11 Weeks Till Rottnest Swim

With just 11 weeks till the start line of the Rottnest Channel Swim, training is going well, there have been a few mornings where I have not wanted to swim and have had to push myself that little bit harder to stay positive. Just being tired and having a long standing injury that needs surgery has its nights of keeping me awake and uncomfortable.

My training partner and I are in what I call a rebuild time, where after doing the qualifying 10km event in November we have had a little rest time and now we are into week three of a rebuild back to longer distances with better consistency of pace. We managed a good 3200m session this morning, in the local 50m pool and I can say its good as it helps with acclimatizing to cold water. This outdoor pool is not heated and in set in rock so it doesn't warm up even in the middle of summer when we have had 40+ degree (Celsius) days. So as we come closer to Christmas, things get a little hectic with work and sorting out family get together's, its still important to get as much training in as possible.

We have come up with an awesome and hard session just after Christmas of swimming for five hours in a pool. Now this is being done for a couple of reasons, time in the ocean will be hard to get our paddler(s) organised and our work schedules as well. So with being in the pool we can make sure we feed properly (every 30 minutes) and the monotony of going up and down a pool makes for good mental strength. Plus you don't have the help of the ocean current to push you through the water, so in a pool its you doing all the work.

 So five hours in the water. I haven't done any more than four hours before, and so pushing the body that little bit more, and further will be amazing, painful, and exhilarating as well. Its finding just how far one can push the body and the mind, staying focused and I am sure there will be moments of zoning out, as I did it again today.

After Christmas and New Year (busy time at work) I am looking forward to catching up with my paddler who lives a couple of hours south of Perth city, so we can have a session and get used to each other and just some time out on the water. Then it will be most of the time in the pool working harder and harder to make sure we are as ready as we can be for the big day

My Mantra When Swimming!

Have an awesome rest of the week and weekend to come...

Hayley xx