimming on the spot.  Afterwards i was told we were dong 1km per hour in that region going up and 5.5km per hour on the way back.

For me it was great to get into this type of confused water. It is exactly what i can expect in 18 months.   

First long swim of 2015

A sunny but windy day greeted us for the 17.25km swim at Balmoral today.  In order to stick to my eating plan for the swim the morning started 2 hours before; a large bowl of muesli, 2 sea sickness tablets and 2 Beroccas.

The water conditions that greeted us were bumpy and toward the end of the swim it was rather choppy. Those conditions are great to swim in as i find i stay far more alert than just going through the motions when it is flat. 

The first 10km flew by quite quickly and before i knew it we were into the business end.  I love this part of the swim because this is where I see all that hard work in the pool really pay off.  

Because a few of us decided to go for a swim up to the Spit I totally messed up my food schedule.  I was running close to empty and it was lucky Dean was there with a smile and a spare bottle of Endura that could get me back back to my food...life saver mate!  

The last lap was challenging, the weather was turning and the chop increasing.  It was time to put the head down, sink the body a fraction and grind out the last 1250m.  After turning the headland it was nice to finally get some runners into the beach. After 5hours 10 min of swimming, 30 min of eating/chatting and 20 minutes of looking for a lost swimmer the swim was done, with lots of petrol still in the tank (after i got back to my food that is)!

     

Back into the Gym

Back into the gym today for more strength work. This period the focus is on core and tricep strength which will help for some long swims that are coming up. Each session is about 60 min and has to be recorded to see improvements.

First few swims of 2015

2015 is all about building a very solid base that will hopefully leave me in perfect physical condition for a 6 month surge in 2016.

The first swim of the year was an interesting set. It was not challenging from getting tired but the lactic acid build up and then getting through that discomfort barrier.

8km

• 1 x 1000m 
• 1 x 1000m - finger paddles
• 1 x 1000m - medium hand paddles
• 1 x 1000m - large hand paddles
• 1 x 1000m - large hand paddles
• 1 x 1000m - medium hand paddles
• 1 x 1000m - finger paddles
• 1 x 1000m
• 5 minutes treading water

Today's set was again meant to quickly build the acid back up and then learn to swim through it:

5km

• 1 x 1000 - kicking
• 1 x 1000 - one arm swimming
• 1 x 1000 - finger paddles
• 1 x 1000 - medium paddles
• 1 x 1000 - large hand paddles
• 12 minutes treading water

The year that was...

A lot of kilometres covered in 2014.  A quite winter saw me me miss out on the 1000km mark.

With a lot of base building in 2015 I guarantee this distance will be past about September this year.