I didn’t post a blog last week as I have been struggling a lot with my pain and fatigue but I am improving, a bit, and I have had the chance to get some decent swims in this week. Monday started with a tough session with BRJ in the pool and once again I struggled with my breathing, this time to the point that I finally bit the bullet on Tuesday morning and called the doctors! After seeing me, they don’t know what is going on/the cause.
Not only did I go to the doctors on Tuesday, but I also managed a second good pool session of the week. This time I went back to my Scale Swimming book and adapted one of their sessions to meet my needs and abilities. I also went back to trying to swim with my legs tethered again, as I believe this may be the best way forwards for me in rough open water conditions when not in a wetsuit.
Wednesday was a river day with the Cambridge and Peterborough Bluetits! I believe it was the first time for the 2 people I was swimming with (Elise and Karen) getting in down the Huntingdon Slipway. Most people seem to think that getting in at the slipway wont be a nice swim but I think they discovered that once you’re in the river it is lovely as you can’t even see the car park and you can swim up towards the Huntingdon Old Bridge or down towards Hartford Church so it is not just convenient but it is also accessible and gives you choices in where you want to swim too.
The water was down to 9.8 degrees, only .1 degree colder than last week but I was sore before getting in and I quickly realised it was going to be very painful. I got knee deep down the slipway and was in so much pain I wanted to cry and get out, but I had words with myself and after about 15min of being waist deep in the water I finally managed to overcome the extreme pain and get in. The issue being that because of the cold, by the time I managed to get in the other ladies I was swimming with had to get out. As a result, I didn’t stay in long or swim very far and I felt pretty rubbish about it afterwards. When I got home, I messaged my friend Jonty, whom is a GB Ice Swimmer and an amputee to ask for advice. After him explaining how he gets in and that he has had issues and pain in the past it gave me a bit of a boost and a different way to try getting in the water. I had a plan to swim on Thursday so decided I would give Jontys suggestion a go; the suggestion being get in up to the neck as quickly as you can. I also had a pretty tough Personal Training session on Wednesday where we did a lot of core work, and boy did I know id done it the day after!
Thursday was pretty grey and a bit drizzly, I felt a bit nervous about trying to get in the water again but decided I would just go and try and see what happens. I told Clare about the plan to walk straight in and she agreed to attempt to do the same. I won’t repeat some of what was said here but lets say there was a large amount of swearing, a bit of squealing and some pretty entertaining anecdotes. Once we were in we did get a decent 850m in at 9.9 degrees which gave me a massive boost that I needed after my awful swim on Wednesday.
After my swim on Thursday I went home and slept, and slept, and slept. The fatigue was too much for me to hold off, everything ached, hurt, my muscles felt swollen and heavy, just moving was effort and exhausting.
Saturday I had a concert at The Burgess Hall in St.Ives with the Huntingdonshire Concert Band. I was still exhausted and sore but managed to get a lift to the rehearsal and home from the concert. We rehearsed from 4 – 5.30 and then had a break for dinner before the concert kicked off at 7.30pm and it was a sell out concert. It was our movies and musicals concert which I always love playing and is very well attended and received. It was strange to be back in a room with so many people but also a lovely atmosphere and everyone had a great time. However, as the concert went on my pain got worse and worse. One of the recent challenges I have set myself is to wear shoes and socks more often and so this was my first concert where I wore my smart concert shoes and managed to keep them on for the entire concert. It was painful but also a huge personal achievement for me. However, I was sore, exhausted, felt totally drained and just needed to collapse in a heap!
Sunday was a rest/sleep day before another busy week! A lot of it was spent sleeping, some of it was spent writing this blog and other bits were spent trying to figure our what sort of things I am going to talk about at the Kendal Mountain Festival, which is now under a week away! You will be able to watch the Outdoor Swimmer Session and many other Kendal Talks and events that are happening on the player through their website.
Find out more by clicking below!
Wishing everyone a wonderful swim filled week!