Category: Great North Swim
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After the cancellation of the Great North Swim I wasn't about to let about 9 months of training go down the drain, not to mention sponsor money. In addition, the build up of carbs and nervous energy had left me with a whole planet of frustration bearing down on my shoulders (quite broad from training but…
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Yesterday was supposed to be the 'Great North Swim indoors' i.e 6 kilometers in pool under two hours, to justify the money sponsors have kindly donated and eradicate my former condition as a mess of nervous energy, carbs and frustration. I say former because nature has taken things into its own hands and hit me…
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I decided to do the Great North Swim for a number of reasons. Much of that was to do with doing something for me in a new life as a Dad that means doing nearly everything for someone else (happily I might add), curiosity about how I'd do, having a goal to keep my swimming alive and, well, just seeing what happened along the…
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The Great North Swim was postponed this weekend. Something to do with Green Algae. This was frustrating, all that pent up nervous energy etc. There's nothing worse when something you've been building up to doesn't happen. This resulted in a particularly intense bike ride on Saturday morning. On the other hand, there's more time to train…
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It's the Great North Swim on Saturday, it's nearly here. Only one go in the pool, tomorrow morning, before the big one.No point making it hurt, just keep ticking over, maintain feel for the water and hope it was better than Wedneday, when everything felt off. Years ago, after few hard months before big events, we…
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So I'm finally doing the Great North Swim two weeks on Saturday. I forgot to mention that I'm trying to raise money for Cancer Research as well as grasp at youth. If you're any way inclined, you can sponsor me here. I chose them because I lost two Grandparents to cancer and seeing the way the one…
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So it was the regular Saturday morning pain and suffering swim session this weekend. In the pool for 7.30am to cover swim four miles or so. I've been improving quickly since I altered my stroke and these sessions have reminded me how to really push it. My body has actually changed shape, the shoulders are…
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It's only four weeks until the Great North Swim and I'm nowhere near bloody ready. It's going to be more survival than doing well, partly down to waiting too long to do anything about my bad stroke, partly down to a baby boy precluding training nearly enough. No point moaning about stuff you can't change. I'll finish…
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The training for the Great North Swim hit a snag a few weeks back. I couldn't go any faster. There was a point where I was getting pretty good, and had a lot more speed in me, but technique was letting me down. There had been something before but this was worse. There's a point…
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There's a saying that you should choose your enemies carefully, and if there isn't there jolly well should be. In so many ways, a good enemy can be extremely useful if utilised properly. I did one or two things to be proud of when I was swimming, yet the thing that gave me the most joy was winning…
NORTHERN PLANNER 