Event Review : Swimathon 2016

Spoiler alert.... I did it! I completed my 2.5km Swimathon for Sport Relief, all with front crawl, and if you don't mind I'm going to feel rather pleased with myself for a moment. January 2015 I could barely string six lengths of front crawl together and I certainly never thought I'd be able to tackle 100!

I'd signed up to to Swimathon as part of the Get Berkshire Active virtual Sport Relief / This Girl Can Team and enjoyed swapping training notes with Vicki and encouraging my other team mates in there disciplines. I was impressed with the pre-event organisation compared to the previous year. I received a pack through the post with information of what to expect in general and plenty of fundraising material. I'd chosen Bracknell Leisure Centre as my pool this year, having heard good things about it the previous year and having been rather unimpressed with the organisation at Carnival Pool. In the weeks leading up to the event I received an email from the pool asking me for some extra information about my pace, expected finishing time and whether I needed a lap counter, so that they could best plan the day to prevent over crowding. Then in the week beforehand I was emailed again to ask if I could start at 2pm rather than 12noon... not really! Neither was I sure that I could manage the 11am time but to their credit they were very accommodating and I promised I would arrive as early as I could.

I hadn't been feeling great in the lead up to the event, suddenly coming down with something that left me both congested and with a streaming nose around Thursday, but I took myself to Clubbercise on Friday evening instead of TVT swim training, had an early night and liberally sprinkled olbas oil around and about. I skipped running parkrun on Saturday morning in favour of marshalling, so was about as fresh as I could be. It was a landmark run for a few friends so there was cake and I did partake of some particularly sugary cheesecake which left me with the biggest sugar high I'd had in ages.

Pre-swim cheesecake... probably not the *best* choice.

On arrival I made my way to the changing rooms and was greeted by a very cheery girl who signed me on, checked if I needed a lap counter and gave me a swim cap. I was poolside by around 11:15am, shaking hands with Kathy, the organiser, and being introduced to me lap counter. There were six lanes of swimmers, a water/squash station and tables full of water bottles and medals, all labelled up  for finishers. Somewhat different to last year! I waited for the chap in my lane to finish his PB attempt and then set off. 

Getting ready to go poolside

I had the lane to myself for a while which helped me to set a good steady pace for the first 20 or 30 lengths. There were only ever three of us in my lane at any one time, and we were quite well matched for speed so I never felt rushed or frustrated with pace. The first half went fairly quickly, helped by the pop music coming over the speakers. At 50 lengths I stopped for a quick drink and a pause then ploughed on. 60, 72, 86 lengths... I was getting closer and my arms felt fine. I wasn't getting bored like I used to in training, probably because I was just getting on with things. I misheard my lap counter at one point and thought I had just ten lengths to go but it was more like 16... I'd sped up and was deflated when I realised I had more to do. But I got there, in 1:04:59! I could have swum quicker, I'm sure of it, but that was never the challenge for me, the distance was enough and I was so happy to have managed my challenge.

I thanked my lap counter profusely, shook hands with Kathy and thanked her again, collected my water bottle and medal and hit the showers.. The little handwritten tags on the bottle was a really sweet touch, and it was these little touches that made all the difference to the whole experience. Unfortunately I didn't see Vicki for her 5k swim(!) but I'm looking forward to hearing about it when I see her next. People were still arriving as I left, being greeted just as cheerily, and I was home in time for a (big & healthy) late lunch.

I had a great time at Swimathon this year and would recommend it as an event to anyone. There's a distance for all, no matter what your ability (there are team options) and it was only £12 to enter so very affordable too.

I want to thank Kirsty at Get Berkshire Active, Kathy at Bracknell Leisure centre and all the volunteers who helped to put the event on and made the day run so smoothly. And I'd like to congratulate everyone who completed a Sport Relief event at the weekend, whether it was a run, walk, cycle or swim, whatever the distance. You've challenged yourself and helped to raise money for a good cause. Please be suitably proud of yourself and stay active!

Swim, Said The Mama Fishy, Swim If You Can

When the clocks strike noon tomorrow I will be starting my Swimathon. I'm nervous, worried that I've not done enough preparation, that I'll make a fool of myself, that somehow I won't do "well", whatever that may mean.

It will, of course, be what it will be. I'm a strong enough swimmer to be able to do the distance and really the only thing that can go wrong is that I start to panic in the water. No one is relying on me, I haven't set myself a time target, people will be able to overtake me if need be and there are sides to hang on to if I really need the rest. I've done all the training I can do. Fitting in swims had been tricky and I know I've swum less than some of my fellow Swimathon ladies (even if they are doing longer distances) but I've done what I can without getting stressed out about it. Staying on top of my running during the past few weeks has been important too so they've needed equal priority.

My training during the week commencing March 7th was as follows:
Monday : 5 mile run & Boxercise
Tuesday : Rest day
Wednesday : Rest day
Thursday : Swimming (2000m ish) & Yoga
Friday : Swim training (1300m) with TVT
Saturday : 7 mile run
Sunday : Half Marathon

The water was cold in the pool on Friday night and I very nearly gave up on the session a couple of times, but was glad I stuck it out in the end, treating myself to a dip in the jacuzzi afterwards to warm up. Coach Lynn was quite complimentary again. Apparently my swimming is very "balanced" although I have no idea what that actually means. I quite often catch myself not using my legs much in front crawl which I suppose is no bad thing for triathlon training but I'm not sure it'll do me much good tomorrow.

This week my training has consisted of:
Monday : HIIT
Tuesday : 3 mile run
Wednesday : Boxing training & Yoga at home
Thursday : Swimming
Friday : Boxing training & Clubbercise

Looking back over this I suppose it's no wonder I've been feeling a little tired. Things haven't been as well planned out as they could have been but I'd promised to lead a 5-7 mile run on the Saturday when perhaps I shouldn't have, I really wanted to try Clubbercise, and although one more swim earlier in the week would have been great it just wasn't possible with my timetable. Yoga has been non-negotiable; it helps to preserve my sanity and headspace. I'd intended to run 6 miles on Tuesday but I was feeling bodily tired and although I got myself out of the door the heavy legs and sick feeling in my stomach made it too easy to call it quits early. I guess I needed to rest that day really. At least I made the decision to marshal instead of run parkrun on Saturday morning!

So this is it. let's see if this girl can!

Friday Night Swimming

Friday evening, the end of a long week. All I really wanted to do after finishing my work at the gym is to go home, have dinner and curl up in bed with a book. Especially as my 6:30pm cancelled at short notice so I have an hour to hang around before going to swim training. As I sit in the gym, all be it with a cup of tea, I feel the motivation ebbing away so I get in the car and drive over to Reading to  sit in the car park for half an hour and call my mum. I reason that the nearer I get to the pool, the more likely I am to do it.

It was only the third time I'd joined the Thames Valley Triathletes swim training session, and only the second in recent weeks. And I'm yet to get to the point where I stop trying to make excuses not to go; I swam last night, my arms ache, I’ll be late, they will have their maximum number of 15 already, I’ll make a fool of myself, I should have had a snack, my housemate will have used all the hot water by the time I get back and I'll have to have a cold shower (I dislike showering at the pool)… all ridiculous and unfounded.

But ultimately what gets me there, signed in and peeling the second ticket out of my booklet of swim session cards is the thought that it will be so much harder to swim the 2.5km for Sport Relief if I don’t go. I don’t want to fail and I know that great things happen at the edge of your comfort zone. I reassure myself that everyone was a beginner once. 

The pool is colder this week but the welcome is even warmer than before. I'm starting to recognise people, learn a few names, find my place in the pack. Lyn, our coach explains some terms on the warm up sheet for me (long dog?) and I find I'm not the only one who didn't know. My arms feel heavy after a 1750m swim the night before but somehow I get through everything, fighting the drowning feeling on the catch up drill. I'm the only one in my lane who seems happier with bilateral breathing than single side and I take huge comfort from Lyn telling me that I'm doing really well. When I get home I find hot water, a light dinner and notice the definition my arms are starting to develop. 

I only started my training 3 and a half weeks ago, swimming once or twice a week at the local pool to build up distance and the proportion of lengths I do with front crawl, and now attending the swim training sessions to improve my technique. This is in addition to my usual exercise regime of 2-3 runs, a yoga class and a HIIT or Boxing workout. It’s been hard work, and frustrating at times when the pool is busy, or I have to go late at night because of work, but I’m starting to feel as though I can do this; I’m not the slowest in the slow lane on club training nights and I’ve swum further in the pool in one session than ever before. I think I'm beginning to look forward to the Swimathon!

This Girl Can Swim for Sport Relief

A week ago today I took to the pool for the first time in, oooo, months! I didn't give myself time to think too much about it, heading there straight from teaching the early morning class at the gym and promising myself left over pancakes for breakfast if I didn't bottle out. Getting back in the pool after so long made me a bit apprehensive. What if I'd forgotten something vital, like goggles? What if the water was really cold? What if I got in the wrong lane and either held everyone up or had to keep hanging back? What if I'd forgotten everything I learnt when I took swimming lessons for front crawl this time last year and looked like an idiot? None of these things happened. The pool was warm, I managed a reasonable front crawl and found three pairs of goggles in my bag. And I got my pancakes for breakfast.

Swimming isn't something I tend to choose to do even though I generally really enjoy it when I get started; I need a purpose, a goal. So when Get Berkshire Active got in touch to say This Girl Can were teaming up with Sport Relief and encouraging ladies to challenge themselves, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get back in the pool. Sport Relief are hosting runs, cycles and swims up and down the country and encouraging everyone to get involved and raise some money. You can do anything from a 1 mile walk to a 50 mile bike ride, so there really is something for everyone. I'll admit that my first choice would have been the 25 mile cycle at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park but logistics put pay to that idea. The 6 mile run didn't feel like a challenge so swimming it was. I took part in Swimathon last year and was delighted to be able to complete the 1.5km distance entirely with front crawl so what better challenge than to attempt the next distance - 2.5km!

Post Swimathon 2015

So how am I going to train for this? Well I started by committing myself to swim by buying a block of 10 sessions at my local pool. By prepaying I avoid thinking about the cost per session as a barrier. I've also signed up for a free session at a leisure centre a bit further away that has just been refurbished and finally I will be dusting off my Thames Valley Triathlon membership card and getting to as many of the training sessions as I can. I signed up last summer and have not been to one single session in any discipline since. Ooops!

I've planned out exactly when I'm going to go to the pool and put them as appointments in my diary. No excuses for forgetting, allocating the time to other things or putting it off because I can't be bothered to go home to get kit after work. Organisation, packing kit the night before and being accountable are key. I've swum 3 times in the past week and am feeling stronger each time.

I'll be attempting my swim on March 19th at midday and I will, of course, be writing a bit more about my training in the lead up to it, and letting you know how I get on afterwards.

If you fancy a challenge, why not head over to the Sport Relief events page and sign up for something yourself! Or perhaps you'd be kind enough to sponsor me for my efforts. Give me a little extra motivation for getting to the pool before breakfast. It's all for a great cause. Thank you.

Berkshire Fitness Scene : Danceathon!

I thought I'd share with you news of a forthcoming event in the Berkshire area that I think looks like absolutely fantastic fun. Fan of Strictly? Love dancing? Want to try it for the first time or try a different style? Then come along to the This Girl Can Danceathon in Reading in association with Get Berkshire Active!

It's on the 31st of October at St Laurence Church in Reading from 1pm until 5pm and costs just £5 entry with all monies being reinvested back into Berkshire based projects designed to encourage women and girls to be more active. So not only do you have a great time, you help to make this sort of fun accessible for even more women.

The event will feature a mixture of dance styles including Zumba, Pop and Street, split into 20 minute tasters. The tasters are designed to be fun and perfect for all dancing abilities. You can even make an afternoon of it with the ‘Look Good Feel Great’ area which will feature activities such as nail art, hair, beauty and face painting. And what's more, everyone gets a goody bag!!

You can pre book via eventbrite or just turn up on the day. To pre book just click the link -https://www.eventbrite.com/e/this-girl-can-danceathon-tickets-18574619186 

I'll be there, and I hope to see some of you there too!

This Girl Can Get RunFit

As someone who cares deeply about health and fitness I'm proud to live in the Bracknell Forest area. Our local council (BFC) do a lot of work to encourage the people who live here to look after their health via campaigns and initiatives, provision and promotion of facilities, schemes and clubs. We're also lucky enough to be part of the scope for County Sports Partnership, Get Berkshire Active (GBA).

This has meant that RunFitUK were able to apply for, and were lucky enough to get, one of the This Girl Can Festival Funds offered by GBA, to put on an event encouraging women to get involved in sports and exercise, giving them the opportunity to try things out, ask questions and find out more about opportunities in their local area. Alongside this, Bracknell Forest Council contributed some funding, enabling us to reach out to even more women!

Our festival took place on Sunday 26th July in Bracknell, near South Hill Park. We'd had lots of interest and were optimistic about the weather as we set up cones and kit for the RunFitUK taster session. Unfortunately, as people started to arrive, so did the rain and it was persistent throughout the morning.

Despite the weather we had a great turn out, and even had some ladies join us who were passing by on a run together. As tradition dictates, we started with a warm up and some dynamic stretching before demonstrating that anyone can do interval work, regardless of ability.

We moved on to some strength work followed by some balance and agility games, which had everyone laughing. Of course we finished off with some static stretches, adapting them to standing rather than floor-based versions.

Unfortunately the "Monday Mile" walk I'd had planned was rained off and after handing out goody bags we decamped to the South Hill park cafe for hot drinks, cakes, Q&A and some photos. Smiles withstood the rain and I'm looking forward to seeing some new faces on Tuesday nights at the Bracknell RunFitUK sessions.

Thanks to the funding we have been able to offer five free RunFitUK sessions to all those who signed up, and everyone is also invited to come along to the new Monday Mile walking group that has started meeting at Monday lunchtimes.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped to make this possible: Get Berkshire Active, This Girl Can, Bracknell Forest Council, powered by Cupcakes and Sainsburys for our refreshments, Salming Sports and Laura Fountain for our competition prizes. Bounce Balls, nuun and Sweatshop for out goody bags and to South Hill park for letting a host of bedraggled, dripping runners take shelter in your cafe.

Event Review : Glow In The Park

Running at night is usually a bit of a chore, something that we are forced to do in the winter if we wish to avoid the "dreadmill". It can be cold, miserable and fraught with danger unless draped with lights and reflective clothing. It can be an adventure, running in the wee small hours as part of a relay with tens of other weirdos in head torches. But rarely is a run as fun as something like Glow In The Park.

The concept is very similar to the Electric Run I took part in last year; a 5km route designed to be run in the dark, dotted with brightly lit "glow zones". It's taking place at locations up and down the country with entry fees starting from as little as £15.50 (per person in a team of four) and is very much an event rather than a race.

Kitted out in the brightest things we could find

I entered myself and my mum into the Windsor event which was held at Dorney Lake, a place I've visited several times for races in the past. It happened to be my mum's birthday so we donned our brightest running gear and packed a bottle of fizz for after and set off to have a fun time. 

On arriving at Dorney you would be forgiven for thinking there wasn't anything much going on, so vast is the space, but the race village was still jumping with neon clad groups soaking up the tunes, daubing each other with face paints and watching the fire performer. We collected our race numbers and complimentary head bands, festooned ourselves with glowsticks and switched on our head torches. We were ready to party!

Start party was good fun. We danced away the time before our start, took loads of photos and chatted to the MC (who was very good). He reminded us to take lots of videos and photos, to enjoy ourselves and encouraged us to tweet about our experience.

Although we'd signed up to a particular wave it was all rather informal and groups were being set off every 5-10 minutes. We'd signed up to the last wave of the night, at 9pm, wanting to run when it was really dark and get the full effect of the glow zones. Unfortunately this meant that the course was rather empty and although the experience of running in the dark was fun, there wasn't as much atmosphere as there might have been earlier. 

The Time Tunnel

Glow In The Park is very inclusive and a perfect beginners event. It's not timed so there's no pressure. In fact you're encouraged to take your time, to boogie in the glow zones, dance amidst the bubbles and frolic in the foam. Some people were running for charity, some were walking and there were groups just having a laugh. We ran at a comfortable pace between zones and stopped at each one for a little bit. The course was well marked with flashing lights and illuminated arrows. 

As we approached the finish we saw dad, who had been rather ingenious and popped some torches under an umbrella as we could spot him; there was no chance he would have been able to pick us out. We crossed the finish line and were presented with a glow-in-the-dark medal and a bottle of Gatorade. The music was still going and people were still milling around, indulging in post-event coffees and chips. For us though, it was back to the car for some birthday fizz and an after party at home.

In contrast to the Electric Run, I would absolutely do this event again. In fact, due to the nature of it we're thinking of entering the London one in November as a family, dad included, as it's the day after his birthday. Dad does not run so we'll walk it and choose an earlier wave so as to enjoy more of the atmosphere. It's value for money, as these things go and a great reminder of how much fun a run can be.

Have you taken part in an event like this? Did you enjoy it? Would you do it again?