Two weeks

Gosh, I can't believe it's more than two weeks since I last posted to the blog. What with Christmas and all the stuff that happens leading up to it (I had five carol services to do the music for, and a Santa gig for 360 children), I just haven't had time to get to the PC.

I have been swimming though! Today was my first time back in the water since Christmas day. The Lido was closed on Boxing day, and you had to sign up for a slot to swim on Christmas day (and yes, I was too late to do that). So, 8.30 this morning and I was back in water that was 6.6 degrees. Lovely! First in. Okay, it was raining, and it was dull and cloudy, but there's nothing quite like slipping into a silky smooth pool and hearing the gentle plop of water as your hands enter on each stroke. Lovely!

So, I'll be back in the water tomorrow first thing. I need to burn off some of my excess turkey and Christmas pud.

Shock

I don't want to bore you with endless accounts of how cold the water is ... but, it was cold this morning.

Last week the water temperature dropped to 8.9 degrees. That was bit of a shock. It was though, nothing like the shock I received this morning. The temperature of the water was 6.8 degrees. Yes, 6.8 degrees! The changing room was full (okay, think December-full, not July-full), full of shivering, bright orange men.

The wall between the men's and ladies' changing rooms is paper thin. I don't know if the ladies know that, but we men can hear everything they're saying. (So, be warned if you intend to use the ladies changing room!) Giggles and gossip seeped through the wall from the ladies, whilst we men stood quietly and stoically, shivering.

I wonder if the ladies can hear us? Maybe I should start up a blokey conversation tomorrow and give the ladies something to think about. Mind you, if it's as cold tomorrow, I think I'll just be quietly shivering.

OAP

"Sorry sir, but I need to ask. Are you an old age pensioner?" This is what the receptionist at the Lido asked me this morning. Not a good start really. Before you ask, no I am not an old age pensioner. (I guess I must have looked like one this morning though.)

I could imagine looking like an OAP after a freezing swim, with wheezy breath, bright orange and pimply skin, and hair that's frozen into a style that's part punk and part perm. But, first thing in the morning I hope I look young and fit. Maybe that's my next target, getting the receptionist to ask me if I'm a student (not a mature student, but a young and virile student, a young and virile student who looks ready to swim for Britain). Or maybe I should just be content with sneaking anonymously into the changing rooms (which is difficult when you're one of only two swimmers going into the pool).

9.7 degrees this morning. Positively baking compared to last week. In the playground this afternoon, someone suggested monitoring my heart rate before, during, and after a swim. What a great idea. I just need to dig out that old heart rate monitor ... OAP? Just wait. A heart rate to die for. (Maybe not.)

Dig for Victory

I was stiff and sore this morning, and that was before I even hit Brockwell Lido.

Yesterday I did the ultimate in alternative training. My wife Elaine had arranged for 3 tonnes of soil to be delivered to Rosemead - soil for the 4 raised beds I'd built during the Summer holidays. (Yes, they're big beds.) Normally, soil gets delivered in big bags by a lorry that has a crane that can deposit the soil wherever you need it.

Unfortunately the lorry couldn't get up the narrow (and steep!) drive up to the playground, so the lorry driver dumped the soil on the pavement outside the school. This meant I had to shovel 3 tonnes of soil into a wheelbarrow, push it up the hill, and tip it into the beds.

I'm not sure of the maths, but 3 tonnes of soil equals a lot of trips with a wheelbarrow. I kept telling the curious children that we were moving the equivalent of an Elephant. (For the Trivial Pursuiters amongst you, a 20-year old female Asian elephant weights about 3500kg.) Elaine helped with the digging, but the lugging and the tipping of the barrow was down to me. Several hours later, job done, and I'm a bit fitter than I was before. One more step to victory over the Channel.

The Lido felt good this morning. Okay, so the temperature was only 9.2 degrees, but it did my back, shoulders and blisters a world of good. I swam for thirty minutes.

Definitely recommended - 3 hours digging and humping soil followed by a 30 minute swim in icy water.

Sub 10

In a masochistic way, I've been looking forward to this day - the day when the water temperature dropped below 10 degrees. Today the temperature was 9.75 degrees. Some Lidos close when the temperature gets this cold, but not Brockwell Lido!

When I checked the web for useful tips on how to survive in cold water, I discovered that swimming increases heat loss and can shorten survival time by more than 50%, cold water robs the body's heat 32 times faster than cold air, 0-11 degrees is regarded as freezing, and few people can swim a mile in water that's only 10 degrees.

So, my swim today was quite an achievement.

I can't wait to see how cold the water is tomorrow.

Cold Water Swimming Championships

We've signed up for our next training event - the 2015 Cold Water Swimming Championships on Saturday January 24th at Tooting Bec Lido. It's a 4x30m relay event. 30 metres doesn't sound very far, but the water will be freezing. Honestly, it will be freezing. Back in 2013 (the championships are held every two years) the water temperature was only 0.5 degrees! (I haven't mentioned that to Orlaith, Lynne and Fiona yet. They were the first to sign up with me. The others are, very sensibly, probably checking the small print first.) Apparently there were grumblings from some of the overseas competitors that the water wasn't cold enough. I don't think we'll be grumbling. 

Swimming Naked

For some inexplicable reason, I decided not to wear a swim cap this morning. I'd never realised what a difference wearing a cap makes when open-water swimming. I know the pool was only 11.1 degrees, but when I launched into the water for my first length I thought I was going to freeze to death. My head was throbbing away so much I thought about stopping after that first length ... but I kept going ... only for 15 minutes ... and then I escaped to the heat of the changing room. I'll be back with swim cap next time.

As Channel relay swimmers, we get yellow silicon caps to wear. (The solo swimmers get red caps.) These are cosy caps, but they're really designed to make us easily identifiable when we 're training in Dover Harbour.

We don't have to wear the yellow caps when we're actually swimming the Channel, so I'm going to experiment with some other types to see which offer the most heat retention. After all, no wetsuits are allowed, so us blokes have to swim the Channel practically naked. I'll be checking out the Aqua Sphere Aqua Glide cap - a cap that's designed to cover the ears too.