Holiday and Penzance Masters

March 1st 2009
We decided to go on holiday early this year in view of the fact that I need to be able to concentrate on the swim now, and the summer will be taken up with events to support the fundraising effort and also I will be entering some open water events.
So we went to Cornwall for 11 days or so and drove down via friends and family and back via other friends and family. Our holiday was initially hampered by snow and we were amazed by the amount of snow in Devon. We stayed in a cottage in Porthleven with our good friends Claire and Jacqui and their adorable 16 month old Border Terrier Dudley. We were beyong excitement when we thought that we would battle through the snow and then get to play with it!!! However we were sorry to find that not a flake had survived in Cornwall.
The sea was wild though and provided a spectacular show. Once the wild weather had subsided it was almost like Spring and we spent our time walking round gardens and sitting outside pubs drinking fine ale and eating pasties....marvelous.
I went to Penzance Leisure Centre and was delighted to find a lovely pool with some friendly swimmers. Peter Marks who I met in the fast lane during a public swimming session told me I should turn up at 6.30am on Wednesday and talk to Jim Saulter the coach. I was made to feel very welcome at the club and was delighted to find that they were ADULTS!!! This was the Masters squad and they were hot dang. I swam with them 3 times and they were very very fast. Jim was a little baffled by me as I told him I didn't do tumble turns and he watched as I struggled to keep up and in the end I pulled a muscle when I was diving in off the blocks. 'What happened to the sprint?' he shouted....I don't do sprints. I think my performance was fairly pathetic as I struggled with my back which had started an acute phase. Could have been the beer and the pasties of course, and I also had stopped taking by glucosamine tablets. Could have been a coincidence, could have been a combination of factors, but all resulted in a period of 'can't do it!'
Actually I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the sublime Penzance Masters. They were hard working welcoming and enthusiastic. I have been in touch with Jenny from the club and I look forward to swimming with them again one day. Thanks to Jim for all his support and encouragement.
Since I got back from holiday I have given up alcohol, I've been eating carefully, stretching, taking my tablets, rowing and swimming. Although my back is still tender and is firing warning shots across the bow, it has responded somewhat to my routine. I don't feel really really old anymore and I think that I have to accept that pain is part of a long distance swimmers lot. Any ideas on that one?
I have stopped dreaming about huge waves engulfing me and getting lost in the ocean, and I know that these are signs that anxiety is around and the seriousness of my challenge is a teasing spectre in my every day life.

We've set the date!

February 1st 2009
Well friends we have set a date and we will be swimming from Ailsa Craig to Girvan beach on August 15th 2009 at 6am. Following a series of meetings this week we have consulted the expert Scott Smith our fearless boat captain and he reckons that tides are favourable that day. We do have 3 back up dates just in case. This has caused me to go into orbit and even Harry is smiling broadly and admitted to being a little bit excited. VERY excited Harry .....VERY excited!!
I am so motivated now I can hardly keep up with myself. I have had a couple of challenging sessions with the Stingrays to try and iron out my poor sore legs following an unwise run/jog/shuffle last weekend. I swam with my young mate on Wednesday morning and we completed just under 4oo0 meters in an hour and 15 mins....not much chat I can tell you.
Today I completed the gut buster for the Concept 2 rowing challenge. I have been building up my rowing gradually and the challenge today was 1000 meters. I managed it with some mind trickery to stop myself giving up after 3000 meters. I've never rowed so far all at once before and I logged 46 minutes 46 seconds. Looking at the results page I am in the top half in my age group but with a little analysis it seems that the people behind me haven't actually completed the monthly events so I feel a bit deflated about that. It was quite funny as I rowed to think of hundreds of other people around the world doing the same thing. Strange world isn't it?
So, please visit the diary page of the website to find out more about the events we are planning. You can contact me on ros.surtees@yahoo.co.uk to get your sponsor sheets to swim, run, walk, ride or knit 10 miles over time. You need to complete your 10 miles in any way you choose by the end of September 2009. Any other ideas about how to complete 10 miles, please write in!

Poor Wee Soul

January 25th 2009
It's amazing how time flies and happy new year to you all.

Suzanne and I have struggled a little regarding accessing the blog and the website so I apologise for lack of news. I hope we have rectified this now.

After I last wrote I was OK for a while and was starting to swim a little and I even managed to log my entry for the 5000 meter December challenge with Concept 2. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped but I am still holding my own in the field. I love the rower and I enjoy the challenge the Concept 2 have set us.

We had a lively and full New Year with friends and family around as usual, but I never quite felt well. I never quite shook that cold and cough and that someone had pulled out my plugs! Then on the Saturday after New Year I was floored with the most dreadful flu which took me off my feet for 5 days. I went to the Dr about something else on Monday 5th and she gave me a diagnosis for my flu symptoms...she said I was a poor wee soul and I was to go home to bed!!! What? She obviously doesn't realise that I am an amazonian open water swimming person.....

So much for a winter training programme. I managed to stay positive and just go with it and I got back to work the following week. Since then I have been back in the pool and on the rower but I have to say that when I got on the rower at first I felt very breathless and I could only manage 5 minutes at a time. Harry told me that if you resume training after a nasty bug you have to be very careful. If you feel breathless and sweat profusely you can cause scar tissue in your lungs which will give you problems later in life. Did you know that? No, I didn't either.

So, I was fine at work, but I felt very down for a while when my body just wouldn't keep up. I felt so full of life and excited about being well finally and I was gutted that my body just would not swim run row and even walk like I used to before Christmas. I honestly felt my resolve slipping. The swim felt almost out of reach.

Motivation is not a problem, so here's the deal. I'm swimming with the Stingrays twice or three times a week and rowing in between. Yesterday I ran to Lady Bay (downhill) right along to the Bothy's (flat) and back to the bottom of the hill at the car park. I reckon that's about 4 miles at the most and then I power walk back up to the house. As I was doing it I knew I was doing too much. Stamina wise I felt great and it was the most beautiful day without a cloud in the sky. But my legs were like jelly. Today I am in agony and I can hardly walk. Oh bummer! I did a lot of stretching but it was obviously a bit too much.

So annoying. Sorry what was that? Oh you're reminding me that I am 50 soon are you? And your point is?

I think that's quite enough for one day and I need to go and take some more ibuprofen and sink into a nice hot bath...oh shut up............................

December 26th 09

Good Morning Friends and I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Anyone who believes the ads on telly which tell you that all you need is a lemsip and you'll be able to fight back armies of bugs and difficult work colleagues and bing around with a spring in your step is sadly mistaken. All the lemsip did for me was to help me lie in bed without a generally sore body telling me I was lying on a bed of uncooked spuds!!
The cough I have had since Dec 11th seemed to get worse and a sneezy cheesy sleazy cold seemed to take over my eyes, nose and all other parts of me it could reach. I was in bed for most of Sunday all of Monday and most of Tuesday. Briefly got to work on Wednesday but didn't last long.
I seem to be on the mend now and got my appetite back just in time to manage Xmas dinner cooked by Elizabeth. Our relatives Elizabeth and Terry have been here since EB's 50th birthday on Friday and if it hadn't been for Elizabeth we proabably would have starved as neither of us have been well really. Thanks Elizabeth you're our Christmas Angel x
So, the best thing about being ill is feeling better, and today I finally woke up feeling really human again. I'm off for a walk to Lady Bay which I am excited about, and I may try the rower again later to at least try and attempt the concept 2 challenge for the month. This cough and cold is still hanging around so I know I need to watch it. The trouble is it feels like a different person who swam all that way in the summer, and now I really have built a mountain to climb.
I wake up in the night with a bit of a sweat on thinking that I've blown it and I'll never be able to do this challenge now!!! I feel like time is really running out. Come to think of it, maybe the sweat in the night is the other problem I have.....mmmm menopause and dodgy hormones which is the other thing...............
OK I'll spare you that one.

A cold dip!

I took the plunge on Sunday 7th December and threw myself in the sea for some acclimatisation training. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the dog walkers looked a bit astonished as they broke the ice on the puddles. I wore 2 hats and a wet suit with my skin suit underneath plus boots. I couldn't find my gloves though!

Suzanne, Greg, Josh and Sam looked on and took pix, so thanks to my support crew! We just managed this snap with the HSS at my shoulder before it disappeared. It was a short dip and I barely got wet really although I told the boys to say I'd been swimming for 20 minutes! Gosh I look gorgeous, this is such a glamorous sport. Meanwhile the training is going badly. I have been overnight in Dumfries with work last week and again this week and it eats into my routine. I know its an excuse but I do feel busy at the moment with everything. I also have a nasty chesty cough and I had a nose bleed yesterday which is very unlike me. I guess I need to watch it but I feel really unfit already as I hadn't been at all consistent leading up to this.

Met Harry today and he gave me a talking to. I need to register my Concept 2 challenge this month which is 5000 meters so I'm getting on the rower today to see if my breathing is ok with this cough.

I am so excited about the swim though and I know once Christmas is over I'll get back to it. The just giving button and other fundraising developments are just so inspiring. Cameron did a brilliant article this week in the Free Press. I'll try and find out how I can scan newspaper articles onto the blog so you can see them.

I was spotted this weekend dressed as the Snow Queen helping at the village lighting up ceremony with a couple of glasses of mulled wine. By the end of the night I was calling myself the So Squeen so I'll leave you to your own conclusion. I think its the stress of being the Chair of the Community Council as well....I'm about to stand down and let someone else organise village events because I must give up alcohol at some point so I don't see two Ailsa Craigs .........

I'll check in before Christmas, so take it easy friends and enjoy the festivities safely.

Fancy a dip on Christmas Day?

Santa Hats compulsory.

December 5th 08

I am feeling much better and I have some exciting news to share with you all. Suzanne and I have called a couple of committee meetings and we have renewed our confidence and enthusiasm for the fundraising aspect of our project. We are updating the website and we will be re launching this in the press for a wider audience. This Sunday I am hoping to take a chilly dip at Lady bay so we can get some photos for the press and for Alzheimer Scotland who want to do an article for their newsletter. I have also been contacted by The Solway Firth Partnership for an article in their magazine Tidelines.

We have also found some easy fundraising ideas. One is to register with the easyfundraising site (see shopping link) You just register as a user and the charity you sign up for is the Ailsa Craig Swim Challenge. Then when you shop, a donation is sent to us. Fab eh? We have also registered with a company who ask us to send them old mobile phone handsets and ink cartridges. We then send them to the recycling company free of charge and they send us a cheque....! Look out for bins at Sun St Offices and Dumfries Crichton Hall. If you're not local contact me and I'll tell you how to do it in your area. How easy is that? Much better than dragging round car boot sales I feel! I call it fundraising by sitting on your bum!

Meanwhile I am still doing the Concept 2 challenge Series and I stand at 38th out of 83 in my category which is the 40+ age group. I'm enjoying the challenge and the December challenge is 5000 metres. It does help my motivation. Check out the Concept 2 website to find out more.

Bye for now, and keep warm and happy

November 17th

So friends, when does a lack of motivation become terminal? I have reflected on some issues regarding my own self perception recently. Am I a finely honed athlete who is strong and fit and can hold her own in a competitive field, or am I an overweight middle aged woman with no will power and no consistency regarding motivation? The answer is probably somewhere in the middle. I recognise some aspects in both these characters but I would like to find a place of comfort and balance. I have lost my motivation since the Luce Bay swim and have managed a couple of swims and the rower was gathering dust. This is not unusual and if you read the blogs of some other swimmers they talk about these things too.
The factors influencing me right now are

• Extra and unexpected pressure at work requiring lots of travel and longer hours
• EB has been away for 2 weeks
• Harry is also away for a length of time
• I have a sore back
• Its winter
• I love eating too much
• People keep inviting me out........

Then I had a chat with my friend David Hislop who is an indoor rowing champion. He told me to move the rowing machine which is in my hall so that while I am rowing I can watch TV. Up to now I have been glued to the monitor and he pointed out that if you watch the clock 10 minutes can seem like an age.

So I went to the pool on Thursday morning and thoroughly enjoyed the session with the Stingrays. I felt surprisingly strong which made me realise that I have not become a slob yet!
Then I pulled the rower into the lounge ( watch that back!) and had an excellent session while watching a film I had wanted to see for ages. I was easily able to monitor my pace and time. Such a simple piece of advice and so effective. I feel much better and I'm off to the pool tonight to see if I can keep up the pace a bit. I know that all the influential factors can become excuses but they also need acknowledging so I can tame them and not feel overwhelmed.

By the way, since EB has been away, the central heating broke down, the car broke down, there was a huge rat in the chicken coop, the lights in the chicken coop went out, Flo the cat went missing....she's back! and so I have had a great deal of stress........... Come back all is forgiven!

So, things are looking up and I will keep you posted. I understand some of you are reading this as I have had some complaints since I have stopped writing. Sorry!

I will write again and let you know some of my times as some of you seem interested in the technical side of things

Bye for now