HOW TO SWIM OUTDOORS - ONLINE! - MARIE LOVELL

HOW TO SWIM OUTDOORS – ONLINE!

Sitting alone in a hotel room in rainy Glasgow in January 2011 the invite via Facebook from my friend Kate to enter the Great North Swim (a mile across Windermere in June) seemed quite unreal so without really thinking about it, and in a sugar rush induced by the complimentary chocolates, in the next half hour I had found out that 12 year olds (and 44 year olds) can do a half mile version, texted Tristan my son and got a positive response and gone online and registered us both – half mile for MIND, the mental health charity.

Waking up the next morning I remembered it all as a dream…then I remembered it was real!

OK so we weren’t regular swimmers – I hadn’t swum outdoors since I was Tristan’s age – but we had 5 months to prepare and all the resources of the world wide web to help…after all it was the w.w.w that had got us into this.

One of the reasons it was important to me to do this was that last year I had experienced months of chronic back pain and sciatica…following about 10 years of grumbling lower back pain.  A MRI scan had revealed ‘a massive prolapsed disc, severely compressing the sciatic nerves on both sides’ – surgery was recommended with the comment that ‘the best surgeons can now make over 20% of people more than 20% better’ – which didn’t sound all that great to me given the risks of major surgery.  Instead, I followed both physio advice on exercise and also a programme based on ‘Tension Myositis syndrome’ – the theory that chronic pain can be caused by psychological issues – with structural changes such as prolapsed discs being normal aging changes.  The programme involves among other things releasing the fear of pain and disability and resuming activities that you have ceased – or always thought were beyond you.  In May 2010 I was in constant pain, taking 5 types of painkillers and could not stand up straight.  I could shuffle from one end of the house to the other…with difficulty, couldn’t drive and needed help to get dressed or washed.

So to find myself 8 months later experiencing virtually no pain and taking no pain medications I felt both confident and exhilarated and I knew that this challenge could only help me stay well and set a good example for my kids.

Using Facebook, Kate contacted some other people signed up for the GNS and a ‘GNS training group’ was set up – seeking advice on when and where we could start some outdoor training brought us into contact with the redoubtable Pauline Squire.  So one Saturday lunchtime in April saw us getting ready to travel to Ellerton to meet her.  Wetsuits bought from ebay I thought I was ready as I boiled water for a flask…then she called me;  “Bananas?” she said “bananas.  Have you got some to eat half an hour before you go in?”

“er, no but er….”  I thought about where I could get bananas from…

“and swimming hats, 2 each.  For warmth.  Got them?”

“no…maybe somewhere”…I started to run from kitchen to living room rummaging for fruit and sillicone

“Never mind I’ll bring spares. Goggles?”

“no”

“well, not to worry, today won’t be about swimming very far.  Or at all really, the aim of today is just to get you in the water and teach you how to not hyperventilate when your body goes into shock because of the cold.  See you there!”

And off she went leaving me staring at my baby and wondering if I was really up to even the packing required let alone the swimming.

On arrival though I was glad of Pauline’s ‘can do’ attitude.  Kate (who, let’s not forget, had got me into this in the first place) declined to swim that day to protect her new tattoo so it was up to me to fly the flag and I actually loved it straight off!  The lack of hat and goggles were irrelevant since my head didn’t go under the water and I probably travelled less than 50 meters in total but I got in on that grey and rainy day and followed up with training most weekends at the lake – learning not only to put my head under   but to love the view of the landscape of the lake bottom so much that sometimes I forget to swim over the waving weeds and flickering fish and just float there transfixed.  Together, Tris and I have done something we thought we never would…..and isn’t that what life is for?

On Sunday 19^th June 2011 Tristan and Marie swam half a mile across lake Windermere to raise over £350 for MIND – the mental health charity  …   mostly by people sponsoring us 50p or a pound each.  We have since swum 500m and 1,000m at Capernwray and are now training for longer swims.

And as you can expect I will add the last words. Marie and Tris's amazing acheivement has been borne out of determination and hard work. Their grins at the end of the Great North Swim said it all and they continue to go from strength to strength. The pain relief that Marie now experiences is testimount to the restorative and rehabilation powers that open water swimming can bring where other sports would deny the experiences . Marie is due to swim in a race in Loch Ness soon so please support her efforts by donating to Mind...lets keep her in the water. x