Just a little post to say thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has sponsored us so far and those who continue to do so! It's an amazing feeling that we still have money coming in and we hope to do so all the way up to the swim in.... 1 month and a bit (gulp) and afterwards too.
Thank you all big time. xxx
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Harlyn Bay, 11th July and Portscatho, 21st
A nice long post to enlighten you guys on what Len brushed over down there...
Our second swim was at Harlyn and this time was just Luce, Sarah and Em, as Nay was in the Scillies (we forgive her because the water there is FREEZING). Lucy and Em christened their waterproof earplugs on this swim to try and get rid of the horrible horrible earache you get from freezing cold sea water churning around your ears!! Luckily, the whole afternoon went much better than the week before.
It's much easier to swim along a beach than across the open water like we had done in Falmouth the previous week, because it's warmer (the sun heats up the sand, which heats the water) and once you get out past the breakers it's a lot less choppy, but the team did well nonetheless! We were in, swimming back and forth across the bay, for about half an hour before getting out to have a run down the length of the beach and back and then back in the water for another half hour. The run actually really tired us out for our second leg of swimming but it did help to warm us up quite a lot before getting back in the freeezing water. Luckily, the verdict on this swim was much more positive from Len as he's already said, with a good pace etc.
Our next swim was another big improvement. We swam from Portscatho Harbour round the headland and towards Carne and Pendower Beaches before the tides changed and the water got ridiculously choppy, so we turned round and swam back the way we'd come. Might I mention it was probably in the top 3 of the coldest I've ever been in my life. Absolutely freezing to the point that I totally couldn't feel my legs which is VERY annoying when you're trying to kick to get yourself back to Portscatho as fast as possible. The difference you feel on coming into the bay and out of the open sea is incredible - suddenly no more winds and waves, and you can actually take a proper breath without having to swallow a mouthful of water! Nay especially had a horrible time with the whole breathing thing and ended up pretty worse for wear after swallowing a few gallons of sea water. The fact that we were in the freezing cold water for an hour and a half meant that we completely went past the phase of being in pain from the cold and went partially, or completely, numb. The shivering didn't stop for ages, even while trying to warm up in the local restaurant with chips afterwards!
We were all really glad we'd managed to spend such a long time in the water though, and the feeling was suddenly a lot more positive. It's obvious how important it is to regularly train together in this way, since the constant need to be looking out for each other (our spacial awareness isn't great yet and within 30 seconds you can suddenly be 40 metres away from everyone else, swimming out to sea... Sarah is particularly good at that) creates a real feeling of being a proper team.
Hopefully it's all up from here!!
LENS Team xxxxxx
P.S. And yes Luce has jetted off to Cyprus which means she'll need to do a lot of extra training when she gets back...but she's an amazing swimmer and we have faith that we'll be able to sort it out in time.
Our second swim was at Harlyn and this time was just Luce, Sarah and Em, as Nay was in the Scillies (we forgive her because the water there is FREEZING). Lucy and Em christened their waterproof earplugs on this swim to try and get rid of the horrible horrible earache you get from freezing cold sea water churning around your ears!! Luckily, the whole afternoon went much better than the week before.
It's much easier to swim along a beach than across the open water like we had done in Falmouth the previous week, because it's warmer (the sun heats up the sand, which heats the water) and once you get out past the breakers it's a lot less choppy, but the team did well nonetheless! We were in, swimming back and forth across the bay, for about half an hour before getting out to have a run down the length of the beach and back and then back in the water for another half hour. The run actually really tired us out for our second leg of swimming but it did help to warm us up quite a lot before getting back in the freeezing water. Luckily, the verdict on this swim was much more positive from Len as he's already said, with a good pace etc.
Our next swim was another big improvement. We swam from Portscatho Harbour round the headland and towards Carne and Pendower Beaches before the tides changed and the water got ridiculously choppy, so we turned round and swam back the way we'd come. Might I mention it was probably in the top 3 of the coldest I've ever been in my life. Absolutely freezing to the point that I totally couldn't feel my legs which is VERY annoying when you're trying to kick to get yourself back to Portscatho as fast as possible. The difference you feel on coming into the bay and out of the open sea is incredible - suddenly no more winds and waves, and you can actually take a proper breath without having to swallow a mouthful of water! Nay especially had a horrible time with the whole breathing thing and ended up pretty worse for wear after swallowing a few gallons of sea water. The fact that we were in the freezing cold water for an hour and a half meant that we completely went past the phase of being in pain from the cold and went partially, or completely, numb. The shivering didn't stop for ages, even while trying to warm up in the local restaurant with chips afterwards!
We were all really glad we'd managed to spend such a long time in the water though, and the feeling was suddenly a lot more positive. It's obvious how important it is to regularly train together in this way, since the constant need to be looking out for each other (our spacial awareness isn't great yet and within 30 seconds you can suddenly be 40 metres away from everyone else, swimming out to sea... Sarah is particularly good at that) creates a real feeling of being a proper team.
Hopefully it's all up from here!!
LENS Team xxxxxx
P.S. And yes Luce has jetted off to Cyprus which means she'll need to do a lot of extra training when she gets back...but she's an amazing swimmer and we have faith that we'll be able to sort it out in time.
Hi, the teams first offshore swim was a bit of a dud as described earlier, but the following session at Harlyn Bay was much more promising. I think the team had been practising more between times. The swim rate was up to 2mph but the swim duration was short of the required hour. Running up and down the beach doesn't count!
The conditions for these two swims was quite poor with rain and strong winds resulting in a high windchill factor.
Last Tuesday's (21st) team swim was much more like it, with Sarah, Naomi and Emily in the water for 1.5 hrs and swimming at over 2mph. Conditions off Porthscatho were quite challenging with an offshore wind gusting to force 5, short choppy waves over a long swell and a 1 knot tide to swim against back to the beach. Life in the boat was quite interesting; my pasty nearly got wet.
Lucy seems to be sunning herself on holiday but promises to do lots of swimming and to take ice baths- who's she kidding? She will have some catching up to do when she returns.
I will keep you posted as to how this weeks team session goes, at this point the weather forecast doesn't look good so I expect we will swim in the shelter of one of the headlands from the prevailing westerly winds, either Porthscatho or Swanpool.
Len
The conditions for these two swims was quite poor with rain and strong winds resulting in a high windchill factor.
Last Tuesday's (21st) team swim was much more like it, with Sarah, Naomi and Emily in the water for 1.5 hrs and swimming at over 2mph. Conditions off Porthscatho were quite challenging with an offshore wind gusting to force 5, short choppy waves over a long swell and a 1 knot tide to swim against back to the beach. Life in the boat was quite interesting; my pasty nearly got wet.
Lucy seems to be sunning herself on holiday but promises to do lots of swimming and to take ice baths- who's she kidding? She will have some catching up to do when she returns.
I will keep you posted as to how this weeks team session goes, at this point the weather forecast doesn't look good so I expect we will swim in the shelter of one of the headlands from the prevailing westerly winds, either Porthscatho or Swanpool.
Len
6th July
First swim of the summer! Oh dear...
This was with Lucy, Em and Nay. Didn't go so well. We had to swim from Swanpool to Pendennis point in Falmouth. Flip it was cold! Len was bobbing round in his boat whilst we screamed and swore for around half an hour before we got in. Falmouth is the coldest water to swim in! So we almost got to Pendennis boat before we all started to get too cold. Had trouble breathing, our shoulders and elbows seized up which wasn't so good. We got hauled into Len's boat and spent the next hour tacking to return to exactly the same point haha! It was so ridicuously cold, so we got dropped off at Gylly and ran round to Swanpool.
This was really demoralizing for the beginning of the summer and a bit of a schock to be honest. We hadn't done much training within the past couple of months what with exams, Slovenia and...the sun haha. We really need to get our act together.
L.E.N.S Team xxxx
This was with Lucy, Em and Nay. Didn't go so well. We had to swim from Swanpool to Pendennis point in Falmouth. Flip it was cold! Len was bobbing round in his boat whilst we screamed and swore for around half an hour before we got in. Falmouth is the coldest water to swim in! So we almost got to Pendennis boat before we all started to get too cold. Had trouble breathing, our shoulders and elbows seized up which wasn't so good. We got hauled into Len's boat and spent the next hour tacking to return to exactly the same point haha! It was so ridicuously cold, so we got dropped off at Gylly and ran round to Swanpool.
This was really demoralizing for the beginning of the summer and a bit of a schock to be honest. We hadn't done much training within the past couple of months what with exams, Slovenia and...the sun haha. We really need to get our act together.
L.E.N.S Team xxxx
Intro...
Heya.
So this is our blog. We're going to use it to record all of our training, events...basically all our progress. Its to organise ourselves (haha) and also to show our loyal fans all the hours of hard work we've put in. We're also hoping to upload photos, videos and blogs whilst we're actually swimming and this will be set up somewhere in school...thats the plan anyway :)
So once again you can sponsor us at www.justgiving.com/trurogirls, or just give us money when you see us and we'll put it into our account.
Thanks and enjoy.
Loves and Hugs
Nay, Lucy, Em and Sarah xxxx
So this is our blog. We're going to use it to record all of our training, events...basically all our progress. Its to organise ourselves (haha) and also to show our loyal fans all the hours of hard work we've put in. We're also hoping to upload photos, videos and blogs whilst we're actually swimming and this will be set up somewhere in school...thats the plan anyway :)
So once again you can sponsor us at www.justgiving.com/trurogirls, or just give us money when you see us and we'll put it into our account.
Thanks and enjoy.
Loves and Hugs
Nay, Lucy, Em and Sarah xxxx
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