Great North Swim 2014

This year I chose to do two miles in Lake Windermere, Cumbria, of the Great Swim Series. The last two years I had been doing one mile swims, so I wanted to stretch myself and do two miles, which resulted in two laps of the lake.

I did very well with the first half mile and quite pleased I was swimming well. Although no watch or time devise present I thought I'd done well. Getting around to the mile post I pushed myself to continue instead of getting out! I swam to the half mile ball again of the second mile I was getting tired by this stage. Each bouncing ball I swam around indicating the course seemed an impossibility, and a very long way off. They never seemed to get bigger as I swam closer; always this orange dot in the distance. So, getting around this half mile ball I was shattered, but not one to give up, with so little distance left I forced myself to do breaststroke. I began to feel sick too, retching quite frequently, but determined to finish.

I had set myself an hour and a half to complete. I had achieved two miles in a 25m pool in an hour and ten minutes. I knew the open water would take longer, and not wanting to be disappointed I set myself a target to achieve and be proud of.

So, with the end in sight I kept going and had convinced myself that as I was going slower than the desired time I'd set myself to complete. With my determination to finish and may be next year to come to do a quicker time. Each year the swim gets better with enjoyment. This being my third consecutive year it was the first time I actually enjoyed it. Now I was struggling, getting slower and weaker. My stomach doing somersaults. I'd slowly reached the end and had to be helped to gain my footing on the platform to get up.

Up I struggled, tired, my name being called out, and there was dad with his camera. Click! I felt horrendou and goodness knows what I looked like. I stepped further on, and dad had joined me saying something, thrusting his watch in to my eye line.  He was saying approximately an hour and fourteen minutes. And there was his watch with the little hand pointing towards the 12 and the big hand just above the 45 degree angle. Wow! Took a awhile to sink in, but wow! I just couldn't believe it. That's amazing by my standards. My gorgeous hubby must've gone online as some time later I received a text to say one hour fourteen minutes and twenty six seconds. Chuffed! Massive smile for me!