Counting down ...

I am now on the final countdown to the Keswick Mountain Festival Triathlon - my first Open Water Tri which is now less than 2 weeks away!  
In actual fact I just have a mere 9 days to panic (and train)!

And panic is what I am doing!

On Saturday I went to Keswick to have a recce of the cycle and run route of the tri, with the logic that if I know the terrain I will be tackling on the day I will have more confidence.

It was a very slow meander as I had my husband tagging along on his bike, but it was a lovely route with some fantastic views! I am pleased I was forced to cycle slowly as I could really appreciate the scenery which I am sure I will miss on the day! 

Once we got back to the car and loaded the bikes, we changed into walking shoes and set off walking the run route!  The first part was on a nice track (rocky in places) through some woods but then after about a mile and a half the route seemed to go across private land.  

We spoke to the lady in the ice cream shop (a good excuse to buy one!) and she confirmed that the run did go that direction but it was only open to the public for the day. So we had to return the same way we came and the rest will have to be a surprise!

The only thing we didn't do was swim in the lake!

I had been waiting for the weather to warm up slightly before braving the elements and donning my wetsuit for the first time but then realisation dawned - that wasn't going to happen and I desperately needed to get some practice in if I had any hope of completing the swim successfully.

So in my high state of panic I posted on 2 Facebook sites - one called the "Lake District Open Water Swimmers" and  "Kendal Tri Club" asking for anyone willing to take a novice OW swimmer out into a lake - any lake!  Obviously it's not something that is safe to do alone so I was reliant on other people!

Anyhow I was amazed by the generosity of spirit of people.  I got 2 offers from complete strangers and also the tri club said they would arrange a club session especially for me!

As these people had been kind enough to offer I didn't want to turn anyone down so I ended up swimming in Open Water 3 days on the trot!

My first experience was on Sunday afternoon in Capernwray which is a quarry lake and primarily a diving centre.  I have never been swimming here and one thing that made me nervous was the fact I had been told the water was "crystal clear" and it is very very deep!

Anyhow, I put all negative thoughts out my head when I met my 2 new friends Jean and Francis who had very kindly offered to help me!  As I struggled into my wet suit I noticed that they were just stood waiting for me in just their swimming costumes.  I tentatively said "are you not wearing a wet suit?"  and they laughed and said "No we swim all year round in all the lakes and never wear a wet suit!".  

My first thoughts were "barking" but I just smiled politely and finished wrestling with my wet suit!  We made our way down to the edge and they pointed to the buoys and the route we were going to swim.  

I immediately realised that with it being a quarry there was no way to get out if I needed to escape!  Once I was away from the edge there was no getting out!  

Not only was I wearing a wetsuit but I was also kitted out in a neoprene swim cap underneath my usual cap, wetsuit gloves and wetsuit socks!  The water temperature was just 8C and I'm a wimp!

Even fully kitted out like this the cold water took my breath away initially and I found myself gasping for air!  I was gasping even more when I realised that the water was in fact crystal clear and there were fish eye-balling me!  I have never swam in clear water before and seeing the fish unnerved me somewhat, so much so that I resorted to closing my eyes that made sighting a tad difficult! 

It took me about 150 metres to settle myself down and get into a proper stroke and breathing pattern!  I didn't want to shock my body too much by subjecting it to the cold for too long so I just did one circuit of the buoys which was approximately 450 metres which is further than the 400m swim in the tri!

When I got out the other 2 continued to do another 2 circuits whilst I enjoyed a nice hot shower and got into my warm clothes!

I was pleased that I had survived my first open water swim this year without too much panic!

On Monday evening I met a man called David who took me swimming in Lake Windermere from Millerground! 

He reckoned the water temperature was approximately 10C and he was another all year round non-wetsuit swimmer!  He told me not to bother with my socks and gloves as they made swimming more difficult! I reluctantly obeyed him and paddled slowly into the lake from the shore whilst he dived in off the jetty!  I didn't feel any colder for not having the socks and gloves on and swimming definitely felt easier without them!  It was a lovely evening and the sun was even trying to shine on me.  Thankfully the lake was fairly calm. 

David was a lovely man, very patient and encouraging.  He waited for me whenever I got left behind and I felt very safe and comfortable with him!

It felt good to be back in murky water and I welcomed not being able to see anything at all!  We swam approximately 530 metres and I felt fairly confident after the first 100 metres or so!

Last night I went swimming with the tri club and it was a very different experience. The weather had been horrendous all day with high winds and torrential rain. Luckily by the time we went swimming it had stopped raining and the wind had subsided!  We swam in Lake Windermere but this time from Cockshott Point. 

This time everyone was fully kitted out in wet suits, socks, gloves, hats so I didn't take too much persuasion to be a wimp again! The water felt considerably colder than it had the night before - how is this possible in just 24 hours?  I didn't last very long in the water it was exceptionally cold and very choppy!  I didn't feel as confident as I had the night before! I managed just 240 metres before I decided it was time to get out! Luckily for us, one of the tri club members lives in a house right next to the lake so we could get changed in the warmth and recover in front of the log burner with a steaming mug of coffee looking out onto the lake!  Idyllic! 

Tonight I decided it was time to get my trainers on and go for a run since I have neglected this badly recently!

It felt like extremely hard work and I was tired after running 7.10 miles at a relatively slow 9.14 minute mile pace!

I really must try and keep up with all training and not neglect one discipline in favour of another! 

I just don't seem to have the time to do justice to all three!