CHILLY SWIMMING

CHILLY SWIMMING

So what do you do for your next challenge....hum....lets do what people don't expect me to do....winter swimming...yes i know i do that....but WITHOUT A WETSUIT!!!

Yes before you ask i was sober when i made this decision....was i nuts, am i nuts, well that is still to be decided! Yes many people swim sans suit but i am stick thin, skinny, lean, and every other concatenation that you can think of. I have heard them all but i have been this size since i was 18 ish and its never changed! Do i suffer in the cold....more than, i can shiver after a summers swim so what on earth was i getting myself into. A winter swim sans suit! Mentally i am more than strong enough but physically can i do it, i will let you know on the day but in the meantime here are the the tales of the training!!!

What am i training for....http://www.chillswim.com/the-swim/, as the title says its a chilly swim, in lake Windermere at the beginning of February  Am i nuts....i think i might be what what a hoot if i manage to do it! It will be a challenge that although the mind is more than willing the body might let me down! Better get training!

But firstly i can hear you saying WHY, Its a question i am getting asked alot lately, i will attempt to tell you. You have seen the pictures i have posted over various blogs, i am not the biggest, i am getting older (not one comment please!!!....oh go on then one or two!) nor do i appear to be getting wiser. I have always loved a challenge. So many people ask me why dont i do it....because i can shiver in an heatwave!!! Mentally yes i can do it but physically i am not so sure, its not like a speed race or distance where i can hold my own, this is a swim where the body can literally say NO! So there you go the challenge is there, push the body, let the mind do its thing. And secondly inspire others to reach new heights after all if i can do it so can you!

The first swim, December 9th, well how bad can it be i thought, no worse than an ice-cream headache surely!!! Oh please, the picture above shows me smiling....the parts of my body under the water were rapidly going numb, the sensation on my legs as if someone was rolling stinging nettles over them....and this was meant to be fun! Could i be in any more pain (yes but that was to come in later swims). I was deliberately staying put, i could not feel my feet at all, my skin was on fire, the pulse was off the richter scale, the breathing....no where near under control. Seriously do i have to do this, i have peed, its all gone and i do not feel one jot warmer! The looks on other swimmers faces showed i was not alone.  We had some in the neoprene but we were wearing everything else we thought we could get away with from running tights to rash vests!!!.Others made it look easy as they got in but even some with wetsuits on felt the bite of the cold as it seeped through the suits!

But we were in that was the main thing, now to persuade the brain to get the body to enter deeper water. For myself being so 'lean' or 'in need of pies' as some tell me, it was interesting and a little scary to see how the body reacted to the cold waters. From the sensation of numbness then the intense fiery stinging to tingling that was on a scale that can not be describe, you have to experience it to understand the transformation your body goes through as it fights to acclimatise itself to the new experience you're subjecting it to. And aside from the collective tourettes that we suddenly developed we were all still grinning.

Getting out the sun despite the cold air temperature felt warm almost hot on our skin but none of us hung around to feel its affects, a mad dash to the changing rooms to get changed was in order, we where like a gaggle of geese in the noise level we created as we verbally celebrated our success. The first hurdle done, divers who watched actually applauded us!

The next swim would be harder, we knew what to expect, oh boy was i really cut out for this, i and several other shook so badly last time, surly it would be easier this time...please let it be.

The next swim would be mid week, Tony and I meeting up, the night had been more than cold well into the minuses, enough to make me put extra layers in the car, i always have a wetsuit in there and thankfully on this occasion i did, arriving at the lake air temperature -2, the lake was frozen solid! Hum, wet suits definitely on, not because of the water temperatures but because we did not relish the prospect of being cut by the ice. And yes there was lots of ice!!!

BUT we were determined to get in, and in we got and yes it was cold, very cold but we hardly felt that as we fought our way to the designated buoy  and it was hard work. Swimming and breaking the ice as we went, the ice got thicker!!!! The work got harder the grins larger!

It was a magical swim, the sun just about making an appearance through the mist, casting a wonderful glow across the ice, the ducks and other feathers friends standing watching us i am sure they utter the words we have heard so many times before...nutters!

What in theory should have been a painfully cold swim but it was hardly that, the body numb but working hard, it simply was one of the best, the trail of destruction behind us, ice bouncing back up to hit us as we broke it (Tony got a cracking bruise) it was like swimming in a giant slush puppy (a cold drink for those that do not know).

The swim back was easier but how strange to be pushing aside large clumps of ice to enable us to progress, the poor woman on the side looked beside herself with worry but not to worry we were fine, more than fine, it was the greatest of swims! Dashing to the changing rooms to warm up, it was quite strange to see steam coming off of my body as i stripped of the beloved neoprene! Oh where is the coffee and cake!!! We did not stop grinning even as we defrosted, and even as i type this a huge grin on my face!!! It even made the papers!

These things have to be done, they are worth it!!!

The training is going great, the gasps are lessening, the shakes increasing, the grins are beyond huge, come along and watch us if you need a giggle.....! Watch this space for more updates!!