Last night I swam the furthest I’ve ever done – 4 1/2 miles. It was in training for the 6 mile swim I’ve got in a couple of weeks, as well as general training for Windermere. I’m glad I did it and the first few miles were nice and relaxed and I enjoyed them. The last mile or so was pretty tough though. What I did get from it however was a real sense of perspective on the whole thing.
1. It’s gonna be tough. I knew that anyway, but last night really brought it home. What I did last night was a lot less than half-way of the Windermere swim and that is an incredibly scary thought.
2. I WILL be able to do it. Before last night I thought 4 1/2 miles sounded tough – but now I’ve ticked that off and I’ll tick off other challenges as I progress. I felt like I could have done another 1/2 mile or so last night (but wanted to be able to use my arms today!), so there’s a still a bit left in the tank.
3. I need to speed up. I’ve gone on about this before, but it’s important. It’s important because there are entry criteria for first time swimmers of Windermere – you have to be able to swim 5 1/2 miles in 3 1/2 hours (I think). Last night I did 4 1/2 miles in 3 1/4 hours – so at this rate I won’t even be allowed to enter.
4. I still enjoy swimming. Despite the swim last night being hard work, overall I enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed much more than I would have done if I’d been running – and perhaps more importantly my body felt much better today than if I’d been running for 3 1/4 hours (just to put it in perspective, when I was running I would have done 20 miles in 3 1/4 hours).
So still a very long way to go to Windermere (metaphorically and literally), but I’m on track, kind of.
1000kmstowindermere 
Well done. What a swim! A great achievement. The pressuer of speed is tough isn’t it? I was back in the pool on Sunday and I have slowed down. My plan for this month is to use the sea for endurance swims and the pool for drills (including sprints). I am comparing it to running , you know all those mile repeats and hill repeats you do, and then one day you suddenly run a race faster…………..I’ll let you know how it goes! Well done again.
Thanks for that. I’ve actually got 6 miles planned for this Saturday though … eek!
I know what you mean about speed and drills. My plan is to look at that once the outdoor swimming season is over. I want to get as much outdoor experience as possible over the summer, then I’ll focus on drills and speed in the pool over the winter. And I’m hoping for exactly the same as you – a lot of drills and then suddenly I’m faster. Fingers crossed for both of us.
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