Cottesloe 5 Kilometer Swim...

Yesterday saw myself and a group of friends hit the ocean for a 5 kilometer and 2.5 kilometer swim. Myself and my training partner we did the 5 kilometer swim as we prepare for out 10 kilometer swim in two weeks and the Rottnest Channel Swim in three months.

Standing on the beach the water didn't look that rough, well once we got in, I have to say it wasn't very calm either. There were a number of other "bonuses" waiting for us. Stingers (jellyfish) and seaweed. The first lap which is 1.25 kilometers was interesting as you swim you are seeing others being hauled out of the water by the Cottesloe Beach Royal Life Savers. Obviously people were taken a back by the number of stingers out in the water and the amount of seaweed about a hundred meters from the first turning buoy.

A Crazy Bunch Ready to Swim

So with in a few hundred meters we hit the first and not the last lot of stingers. These little "shits" as I call them, were a plenty. with stings up the arms you push through, but what goes through the mind is you have another three laps after this one to go, and you know you are going to get bomb-barded  by them on each lap you do at about the same place. The seaweed, wasn't that bad after the first lap as it became dispersed more with each lap we did. Water wise we were getting pushed towards to beach.

Myself with my race number

When you have an event where there is a large number of obstacles such as jellyfish, you need to either shut that pain feeling you get down and just keep going or you let that burning sting feeling get to you and get out. I was determined to just get through the 5 kilometers and finish. I have gotten to a point with my swimming that I am able to shut my mind down from negative thoughts. I was able to visualise  being in the 10km event that is two weeks away, and also the Rottnest Channel Swim. The need to be able to deal with these interruptions (jellyfish, seaweed and rough water) is all part of the training.  I only got to a bad point, when I was about 250m from the finish when I felt like I was swimming through a thick layer of jellyfish that were stinging me all over and as I tried to kick myself faster, managed to get a cramp in my right calf, which stopped me for a minute or so. Though with the help of my training partner quickly giving it a quick rub, I swam it out and though felt like by the time I hit the sand to get out, I wouldn't be able to walk or run on the leg.

The only other issue was sprinters swimming though you. There was one point where I got a little frustrated and hit the swimmers rage button and pulled one of the girls by her ankle as I was a little annoyed by this point.

So with a good and respectable time of 1:45:58 which comes down to 2:07(mins) per 100m I was totally happy with our times, as I gave us two hours to get it done in, not knowing the weather and other conditions. Looking further we are on target for a three and half hours for our 10 kilometer swim in two weeks.

Have a great week everyone...

Hayley xx

Had a little fun on Monday...

AQWA (Aquarium Western Australia)
"I can see you!"

Crocs sleeping in the sunlight
(AQWA)

Sunset from Lions Lookout

Grevillea after its finished flowering

"Hi I'm Ray, nice to meet you!"
(AQWA)

Bee heading for the pollen

Stingray and Port Jackson Shark

Qualifying Swim 3 Weeks to Go....

City Beach a Little Stormy

I was down at City Beach on Friday morning, as I was early for an appointment and just felt the need to get some fresh salty air. This is where our 10 kilometer qualifying swim will be held in three weeks. Looking at how the water way on Friday I am so hoping for better conditions. It was rough, and windy, and not what you want for a qualifying swim when you have a time limit set. Yes it would be do able, but would probably take me more than the allotted time of four hours and fifteen minutes.
 

Tuesday at City Beach

Even last Tuesday was windy and there were some small white caps, but at least the water didn't look like a washing machine. City Beach seems to be a bit more open than my favourite swimming place (Cottesloe Beach). I remember swimming at City Beach as a kid with my dad and having no fear about the waves and swimming out over my head. Its interesting that as we get older we tend to fear more, and seem to put more restrictions on ourselves. I was standing on City Beach last year waiting to do a 2.5 kilometer swim, and as us girls were the last in the water I was seeing the waves building and getting rougher by the minute. I stood there pacing and thinking..."what the hell am I doing??" I nearly pulled out at the last minute, but even though it was one of the toughest swims I had, had to date, I was happy that I completed it and knew within myself if I could do that, I could do anything.

Stormy Sky  City Beach

 So here we are, only three weeks to go, and I have to admit the nerves are starting to show up. Though it is going to be a matter of hoping for the best weather conditions and knowing that I have trained hard enough and done enough to get to where I am now and that I will qualify. There is always a plan B though in the back of my mind, as much as I don't want to think about it, if for some reason I don't get the City Beach swim done in the allotted time there are a number of other swims that I can do to qualify. Though I feel that I am capable of getting through the ten kilometers at City Beach. I guess for me the most important part over the coming weeks is going to be getting enough rest and fuel intake, and keeping stress to a minimum, as I know stress affects me big time, which showed yesterday in a training session.

Rough Waters

 So today's plan is another five kilometers in the pool today and then head to Cottesloe Beach to see if the weather holds so we can get in and maybe get a couple of kilometers done, as next Saturday is the first of the Open Water Swimming Series swims and we are doing five kilometers, and I would prefer to be able to get back in today.

I hope everyone has an awesome week...

Hayley xx

Being Creative...

Last night I spent an hour watching the sun-setting over our lovely city from the hills. I just wish I had my camera to take better ones, but these weren't too bad as they had been taken with my iPhone.

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The colours and silhouettes were amazing. I am looking forward to more time to go places and take photo's and I learn about using a camera better and producing some great shots

Have an awesome week...

Hayley xx

Life's Journey...

 I love this saying "Life Isn't about finding yourself, its about creating yourself". Recently I saw just how true this is. I was the one who was always trying to find myself and could never say "I found" myself, instead I just kept looking and while doing that went into a spiral of an eating disorder and just trying different things in life to find what made me happy or what I thought would make me happy. Well instead of creating myself which is now what I do, is so much better and as much as I try new things I now know not to look for the things that I want to make me happy, but the experiences that bring joy to my life.

I guess that is the thing, we look for the materialistic things that we think make us happy, but when it should be the things we experience in life that bring us joy, excitement and understanding of ourselves. For a long time I have wanted a new car, as mine is old and banged up, but when I decided to drive my old car to Busselton (two and half hours from home) I felt a strange connection with my car, as daft as that sounds, this car has gotten me from point A to point B more times than I can remember, she doesn't cost much to run and I feel that, that is more important than having a new car just because she is old, or damaged. She isn't broken and still works well, with a few minor fixes to come, she will be good as new. This old car of mine didn't skip a beat on the trip down to Busselton and I was able to have the most amazing time in one of my favourite towns and spend some awesome time with a great friend of mine. So it came down to the journey I took with my car to an amazing place that was an experience that I won't forget any time soon.

Each day I make sure I experience something new. I have recently gotten back into some photography, mainly using my iPhone as my camera isn't working all that well at the moment. As I drive around I see things like flowers, signs, buildings and people in a different way, its how I would photograph that particular subject and the light and surrounds. Its amazing to be seeing so many things in such a new way.

So as we step forward into another week, we should take a closer look at the experiences we have, as they are the lessons we are to learn, and reach for, not the material things that we think will make us happy and full filled.

Please take the time this week to experience life and your journey as you are the only one on that journey which is "your life".

Hayley xx

20 weeks till Rottnest Channel Swim...

 As of yesterday we have 20 weeks till we take on the Rottnest Channel Swim. We are still on track for making qualification in five weeks. Still filled with excitement and even better tomorrow registrations open, so once that is done and qualifying is done its head down, bum up with training.

Yesterday my training partner and I had planned to head to the open water for our first swim with the warmer weather, but as there had been a large number of shark sightings up and down the coast, we decided best to push ourselves with a 10 kilometer swim in the pool.

 We start to get to the sticky part of our preparations for February 2016. With a five kilometer event in a matter of weeks and then our qualifier just two weeks after. With yesterday's session of 10 kilometers we have managed Personal Bests on our times. Mine was at least four minutes, and I was totally happy with the result. It makes a definite difference from the swim in July, where I wasn't swimming as efficiently as I was yesterday. I can still say though it did hurt in the sense of muscle soreness but found that I knew exactly when to feed through out the swim., as I could feel certain muscles in my arms and back become sore and strained.

For the next four weeks its training as usual, with up to 20 -25 kilometers per week. Its Taper week, the week prior to the qualifying swim (14th November). That will be a week of eating and resting and getting all the logistics organised with feeds.

I have a couple of awesome and hard swim sessions put together for late November when our local 50 meter pool is re-opened. It will simulate the swim in February to a point of understanding how we deal with physical and mental fatigue. I believe this to be a very important part of our training. I could set our plan for what we are doing now, but its not simulating what we may feel when we get into the ocean and doing 20 kilometers. This particular session will be four, five kilometer swims in two days. Yep that is right, we will be doing a five kilometer swim in the morning, then out and off to work. Then another five kilometer session later that afternoon and then the same the next day. This is where eating and recovery is of utmost importance. I am very much looking forward to the coming months of training. With so much more to learn and understand about how my body and mind deals with high levels of fatigue and exercise.

 I firmly believe that it is never to late to do what you wanted to do as younger person. Things might be a little different to what you originally wanted to do, but that is fine, as long as you are happy doing it.

Have an awesome week everyone...

Hayley xx

Pushing Your Limits!!

Rocky Balboa a legend, I have watch many of the Rocky
movies and they resonate with me on the level of every time you get knocked down you get back up again and keep going. Our bodies are amazing things, our brain is the most intricate organ we have, it is able to keep going when the body feels like giving up.

We have many moments in life where we have to push through so much, in our careers, family, illness, daily life. What is it that makes us keep pushing our boundaries, what makes us push our limits?

Why do we put limits on ourselves?

 Have you ever been back to a place that you spent some time in? When you returned and that particular place hadn't changed, but you felt like it had, is it more like Nelson Mandela says "...you yourself have altered." I have been down this road recently, and I have changed so much for the best. Yes there have been some big changes I made in my life and I live with them daily and still wonder if I did the right thing, and at the end of the day I can say, "for me, yes I did." Our journeys in life I don't think are supposed to easy, or I think it would be very boring, but I do wish that some don't have ones that are intensely hard either. There will be hills, corners and turns in our journeys for us to learn from, but we do still need to push the limits that are set before us either by ourselves or by others.

Push your "limits" and see what you can achieve and become...
Have an awesome day and coming weekend...

Hayley xx

Defining ourselves....

This photo I took when I was in Busselton the other week, I titled it "Out To Nowhere"...its the view from the end of the Busselton Jetty that looks straight out to sea. I feel that it gives a feeling that anything is possible in life if you are prepared to chase it.

A couple of days ago while relaxing on the computer and sifting through my facebook feed, I came across a question from Jenni Schaefer, asking How do you define yourself outside of Ed? (Ed is Eating Disorder). I stirred many different thoughts in me. I have for so long defined myself by so many different titles, I guess it wasn't until I saw this question that I have pretty much stopped doing that. I am me! a person, a human being. I don't want to define myself by materialistic things, or by illness, or even by my chosen sport (which I sometimes do). I guess its being mindful of what we say to people in conversation, but also the way we define others. 

to explain or identify the nature or essential qualities of; describe:



I guess we will forever try to define ourselves and others in our lives, I just hope that when we do its for positive reasons, not negative ones. If situations in our lives can be used to help others that is the best positive, if its to bring others down, then no thank you!

So why do we define ourselves by our careers, family, sport, friends, homes, cars, money...and the list goes on. Do we ever define ourselves as fun loving, energetic, happy, fulfilled...I guess we don't as the latter doesn't have that competitive side to it. We have become such a society of competing in every aspect of our lives. Looking at the area of Body Image as well, there is so many ways to define people...over weight, under weight, lazy, fit, obsessive, anorexic, fat, big, small, muscular, obese, addicts, eaters, emotional...when does it all stop? It seems we are never happy with anything, or if we are, I have to ask are we truly happy?

May we all have an awesome week ahead...

Hayley xx

Playing with my Camera

Have a lovely weekend

Hayley xx