3 days 12 hours and counting to go...

 With just days to go its now getting down to the business end of training ready to swim on Saturday. So far the weather is looking pretty much perfect, fingers and toes are all crossed that it stays that way.

We do our last swim session tomorrow of 1500 meters, just a short half hour in the water. So it will feel a bit sad to only be in there for that long when we are used to being in the water for over an hour at a time. Then its time to rest, load the body with carbohydrates and protein. Try and not let the mind run to far ahead and play games. This is the difficult part of tapering, the head runs to fast and into so many different areas of the swim. When I am trying not to over think it at all, except to make sure all the last minutes things are sorted, such as nutrition, clothes and gear for after the swim.

The amount of training that goes into such a big event is amazing, and I know that if I hadn't got my eating disorder dealt with properly unlike when I did the Busselton Half Ironman a couple of years ago, I wouldn't be able to do the swim. Making the decision to get real with myself was step one, having the best support crew around me while gaining the required weight and dealing with it all emotionally while still maintaining a big training program. I can honestly say I am the fittest I have ever been, I am the most clear minded I have ever been. I am exceptionally proud of myself and being able to let go of my Eating Disorder and reaching a life goal and looking further into the future that also will require more weight to be gained as I need to learn to swim in cold water for the big picture.

The past 12 months of training has brought me to this weekend...Rottnest Channel Swim, which is the first stepping stone to reach the biggest part of the picture...8 Bridges Swim in America. This is 192km over 7 days down the Hudson River. I will make it to the dream and fulfill it. Along the way I hope to show teens that starving yourself to be like everyone else isn't the way to go, feed the mind, feed the dreams and make every one of them come true!

The above paragraph was taken from my Facebook page that I posted yesterday and this just sums everything up for me leading into Saturday, its not just about reaching Thompson Bay on Rottnest Island, its been about a massive start to a long journey of recovery, understanding, and discovery with so much more to come and dreams to dream.

Have an awesome week...

Hayley xx