July 12/13 Silver Lake - Power & Peace

First split "Channel swim" - 7 & 6 hours, plus 3 hours biking



This week I felt so tired. After only one 45 min. swim since Dover (on Tuesday I was travelling, Wednesday evening pool, Thursday evening I fell asleep, Friday Kieser weight-workout, too much actually) - I finally did my first "split Channel swim" - 7 plus 6 hours over the weekend in the Silbersee / Silver Lake near Roxheim.

Conditions were very windy - towards the end I felt like in Dover harbour on Sunday. No rain, luckily, but sunny spells, which made things easier and was like a gift from above. I was thinking a lot of Dover and all the swimmers trying to do 6 or 7 hours there. The blogs of various Channel aspirants like Mark, Hoffy etc. really help to keep inspired and connected to the Channel world, even when I am training out here by myself.

It was my first 7 hour swim in rough water this year. The first 2 sunless hours again the most difficult until it flows, last lap the best, also with the sun coming out bright, making the air bubbles around the hands in the water look like stardust! I enjoyed the power-aspect of the lake, great training for the Channel, and at the end I was very happy, even though a muscle in the right shoulder or a tendon really started to hurt to the point I was afraid I would not be able to swim next day.

Next morning, however, I felt like I was dead. Looking out of the window it was drizzling. my rain trousers were nowhere to be found - great excuse to take a later train and lie down again for half an hour.

Finally I had to drag my body out of the house, take the train to Mannheim, followed by a 1 hour bike ride to Roxheim (no proper train connection again due to construction work on the weekends). 10 minutes into the bike ride the sun came out and my energy level was soon rising.

At the lake, however, the wind was chilly and I was not tempted at all to go into the water (about 20°C). 6 hours seemed unimaginable, and I wished to be back in bed. On the other hand I wanted to feel happy in the evening and also make it to France! So no escape - take it as work and use a great training opportunity. To calm my mind I was telling it that 3 hours is the minimum goal - then whatever happens is fine, I could still go for a longer bike ride.

Once in the water, however, things changed. The surface was just a bit ruffled by the wind, but there were no waves. In fact, the lake was quite peaceful throughout the whole day. First I was stiff and slow and without energy (lactic acid), but after 30 min. the muscles loosened up and the power came back to my arms. Now it felt like 6 hours could be done "easily", with the usual 3 sessions of 2 laps, to make it easier for the mind. Still the first 4 hours were real work and kind of dragging, but there was no question I would stay in until the end. I kept thinking of the Channel swimmers that had gone out today and how far they might have gone, trying to "swim for them", and those doing long swims in the harbour.



Swan company (photo from lake Constance, but today I almost swam into swans twice in the middle of the lake, only without little ones)

I had short feeds every hour, counting again 8, 9, 10 etc. instead of 1,2,3 .... After 4 hours I felt chilly again and wondered how I had managed to do 4 hours in Dover in 16°C and why they had passed so much faster there! The difference may be more endorphines in Dover, and more exhaustion here due to the rough long swim yesterday and more routine/boredom.

After lap 4 I took a 15 min. cappuchino break with some food, enjoying the view OVER the lake instead of into the water for a change in a spell of sunshine. I need some joy when I am training - joy is a source of energy for me, and if it is missing I have to find a way to get it back. And a coffee or cappuchino break has worked wonders during 12 or 24 hour races when I was dead at 6 o'clock in the morning, but after a short break was able to run fast again and even enjoy it... In the Channel, however, I won't have any coffeine, last time I had black tea during the last hour and it did not do me any good to keep me warm ...

In lap 5 the joy of swimming came back. Funny enough, my right shoulder was o.k. today (I had taken some homeopathic Arnica, put some "horse balm" - for horses, not from! - with Arnica and other herbs on the shoulder and visualised light around it), I even managed to backstroke again at the end of the day, but now the left shoulder started giving me trouble, and at some point my left wrist seemed to loose power, some energy imbalance. Again I tried to send light into the arm or the whole upper body, and I was grateful it did not get worse but most of the time the pain or lack of energy even disappeared.

The last two hours were again the best of the day, with a feeling of freedom and a very peaceful flow, and lots of blue sky and sunshine towards the end. Still I was happy to be finished for today. 13 hours, first time this year, great! Thanks also to the weather gods!

Next weekend one or two more long swims, then the very serious 7/6 hour swim in Dover harbour. Then it will be tapering... My main concern and top priority now is the Channel - to reach Calais. Once across, running and biking to Heidelberg should only be a matter of time - there is no cut-off! I am not going for a record but rather take it as a kind of pilgrimage, inner journey or quest - a beautiful word a lady from Deal, wife of a coach, was using for the motivation of Channel swimmers when we were chatting in the harbour.