It’s the end of week 1 of my Two Way Windermere Training and I have got back into the swing of training with a real purpose and a distance that I aim to achieve each week. Slowly over the next 19 weeks my training will increase, my sessions will get longer, the distances in each session will increase and I will be trying out different feeding schedules and with different foods to work out what will work best for me during my very long 2 way Windermere swim.
There are a few important things I am focusing on in these first few weeks of training. It is not just about increasing the number of sessions each week, the distance covered in each session and the amount of time spent in open water, but it is also about consistency. I need to ensure that I can swim consistently, no matter my pain levels or how I am feeling on any given day, I just have to go and do it.
During my training and especially during the actual swim I am going to be pushing my body to its limit and I need to try and ensure I am prepared for every eventuality, including waking up on the day of the swim in a huge flare up and pain levels starting at an 8 out of 10. Even if my pain levels are at an 8 when I wake, I will still get up, get ready and go and complete my swim. My pain levels will likely increase throughout and I will be having my sister onboard my safety boat making judgement calls and following my instructions about my pain levels and medication but no matter what, I will need to ‘just keep swimming’.
Saying that, consistency is not just about being able to swim no matter my pain levels but also in my pacing as I am swimming. I need to figure out what pace I feel comfortable with to keep swimming for around 22 miles, the only way I am going to figure that out is through some focused work on pacing during my long swims.
This weeks training has consisted of just under 10km:
2 lake swims totalling 3150m
1 Pool swim totalling 1700m
1 Lido swim totalling 4850m
