Day 2 in the Lake

I have to confess that my first swim in the lake should have been a few Sundays ago, however the sun was shining, and having called in at some friends (Will and Jill) for 5 minutes, I caved in, (after 10 minutes of Jill going 'Have a beer!' and me saying 'NO! I'm going swimming!') to the lure of beer and BBQ and cancelled my swim with Mhairi, much to her (and mine!) disgust. I think her text read something like 'It better be a life or death situation Moira Dudson!', as I left a message for her saying 'Something's come up...!' I wondered how I could make BBQ and beer sound like a life or a death situation.... Anyway, so far that's been my only blip, and I am in fact gagging to be in the lake!

My first dip was Thursday, and my second foray into the Lake was to be the very next day, Friday 14th June (1 month exactly to The Swim). We parked at Pooley Bridge, again to the lull before the storm of tourists, got changed - still a struggle, I hadn't sped up overnight, and strode down to the Lake with a positive spring in my step - till I saw the waves! I felt sick just looking at them. They were huge! Well, you know what I mean, they were bigger than the day before.

Mhairi said we would stay nearer to the shore, where it might be less choppy. That was fine by me - my seasick-ometer was on red alert. In we plunged, cooler than the day before and set off around the boats. I stopped at one point and shouted to Mhairi 'Come and look at this!'. She immediately started backing away and shouting 'No!' It was only a sunken boat, jeez anyone would think it was a dead body or something...!

I couldn't believe how much harder it was to swim with waves. You turn to breathe in and get a mouthful of lake water instead. Not pleasant. My mantra has become 'Don't think about it. Don't think about it' when thinking about the state of the water, the murkiness, the beasties in the water - you get the picture? I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere! I realised if conditions on The Swim Day were like this it wasn't going to be quite as I pictured it -sun shining, friends and family watching whilst enjoying a picnic, maybe even a BBQ, the dog and kids paddling - everyone cheering and waving flags, not a breath of wind, boats gliding lazily across the surface, hands going into smooth, glass like water.... Mmmm.

Reality check. Coupled with this, whenever we stopped I had to make sure I was in shallow water so I could stand up and anchor myself, as I felt really sea sick! We managed to make it over 400 yards this time, and gave up due to the atlantic ocean waves. I staggered back to the car, changed and drove home feeling rotten. This time Mhairi forgot her underwear - I think she just wanted to see how it felt going commando myself. It was later on in the day before the sickness subsided. I decided I needed to take drastic action, as I didn't want the motion sickness putting me off. The next day I purchased ear plugs (apparently it's the cold water in the inner ear that can course motion sickness), and some root ginger capsules (aids digestion and helps with motion sickness - and keeps midges at bay apparently!) I felt confident this would get me back on track.

Here's a video of an open water swim in Buttermere recently - looks awesome! And if that doesn't make you want to have a go - nothing will!!

Buttermere open water swim video

The serious part of this swim is I am going to do it for charity (don't groan!). The plus side being it will give me more motivation to do it, the down side is a) I will probably fall over the finish line a blubbering wreck, and b) it means you have to dig deep. I would like to think I could raise somewhere in the region of £500.

I will be swimming for the Stroke Asscociation http://www.stroke.org.uk/, as those of you who know me, know my mum had a massive stroke 4 years ago, and now needs full time care and is in a home. She was only 66 at the time, and now she can't speak, walk, barely swallow, or do anything for herself, and spends her days in a wheelchair, leaving my dad and myself and two sisters bereft. This could happen to anyone - your mum, dad, brother, sister, partner, friend. By raising money for the Stroke Association, your generosity will help provide support through Life After Stroke or information services, funding pioneering research, campaigning or providing Life After Stroke Grants to help improve the quality of stroke survivors lives.

Visit my Just Giving page to sponsor me www.justgiving.com/Moira-Dudson
You can donate through the Just Giving page, text a donation, or the easy old fasioned way by filling in my sponsor form!

Many thanks!

Day 3 will follow later today!