It’s that time of year…where English Channel swims and lots of other long exciting ones are getting started. Some of our own Sandycove swimmers will be heading off to Dover next week for their EC swims. And for those of us who have a few months to go yet before our swims, it’s when things are getting tough.
I’ve been getting into cold water at weekends all through the winter, but for the last four or five weeks I haven’t been back to the pool – I’m in the open water six days a week. And I’m feeling it. I’m tired. Tired from the cold. Tired from rough water. Tired from driving to and from Sandycove at all different times to try to make the most of the tide. Tired from having to talk myself out of getting out when I’m feeling miserable and everyone’s finished and gone home and I’m still stuck there finishing out a long swim. Tired from trying to fit in work and life around swims.
Sometimes it feels never-ending and it’s hard to remember a time when I actually went down to the sea to enjoy a swim. But then every so often that comes back. Last week I did a short swim with Jen and Rob and it was one of those swims where everything just comes together and I was feeling fast (well, fast for me anyway!) and having fun, I just didn’t want it to end. And yesterday I went down on a miserable day to get thrown around in rough, messy conditions for three hours…and really enjoyed it!
The long swims day after day, week after week are hard – there’s no doubt about it. But to be honest – would I really rather be doing anything else? Probably not!
Lisa's Long Swims 