Story
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Challenges are what makes life interesting and overcoming them makes life meaningful.
I've ticked off Kilimanjaro, kayaked across Scotland, cycled to Paris, taken on the epic Camino de Santiago on two wheels, climbed a glacier in Iceland and dabbled in the odd triathlon or two.
Next up is swimming the Channel. On 28th August, I will be swapping my bank holiday weekend normally spent in Ibiza to swim from Dover to France as part of Aspire's Team Jellyfish Relay.
With just a swimsuit to keep me warm (no wetsuits allowed) I will be setting off around 2am in the dark of night for the approx 20 hour event in water temperatures of 14 degrees, jellyfish aplenty, white horses on occasion and some very busy shipping lanes.
My naivety in signing up for this challenge was ten-fold! Fitness is only the start of it, acclimatising your body to being immersed in ice cold water for prolonged periods is physically and mentally tougher than words can ever describe. To train physically for this, my mornings are spent with my PT or in Tooting Lido and my weekends are now spent in the sea in Dover.
As a training example on the 10th June weekend I completed 11.5km of swimming in 4.5 hours, with a 2 hour non-stop swim in the sea followed by x2 1 1/4 hour swims - the end result apart from euphoria from the achievement, was mild hypothermia, a rash from the pollution in Dover Port, chaffing from sea salt and getting my mind and body used to the cold shock response. This affects your nervous system, speech, breathing and use of limbs, plus something unpleasant known as the drop occurs, this is when your core temperature drops and a bizarre feeling takes over your body as it goes into shock and you literally shake through your core. The mind training continues in many weird and wonderful ways alongside breathing training and ice baths courtesy of The Iceman Wim Hoff.
My Channel Challenge by numbers…
-10% of people attempting the Channel succeed; the crossing is known as “the Everest of open-water swimming” (hypothermia & bad weather accounts for a large percentage of the unsuccessful attempts)
-More people have been into Outer Space than have swum to France
-976 the number of relay teams to have EVER completed the Channel since 1895, so when we complete it we will be 1 of under 1000 victorious swim teams
-100’s of hours spent training in the sea, lakes, rivers of England and Spain
-22 miles the shortest "crow flies" distance between England & France
-30 miles the average swim distance given the fact you swim back on yourself many times due to the tides
-17 hours the average length of time it takes to get to France
-4 hours swimming in the dark of night
-5 team mates, a captain & a judge aboard our tug boat
-1000's of jellyfish, sewage, seaweed, floating debris & waves encountered en route
-600 merchant ships & tankers passed; the Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world
-14/15 degrees the average temperature of the sea
-8 months of training
-30% of swimmers are female
-4 intensive training camps in Dover swimming hours on end in the icy cold & polluted port waters completed
-4 items legally required for the swim; swimsuit, hat, googles & passport
-100's of bottles of Prosecco I have had to decline & forgo in favour of training
-5am the time I get up each day to train before work
-4 minutes the time legally allowed on the beach in France before returning to England
-1,000,000s of thoughts to contend with when my mind & body is telling me no / stop
-28th August at 2am the time I start my journey to France in the pitch black
To mark this little adventure I will be raising money for Aspire, which provides practical help to people who have been paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury, supporting them from injury to independence. Please dig deep to support this great charity and pause for a second to remember how fortunate you are.
Much love and thank you!
Jen
Xxx
Challenges are what makes life interesting and overcoming them makes life meaningful.
I've ticked off Kilimanjaro, kayaked across Scotland, cycled to Paris, taken on the epic Camino de Santiago on two wheels, climbed a glacier in Iceland and dabbled in the odd triathlon or two.
Next up is swimming the Channel. On 28th August, I will be swapping my bank holiday weekend normally spent in Ibiza to swim from Dover to France as part of Aspire's Team Jellyfish Relay.
With just a swimsuit to keep me warm (no wetsuits allowed) I will be setting off around 2am in the dark of night for the approx 20 hour event in water temperatures of 14 degrees, jellyfish aplenty, white horses on occasion and some very busy shipping lanes.
My naivety in signing up for this challenge was ten-fold! Fitness is only the start of it, acclimatising your body to being immersed in ice cold water for prolonged periods is physically and mentally tougher than words can ever describe. To train physically for this, my mornings are spent with my PT or in Tooting Lido and my weekends are now spent in the sea in Dover.
As a training example on the 10th June weekend I completed 11.5km of swimming in 4.5 hours, with a 2 hour non-stop swim in the sea followed by x2 1 1/4 hour swims - the end result apart from euphoria from the achievement, was mild hypothermia, a rash from the pollution in Dover Port, chaffing from sea salt and getting my mind and body used to the cold shock response. This affects your nervous system, speech, breathing and use of limbs, plus something unpleasant known as the drop occurs, this is when your core temperature drops and a bizarre feeling takes over your body as it goes into shock and you literally shake through your core. The mind training continues in many weird and wonderful ways alongside breathing training and ice baths courtesy of The Iceman Wim Hoff.
My Channel Challenge by numbers…
-10% of people attempting the Channel succeed; the crossing is known as “the Everest of open-water swimming” (hypothermia & bad weather accounts for a large percentage of the unsuccessful attempts)
-More people have been into Outer Space than have swum to France
-976 the number of relay teams to have EVER completed the Channel since 1895, so when we complete it we will be 1 of under 1000 victorious swim teams
-100’s of hours spent training in the sea, lakes, rivers of England and Spain
-22 miles the shortest "crow flies" distance between England & France
-30 miles the average swim distance given the fact you swim back on yourself many times due to the tides
-17 hours the average length of time it takes to get to France
-4 hours swimming in the dark of night
-5 team mates, a captain & a judge aboard our tug boat
-1000's of jellyfish, sewage, seaweed, floating debris & waves encountered en route
-600 merchant ships & tankers passed; the Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world
-14/15 degrees the average temperature of the sea
-8 months of training
-30% of swimmers are female
-4 intensive training camps in Dover swimming hours on end in the icy cold & polluted port waters completed
-4 items legally required for the swim; swimsuit, hat, googles & passport
-100's of bottles of Prosecco I have had to decline & forgo in favour of training
-5am the time I get up each day to train before work
-4 minutes the time legally allowed on the beach in France before returning to England
-1,000,000s of thoughts to contend with when my mind & body is telling me no / stop
-28th August at 2am the time I start my journey to France in the pitch black
To mark this little adventure I will be raising money for Aspire, which provides practical help to people who have been paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury, supporting them from injury to independence. Please dig deep to support this great charity and pause for a second to remember how fortunate you are.
Much love and thank you!
Jen
Xxx