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

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...??