Robben Island

On Thursday the entries for the Freedom swim from Robben Island opened. I am number 1SS10. Yes I have entered. As a child I always admired people completing the swim from Robben Island. I never thought it will be possible for me to make the crossing-I was out of breath after one lap! Well on 11 April 2015 we will see if I can do it.

I have an obstacle to conquer- the cold water. I have a plan and am sure by April my plan will come together.

According to Dr Otto Thaning one need to ADAPT to cold water. This only happen by being regularly exposed to cold water. I will swim at Clifton this Sunday 2 nd November at the 1 SOMS and from then on will try to get in the cold Atlantic Ocean at least once a week.

My other plan is to swim faster. The less time I will have to spend in the cold water the more likely I will be to complete the swim. This is not so easy. I am a slow swimmer. After trying the previous season to become faster by increasing my stroke rate with no avail, I have changed my plan.

I am following the Total Immersion way to let speed come to me. I have started to regularly count my strokes in the pool and are at a fairly constant 20 strokes for the 25 m pool. I am currently focussing on my breathing, swimming taller and on my catch.

I live far away from any one to coach me. I am also swimming the TI way and in other swimming programs one need to do kick sets and pull sets. One of the amazing things for me in TI was that I never have to do a kick set. As a child I hated it and my mother drilled us in it. In Total Immersion the focus is on whole body swimming and rotation from side to side. We do not have a "legs" department and an "arms" department.

What TI do have, is mindful swimming at all times. So every swim practice need 100 % concentration. In this way I am able to coach myself. I am supported in this task by my Garmin Forerunner 910 XT to inform me of the distances I swim and the pace I manage. I also swim with a Tempo Trainer to make sure that I do manage a steady pace. At the moment I have it set at 1.22 seconds. This give me a nice long stroke with time to correct faults in my technique. I have identify breathing to the right where I lift my head instead of just turning it with my body to the right hand side as the biggest problem to work on right now. I also concentrate to stretch forward with every stroke.

I had a good training month for October so far. I have increased my practise sessions to 2,7 km at every session and swimming 4-5 times a week. The water in the farm dam is actually quite nice and not cold at all- just refreshing.

Here is my training log for the passed four weeks.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
29	30 Untitled - 500 m 0:11:12 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:21:53 Untitled - 550 m 0:11:14	1	2	3	4 Untitled - .72 km 0:19:29	5 Untitled - 1.57 km 0:35:37 Untitled - .00 km 0:00:08
6 Untitled - .39 km 0:08:41 Untitled - .30 km 0:06:45 Untitled - .32 km 0:07:24 Untitled - .34 km 0:07:59 Untitled - .27 km 0:07:03 Untitled - .38 km 0:07:55	7	8	9	10	11 Untitled - 500 m 0:10:13 Untitled - m 0:00:03 Untitled - 350 m 0:07:08 Untitled - 150 m 0:03:04 Untitled - 500 m 0:10:12 Untitled - 500 m 0:10:13	12 Untitled - 650 m 0:13:44 Untitled - 450 m 0:09:42 Untitled - 400 m 0:08:31 Untitled - 400 m 0:08:33 Untitled - 100 m 0:02:09
13	14 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:20:57 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:21:32 Untitled - 500 m 0:10:40	15	16 Untitled - 100 m 0:02:05 Untitled - 400 m 0:08:35 Untitled - m 0:00:04 Untitled - 500 m 0:11:04 Untitled - 800 m 0:17:26 Untitled - 200 m 0:03:59 Untitled - 500 m 0:10:31	17 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:19:54 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:20:12 Untitled - 500 m 0:10:02	18 Untitled - 650 m 0:14:09 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:20:17 Untitled - 350 m 0:07:19 Untitled - 500 m 0:10:21	19
20 Untitled - 1.06 km 0:24:19 Untitled - 1.04 km 0:23:45 Untitled - .54 km 0:12:46	21	22 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:20:14 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:20:50 Untitled - 500 m 0:10:26	23 Untitled - .95 km 0:21:19 Untitled - 1.11 km 0:22:46 Untitled - .62 km 0:12:35	24 Untitled - 1.17 km 0:22:06 Untitled - 1.11 km 0:22:42 Untitled - .29 km 0:06:15 Untitled - .25 km 0:06:14	25 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:20:06 Untitled - 1,000 m 0:20:34 Untitled - 700 m 0:14:06	26

A new swim season.

I have taken part in the 1 st Sunday of the month swim in Clifton today. I switched on my watch a bit after the start but swam 1,57 km in 35:36. That was a good start to the new swim season. I am trying to practice at least 3 times per week and swim 2 km at every pracice.

I plan to steadily increase the numbers of days swimming, weather permitting and also increase the distance. The water was a refreshing 14,5 degrees C today. I swam in Melkbosch yesterday where the water was probably 11-12 degrees. It took me walking up and down to ease the pain. When the pain in my ankles clear - because it feel "dead" I could walk in deeper until I started swimming. I swam 700 m in 19:29.

This week I will start practising in the farm dam. It is quite full but I am sure the water will be cold. After this weekends swim it should not be unbearable. I am looking forward to this weeks
Swimming.

Mari