The Festive Season

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, happiness and hoping all personal dreams come true in 2009

As some family members are in Melbourne and Karratha we had a small gathering at my daughter Lorelle's place for a cold Christmas dinner of ham, chicken, prawns and crayfish (lobster) plus a variety of salads. Very tasty, followed by plum pudding, custard, cream and icecream! So glad this festive season comes around once a year, I indulge too much!

Boxing Day is for rest / sleep they say - but no, not for us ....... its more celebrations, food, birthday cake - its my eldest daughter's birthday!! Happy birthday dear Karen.

27th December

Scarborough Beach to Trigg Island and Return

A beautiful sunny day - 28 degrees C with mild to strong winds developing. My husband Max is on surf patrol during the morning for the Scarboro SLSC. This is usually an appropriate time for myself to have an open water swim as I can leave my swim bag safely in the surf patrol van.

The swim from Scarborough Beach to Trigg Island and return is approx. 4k. and is my favourite place for ocean training. Today the water is around 22 degrees and clear when swimming out past the breakers. I know when I'm swimming in front of Rendezvous Observation City Hotel as it casts a huge grey shadow over the water. As I keep swimming there are just a few small fish to be seen and plenty of board and body surfers, mostly wearing wetsuits and waiting patiently for 'the right wave' to arrive. The surfers' presence make me feel safe as I encounter six big rips making their way out to sea and also making that part of the water area very sandy and ripply to swim through. Returning from Trigg to Scarborough after a short break treading water, the wind and waves have become stronger making the time to swim back a little longer. It was a good shoulder and arm workout which will be very beneficial. Upon finishing the swim, I spent some time body surfing the waves. It's great to be alive...

View from Trigg Island to Scarborough Beach on a calm day - Rendezvous Observation City Hotel in the background approx. 2km away

A great morning. I was pleased with my solitary swim. It wasn't a long way but I felt strong, confident and pleased. Once again there were no stingers ...... so glad about this! they have a very nasty sting.

28th December

Mullaloo Beach

This is another beautiful beach north of Scarborough Beach and Trigg Island. The beach is situated in a bay and has some reef scattered in places but mostly consists of a sandy ocean bed. The sea is calmer than other Perth beaches making it a delightful place to swim and train.

Every Sunday morning at 8:30am there is always a number of swimmers gathered just north of the Mullaloo SLS Club to train for a particular open water event or just swim for the sheer fun and enjoyment. This morning four of us - Natalie, Alan, Steven and myself decided to swim to 'the point' southwards and return - approx. 5k. The other swimmers are faster and upon my arrival at 'the point' there were three heads bobbing, laughing and chatting - this is a great sport! Thanks for waiting guys. We all swam back to our starting place where Natalie and I decided to keep on swimming. The weather is hot - 36 degrees C.

The swimmers here are mainly members of Westcoast Masters Swimming Club, quite a social crowd who bring a variety of food for all to enjoy after the swim. May this good life carry on through 2009.

Just keep swimming - a breathtaking experience

OWS Series 2008 - Mullaloo Beach

Event Date 14th December 2008

Water Corporation Open Water Swim Series #3 (Includes Carolyn Burke Memorial Fundraiser) Distances of 1.25km, 2.5km & 5km.

The sun was out and not a cloud in the blue sky. Such a beautiful perfect day for open water swimming with the air temperature expected to rise to 38Degrees.
Sea temperature 22Degrees.

Mullaloo Beach

The ocean is smooth and huge orange buoys mapping out the 1.25km lap course can easily be seen. Tall flags were displayed at the finishing line.

Start and finishing line

After listening to the course briefing and applying sun block and Vaseline (just in case of stingers), approximately 250 swimmers consisting of all age groups from under 15yrs to over 50yrs of age headed out for a mass water start between two orange buoys.

The siren rang at 9am and swimmers trying to find water space between kicking feet and twirling arms headed off north in the direction of the first buoy. The orange buoys were easily seen for guidance and by the time I approached the first buoy the crowd had spread out. I was more or less left alone in the 3rd and 4th lap and could only see the odd cap or arms splashing somewhere off in the distance. I swam rather strongly into the beach, walked through the finishing flags with a timed result of 1hour 29mins. Hmm...maybe the course was a little longer than 5km !?! or I need to do more intense training...ohh!

It was a wonderful swim with very clear water, I could see small colourful fish, a few stingrays and some rugged reef scattered in some areas over the ocean bed. Usually Mullaloo beach is renowned for 'stingers' and I am thankful for only being 'kissed' once on the face over the 5km swim.

The weekly pool training must be paying off as I felt strong and confident during the four laps.

We finished a great day off by heading down to Scarborough Beach for 'Carol's by the Clock' and the brilliant fireworks display which lasted 15-20 minutes.

Some Barracudas Masters 5km successful swimmers (from left) Sue Oldham, Rory Toner , myself, Tony Parbery & Kathryn Phillips

Just keep swimming - a breathtaking experience

Koombana Bay Swim Thru 2008

Event Date - 30th November '08

Koombana Bay Swim Thru is organised by the Bunbury Masters Swimming WA club. The 1600m event starts in the water to the north of the Dolphin Discovery Centre and finishes south of the Centre.

I travelled the 120 kilometres from Perth to Bunbury in comfort, keeping Eleanor Parsons and her dog 'Chelo' company and stayed overnight at Eleanor's parents beautiful home overlooking the Bunbury Harbour.

Lately, the weather has not produced its usual summer days, however, we were lucky to have a sunny morning for the swim making Koombana Bay look beautiful with its soft, very white sand and sparkling blue sea.

After the usual course briefing, the event started in the water and was underway at 10:00am. By the time I reached the first easily sighted huge silver buoy, the swim crowd had thinned out. At this time I was able to concentrate on my stroke and rhythm. The conditions were reasonably calm, near perfect making the event very enjoyable, even if I swam most of the way without company. I finished in 22nd place with a time of 23min 20sec. The course may have been a little short but I was pleased with the result and enjoyed my first open water swim for the season. Alas, there was no sighting of my favourite sea friends....the graceful dolphin.

Snappers AUSSI Masters member, Eleanor Parsons finished in 15th position with an excellent time of 21min 40sec. Is she flying? .... Hey, wait for me Eleanor!

Bold Park Masters member, Vic Paul never ceases to amaze all by his swimming talent. At 64yrs he finished 2nd overall with an incredible time of 18.mins 49sec.

Another great open water swimmer and mentor, Barbara Pellick finished in 5th place.

A great week-end away, a great swim and so good to catch-up with great swimmers from Perth and country areas.

Koombana Bay competitors: (from left) Eleanor Parsons, Vic Paul and myself

Just keep swimming - a breathtaking experience

Whats Coming Up - Proposed Schedule

Ongoing pool training plus long open water swims in either river, lake or ocean - December onwards.

2008/09 Open Water Swims Calendar:

Link - http://www.mastersswimmingwa.asn.au/ Various swim events (approx. 32 in total) held between November '08 to April '09 - available from distances of 400 metres - 20 kilometres. My intention is to register for most swim distances over 3km.

Rottnest Channel Swim:

21 February 2009. Distance - 19.2 km. This event is organised by the Rottnest Channel Swim Association Inc. It is not just about swimming but about good, solid preparation - training and feeding plan.

I have registered to swim solo. This will be my eighth solo crossing, my last completed swim being five years ago! Hmmm.

Freo to Rotto Big Splash:

21 March 2009. This 20km swim event commences from Leighton Beach to Rottnest Island. This is a fun and friendly charity event and is made up of a number of different categories, catering for various fitness levels or degrees of participation. This will be my first participation, hoping to swim solo.

English Channel:

13-18 August 2009. My chosen tidal date for second attempt.

Channel Swimming Ongoing Training

Re-commenced training log 8th September '08. Recording daily and weekly kilometres completed in pool/open water. You may scroll down to the end of blog to view my total weekly kilometers.

For repetition training to help mainly with speed, stamina and strength, my proposed training schedule is:

Mon/Tues/Thur/Fri: Pool training (25m pool) - Churchlands SHS with Coach, Pauline Pratt and Barracuda's Swimming Club members. To round off the days swimming activities, a light weight gym session is done two times a week for overall strength. Pool users are very lucky to have a small gym with adequate equipment right on the pool premises. Tuesday evenings if my energy levels are still up!, I hope to fit in a session with my Masters group - Bold Park Power Masters Swimming Club. This is still waiting to happen.

Wed: Pool training (50m pool) - Challenge Stadium with Peter Tanham - Rottnest Channel Swim Group. I enjoy swimming in this 50m pool and have trained with this group of wonderful talented swimmers for the past 15 years. The group is mainly made up of swimmers training for solo, duo or teams (of 4) to participate in the Rottnest Channel Swim event.

Sat: Pool (am) - Churchlands SHS (longer sessions). Open water distance swims (pm) - River, lake or ocean, to commence in December/January.

Sun: Ocean swim - Sorrento/Mullaloo/Scarborough Beach.

Training is done six days a week only. I will have one day off with absolutely no exercise to give the mind and body recovery time, this is a must and so important. Its a day to really look forward to - "to do the things I love to do"! My body will tell me when to have this 'special' rest day.

Training at Churchlands SHS

Is it time for a 'granny power nap' yet??

Just keep swimming - A breathtaking experience

Is it 4:30am Already?

Oh. no! That horrible sound - the alarm has gone off - wake up, rise and shine ..... it can't be 4:30am yet.

I'm in the middle of a wonderful dream...I am riding on the back of a dolphin, ahead of all the rest of the competitors and about to become the winner of "The Great Dolphin Sea Race".....across the English Channel - naturally....and now.... I will never know if I was heading to be the outright winner !?? or if my Dolphin and I even make it to French soil !! Now I say....be positive.

Oh. well, back to reality. The alarm goes off at the same time Monday to Friday. Its always a welcoming feeling on Saturday mornings, as I get to sleep in to 5:30am.

There is not a lot of traffic on the road this time of the morning so it's about 20 minutes drive from home to the pool situated in Churchlands. I love this time of day, the air is fresh, there is always lots of birds chirping and my swimming mates chatting, getting ready for their morning session. It's still dark when arriving at the pool and later on most mornings, there is a spectacular sunrise of red, pink and orange tones filtering through the trees that surround the pool....how lucky is that?

Some members of Barracudda's Swimming Club: From left - Myself, Sue Oldham, Kathy Phillips & Tony Parbery - 5:30am and ready to commence the training session - look at those smiles !

My health is starting to improve and am now feeling so much better after the terrible chest and throat virus. Fitness and endurance levels are down compared to this time last year... so ...keep attacking and keep going forward.

For years I trained in a 50m pool so it took me quite a few sessions to get used to all the tumble turns required to train in this school's 25m outdoor pool. The sessions vary from day to day, covering all aspects of speed and strength work, skills, endurance swims and included in the program sometimes are push-ups on the side of pool - ouch!

Most sessions are over two and a half hours, swimming 4 to 5 kilometres. After these sessions I try to add an extra 2k of various swim strokes, practicing technique skills and kicking. If time permits, a short gym workout consisting of light weights, core exercise and more frequently, stretching for flexibility. Of course....making time for chat, fun and laughter is a must...all at the same time !?

I should add that I am enjoying retirement and therefore usually have the time for rest and recovery.

With all goals, there is the build-up plan. I like to keep a log book daily to give me a weekly total. At the moment I have built up to 20-30k pw and then the kilometres will increase each month. Having a log book keeps me in touch with my build-up progress. This seems to work very well for me...both mentally and physically.

Just keep swimming - A breathtaking experience

Pool Training For Open Water Swimming

It is a bonus that I am training under a coach who is so passionate about open water swimming. Pauline Pratt has successfully coached several English Channel teams of 6 swimmers, children and adult teams plus solo swimmers completing the Rottnest Channel, The English Channel and Manhattan Island events. This year Pauline is very busy training two school teams (6 swimmers in each team) to swim the English Channel in July 2009.

Coach - Pauline Pratt

The 2008/09 Open Water Swims Calendar events commence in Perth early November so now is the time to develop swim skills in the pool. There are about 33 events in metropolitan and country venues - link http://www.mastersswimmingwa.asn.au/ I intend to make training more fun and to have a more lighthearted approach, at the same time make a real commitment to do the up and coming training sessions of smart swimming, hard work and dedication needed to this vital lead up to my English Channel goal. Along the journey I will select the longer swim events from the Open Water Calendar as extra training and to practice various feeds.

Because distances in the open water are not accurately measurable and conditions can vary greatly, the best place to develop cardiovascular conditioning is in the pool. As distance training is mostly done by the swim group, I/we count the number of strokes taken per length of the pool, making an effort to gain the greatest distance per stroke.

During training I need to:-

• Stay focused and motivated
• Be positive - say no to negativity
• Work on my weak areas eg bi-lateral breathing!
• Fine-tune skills, techniques, pull etc
• Kicking, I love to kick - dolphin kick sets on back and front are great ab. exercises
• Stay streamlined
• Practice DPS - distance per stroke, long strong strokes - stretch
• Mental skills - visualisaton, self belief
• Work on speed, strength and endurance
• Get the diet right
• Dry land exercises - improves strength and performance...repetitive training with light weights, stretch cords, fitness ball. Walking. Meditation. Stretching for flexibility.

There is no time for boredom and I hope that most of the time, all the above will be done with fun and passion keeping in mind it will be setting a good basis for the coming open water season and my EC goal.......relax !

Just keep swimming - A breathtaking experience.

Another Ten Months Of Training

Another ten months, another attempt to swim from England to France - August 2009.

I am so lucky to have another opportunity to swim my dream. With the right attitude I am going to treat my unsuccessful attempt as a valuable feedback tool. It has shown me what to do differently next year in order to succeed. I believe in myself and I am not going to get sidetracked by failure or disappointment of not completing the English Channel this year. I am not giving up! ....

So, there are several things I need to address before my next Channel attempt. Linked mainly to mental strength and more hours training in open water conditions. Another must is to practice bi-lateral breathing to even out wear and tear on muscles and to be more flexible as to positioning myself either side of the pilot boat when swimming to France. The boat can shelter you from oncoming waves etc. Being a unilateral breather all my swimming years, I find it hard to adjust to new ways. It seems to me so much easier to practice a two stroke cycle, breathe, then two cycle on the other side. We shall see what the outcome of this technique brings.

From this years experience I know I can tolerate the cold water, thanks to the acclimatisation sessions done here in Perth at Lake Leschenaultia and Hillary's Marine Harbour during our winter months, temp. ranging from 11 to 16C! Plus nearly three weeks in Dover Harbour UK. The channel water temp. during my attempt was 16C. The feeds given from boat could be improved and these will be practiced during the Cottesloe to Rottnest Swim. I need to train quality plus quantity swim sessions and to work so, so hard on mental toughness, my main weakness.

8 - 21 Sept 08

A week back in Perth I commenced training at Churchlands High School 25m pool under coach Pauline Pratt. The pool is situated outdoors, very pleasant surroundings with birds chirping while you swim...lots of Willy-Wag-Tails, my favourite....What else could you ask for? Ducks?.....Yes!

Churchlands High School Pool

Some swimmers who have working commitments commence at 5.00am, others at 6.00am. Training for me starts at 5.30am. to 7.00am and sometimes swim to 8.00am.

After two weeks of intense training averaging 22 - 25 kilometres pw I contacted a bronchial and throat virus, zapping my energy and hence the training went to being non-existent.

22 Sept - 1 Oct 08

So now what?

I thought about a friend of mine Gail Parsons who had previously set up a Blog for my last Channel attempt but I was reluctant to share my thoughts and feelings with the 'whole world'! So having sick time to sit around and just rest, I decided to use this time and go ahead ...... give it a go! It will be a way to keep me motivated, to chronicle my English Channel training and to easily share this journey with the people in my life.

After a couple of blog postings I found it rather interesting and a challenge to find the right words to express my thoughts and feelings....I hope my writing improves as time goes by. One thing in my favour is, I can type with all fingers!

2 -10 Oct 08

This virus lasted 10 days. My health is so much better after just resting! This week it was soooo good to be back into training with the group, a group who are mainly long distance/marathon swimmers and members of the Barracuda's Swimming Club Inc.

Just keep swimming - A breathtaking experience