Mark's Marathon Swim

Mark’s Marathon Swim, an Amazing Challenge for Charity

2010-05-10T22:49:00.000+01:00

Mark’s Marathon Swim, an Amazing Challenge for Charity

...Relaunch of the Marathon Swim Challenge...

2009-11-22T20:45:00.002Z

2009 was not the year for the swim, so now 2010 is the commitment.. and as the purpose of doing the challenge is to raise money, I've moved the blog onto Facebook. Search for 'Mark's Marathon Swim Challenge' and join the group..!!

See you there..

Mark T.

OMG....How long..??????

2009-05-22T23:24:00.003+01:00

OK....I may not be the best blogger on the scene, but that doesn't mean that I've dropped off the planet.. Lots of things have been happening and my HIM is only 5 weeks away... WHAT THE..?!!?!

Now, I've been folowing the training plan and things are going good - no injury and no difficulties... and I think that I have got the balance right between the training, work and family life.. Ok, so I have only hit about 60% of the planned training sesions but I feel good on it..!

So let's see what happens in the race - game plan..? To run my own race and get to the end with a smile on my face.... (and I'll settle for a grimace..!)

Have a good weekend people..!

Time flies when you're training hard..!!

2009-02-21T22:47:00.005Z

Ok, so it's been a while since I posted, but I have not been slacking - just being a bit more systematic about my training and my rest.... and I have taken a bit of a decision about the timing of the swim - Namely moving the date further away which might mean that I set the date for early next year.

This decision wasn't taken lightly, but with a sense of realism, due to my impending Half Ironman on June. I have seen too many people fall to the perils of overtraining and injury - something I'm tyring to avoid. If I set out to do the swim as planned, this would mean an extraordinary amount of training which could lave me unfit to do either of my goals.. Not sure what hit me to make this sensible decision, Must be my dearly departed mum talking to me from the afterlife.... That's a nice thought....

As far as my HIM training, I have taken a plan from one of my many Tri books which seems to be going very well - 2 weeks into it and it's going great! No sign of injury and the dreaded asthma is well under control. No sign of it on the bike or the swim but VERY active on the run...!

The only one time I forgot to take my medication prior to the run resulting in an instant end of play after 2 km... Not good... If I take it before I start... No problems at all....Sorted..!

One thing I discovered is that a regular plan does not go well with procrastination... maybe this will be good for other areas of my life where putting thing off leads to little being done..!

Anything else...? maybe get to posting more often - others push me to shame eh TriT..??

OK... fitness is officially bad for you....:)

2009-01-30T23:16:00.002Z

So... After a really good swim session on Tuesday I settled into bed for a good night's sleep only to be woken up in the early hours with a tight chest and a reall struggle to breath. This is starting to get tedious as it is really getting in the way of things. So, after a visit to the Doctors and the usual raft of questions, most of them not getting any closer to finding the reason and typically all of the symptoms having gone, I left the surgery with a prescription.

I am now the proud owner of an inhaler medication and a loose diagnosis of asthma... bummer..

Thursday's team run was, I must admit, taken with a level of apprehension that the breathing would start to play around again and, sure enough, part way through the warm up, things started to get a bit difficult again. I'm not really sure if it happened because I was half expecting it or because the weather and temperature were very cold... so after a blast of the inhaler things really took off and the training went really well..!! yay..!!

Not how I wanted the week to turn out, but some things you can't control... Just means that I now have an extra bit of Tri kit..!!!

I have the feeling that this problem will subside as the weather gets better....hopefully..!

Out tomorrow for a 2 hour ride with the crew...

Calf Pain and Asthma..?!?!

2009-01-25T17:32:00.003Z

Ok, this week has gone a bit strange for me... I always thought that the point of childhood asthma was that it was a CHILDHOOD thing.... but maybe I was wrong.. The running has been going really well but I have begin to experience a real tightness in my chest - but not every time I run...Hmmm what's that all about..??? I have experimented with the run training at different times of day but the tightness is hitting at random times... Need to keep an eye on this I think...

Now to the calf pain - again, came from nowhere.. and well, it's more of a deep ache that can't be massaged out. Now I think I've spotted the problem and it's a stupid reason - in my keenness to get the 6 days a week in I have inadvertently doubled the distance over the last 3 weeks - just goes to show that my body won't be pushed quicker than it wants to be..!

Now, early research has shown (otherwise known as a quick look up on Google!) that the problem lies in my soleus muscle... not that knowing that actually helps, it just makes explaining the injury sound like I know what I'm talking about. So a recommended 10 days off the running is the treatment plan I'm having to follow..

Lesson learned..? Keep a good eye on the mileage and don't be too keen to ramp it up.. and dont get too freaked when blood clots in the muscles are mentioned...

Well this has given me the opportunity to replace the running with swimming - Oh no, I'm not taking the time off - Not my style.....

Getting to really like the smell of Chlorine anyway...

Training must be paying off..!!

2009-01-14T22:24:00.005Z

After another week of '6 days training and 1 day off' (my new year commitment rather than the 'nah.. not today' routine!) I found myself at my Tri club weekly swim. Oh joy.. coach had another TT session planned to check our ongoing progress. Actually, I was quite pleased as I wanted to check if my new found commitment was having any benefit.... and I'm happy to say that it did - added good distance to the timed trial. Now please don't get too excited (as I am reading that you guys (and girls *ahem*!) are packing in some high distances... alas, I am a little behind you in volume and endurance, but I've made the mistake of trying to play the 'catch-up' game only to be dumped down with injury. Now, I'm more inclined to do the 'I'll get there in my own time' thing - much safer. Anyway, the 20 minute TT - I added another 100metres to the time - not bad for me and a good indication that the speed work and technique drills have produced what I wanted them to. Oh.. and I lapped two of my team mates...twice...!

More people are starting to ask about the swim and I'm getting that familiar 'are you mad..?' look. To be honest, it just makes me laugh...!

It is really interesting that some people can't get the idea that the swim is about the challenge and a test of my own endurance - yes it's going to be hard, no, I'm not guaranteeing that I will complete it. yes, my mind might turn in on itself and I might go slightly psychotic at the boredom of 1400 lengths of he same pool, But in some ways I want to have an experience that will take some work to get through. As I said before, this event will be for the Eve Appeal, a charity that is looking to find a cure for women suffering from gynaecological cancer and I really feel that I should experience some level of pain and discomfort during the event.

Does that sound slightly wierd...?? Hmmm.... I know what I mean anyway...

Plan for the next week? step up the training as per my program and move another week closer to the start of my 1/2 Ironman training schedule... and lots of swimming...!!

I think my family are starting to forget who I am.... maybe I need to plan something special to do with them..!

..so now they tell me...

2009-01-06T23:41:00.004Z

Did a swim with my Triathlon club tonight and told them about my planned marathon swim. Nicely got some shocked responses - just what I wanted as this indicates that my swim is something challenging..!

Downside is that the pool length I was given is wrong.. 33 yards not metres..!!

This alters the figures somewhat.. as the overall number of lengths has shifted to 1399.. a little more than first thought.
But this only adds to the fun of the planning..!

It actually works out a little easier as I can aim for the 12 hours and shouldn't be far off the mark. Next step? Get permission from the pool to do the event and begin work on establishing my pace..

It was good to see that my pace at the pool tonight had improved as I seemed to be catching others and blowing a lot less..!

The fun of training eh..?

Wow..! what a cold one...

2009-01-03T22:31:00.005Z

45 miles in the early morning frost was fun.. playing the game of 'spot the black ice' at 25mph is something everyone should experience.. but caution got the better of me so a slow comfortable ride was had by all without accident thank goodness..

It's interesting to see which of your team mates are prepared to come out in the cold to put the mileage in - numbers were down from an average of 12 riders down to 4 and the phrase men from the boys comes to mind..! Little else to say for today apart from another observations such as how the wind chill on your face feels like dental anaesthetic and the temperature of my drink made me wish I had had one - funny that...

Quiet day planned for tomorrow - time with the family.....Fab!

..an opportunity for learning...

2009-01-02T22:19:00.004Z

So the 2 hour swim didn't quite go to plan today. The set length time of 31 seconds was achievable for the first 8 minutes before I started to drop behind the pace setter so a little work needed on my swim speed. I guess that's the point of training..!

What I did learn was that the first 15oom are the hardest for me. After that I settled ino a good rhythm and with a slower pace, I can honestly say that I found it relaxing - maybe this was due to me finding the regular pace and the regular breathing kind of hypnotic, allowing me to free think about all sorts of things, family, work, some nice places in the world I want to visit sometime, you get the idea..!

Another good thing to find out is that my home made energy drink really seems to work when taken every 30 minutes throughout the swim. I found that allowing 60 seconds per half hour gives me enough time to take on 30g of carbohydrate drink - time will tell if this strategy will work over longer swim times. If anyone wants the recipe and the recommended strategy for using it, just ask - it was recommended by the chief nutritionist for the 2008 British Olympic Triathlon Team in Beiging. We were lucky to have him attend out triathlon club and present a seminar on race nutrition.

The next step is to find my first member of my pit crew to record the number of lengths swum over 2 hours so I can gain a more accurate picture of my pace. This should be interesting..!!

Tomorrow's plan is to get a morning of cycling in with my team mates - can't let my planned 1/2 Ironman race in June get neglected can I..??

It all depends on how you look at it...

2009-01-02T11:06:00.002Z

Just a quick thought... your achivements throughout your life will depend on how you choose to see the situation...

Ok, so this took a bit of working out..

2009-01-01T22:14:00.000Z

Now that I've decided to do this, I needed to get a bit systematic if I was going to get the distance of 42195 metres done in a day. For convenience (!) I have set the target at 12 hours, so working out the pace got a bit technical. Now follow this if you can.. Giving the completion time of 12 hours, I have based all of the times on a deadline of 11 hous to give me an hour leeway.

Taking 11 hours, the calculations look like this..!

11 hours in seconds is 39600. The number of 33 metre lengths is 42195 divided by 33 is 1279 lengths.. keep with me now..! to get the pace for 1 length, you ned to divide the total time in seconds by the number of lengths - giving a length pace time of 31 seconds.. Tadahhh..!!!

To keep me on track I'm using a pace counter which will be set to tone every 31seconds which should help me keep on target.. hopefully.! To be honest, with this being my first venture into long distance swimming, I have no idea if this will be achievable for me as yet. We will have to see what the training unfolds. A 2 hour swim is on the plan for tomorrow which will give me a sense of the pace..

It seems kind of strange making this plan for the marathon swim. As the new year has arrived, during our New Years Day family meal, our thoughts went back over 2008. Without planning it, we took stock of our successes and how lucky we were to have all we have. Health is all important as is the closeness of your family. As things are getting difficult for lots of people I am struck by how lucky we are to have these important basics.

This need in me to push my personal boundaries has been inspired by the loss of my Mother, who battled ovarian cancer for the last 4 1/2 years of her life. I have never seen anyone take this misfortune and turn it into an opportunity to inspire people. Even in the most difficult days of the illness, she would always try to squeeze every drop of positivity out of her day. This hit me like a train - I realised how I was taking my life for granted and missing the daily opportunities that were there infront of me...

This ignited something inside me - Mum's courage was exceptional and she confronted her illness with courage, knowing that it would eventually take her life, but never giving in to it. I needed to be more like her and look for the opportunities and experiences that life has to offer.. I guess that by setting myself challenges and using them to raise money for the Eve Appeal, I can give something to help others not die from this terrible disease. I also like to think that she would be looking in on me as I'm hurting and wishing I'd never started the event. Maybe saying "keep going love..!"

Funny where your thoughts go at this time of year......

New Year's Eve Thoughts..?

2008-12-31T22:54:00.000Z

After being plagued with a knee injury that laid me off training for 5 weeks and getting man flu (no, the real thing...honest..!) I thought I'd give training a go again as my plan for my first 1/2 Ironman starts tomorrow. After completing a 5K swim yesterday without any real problem it was time to give the running a go. So this afternoon saw a 5K run at a moderate 85% heart rate, produced no pain or discomfort at all - Yay..! Not fast at 26 minutes but a good start after 5 weeks of nothing.

So the New Year will start as I mean to go on.. training plan in place and programmed into my Garmin trainer.. discipline to keep to it is my resolution..! Santa has also helped me to get some new goodies for my bike - Profile areo bars, new bike computer and a Profile drink system.. this will hopefully reduce my excuses -hopefully!

Other plans for the new year..? family time with my wonderful wife and kids - last year passed so quickly and the difference in my 12 year old son and 9 year old daughter are unbelievable.. I really have missed some of the subtle changes in them and have got to the end of this year wondering what happened..

Here's hoping that 2009 brings all that is deserved for you all...

42195 metre swim..?? Hmm.....

2008-12-30T18:37:00.001Z

I must admit that I like a challenge... and it was with this in mind I wanted to do something that would stretch me more than I have been before. I searched the internet and after looking at websites and personal blogs for events such as the Marathon de Sables, the Channel Swim and the Land's End to John O'Groats bike rides - It was striking and unbelievable how far the human body can be pushed when you try (and train!) hard enough. the only real limiter seems to be the mind and how strong you are mentally.

Apart from the challenge, I wanted to raise funds for a charity that is important to me. You can click on the widget on the right for more details of the Eve Appeal where all funds raised by this event will go to. If you like, you can make a pledge now.!! If you would prefer to wait until the event is over, that's fine too.. ANY amount of money would be very much appreciated..

Last year I took up the sport of Triathlon and have really felt the benefits of challenging myself both physically and mentally - sometimes hurting lots..! What I have found out is that there have been many times when I have convinced myself that "I couldn't do that" - but I have found a new mantra - "I have the ability to do that". I am now convinced that with determination and drive, we all could achieve far more than we think we could. This convenient lifestyle that we all seem to be living seems to have taught us all that we are not capable of achieving. So.. soap box rant over with...!

As is happening to lots of people, the main limiter for me is financing a venture, so for the moment, an endurance event close to home will have to be my 2009 target. This focused me on the idea of a swim marathon.

I must admit that my feelings about doing this are a mixture of excitement and anxiety. The distance is bigger than a channel swim distance and, after searching the internet, I can't seem to find any details to suggest that it has been done before.. (Google hasn't let me down before so...??!?). After some initial calculations, the swim distance equates to 1279 lengths of my local 33 metre pool. To complete the event successfully, I will need to be disciplined with the training - not a strong point of mine, so another personal challenge...

To mark this challenge and give it a sense of reality, I completed a 5km swim this morning - partly to see how my recovery from man-flu had gone(!) (...no comments on that bit please..!) and partly to get a feel for the monotony of swimming lots of laps.. Interestingly, I found that after the first 40 minutes, it got fairly comfortable - settling into a nice rhythm, and allowing my mind to wonder a bit.... I think I need to get a more formal plan together to include some swim drills.

Anyone got ideas...??