Email Update #4
Hello to all my loyal supporters...and all the other hangers on who have just been too polite to tell me to get lost and stop emailing them these diatribes!!!
A wise woman is apparently quoted as saying: "The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences." Somehow I don't think Eleanor Roosevelt was referring to a 2.7KM ocean swim...but I'll ride on her coattails anyway! Those of you that are more attentive will recall that when I embarked on the Cantoo Program my goal was to swim in the Palm to Whale Beach Big Swim (2.7km) and the Cole Classic (2km). Those not so attentive will have tuned out and not noted this fact at all...in fact they've probably hit the delete key already! As my training progressed I started to feel quite anxious about both goals really, but particularly about the Big Swim. Reliable intelligence had alerted me to the fact that this event is not called "Sydney's blue ribbon ocean swimming event" for nothing! Competitors have to deal with challenging swell conditions (think sensation of being in a washing machine), swimming at times almost alone out there in the big blue yonder (all sensible surf life saving craft tend to avoid said washing machine areas), potential for sea-sickness (and the associated vomiting), potential for nasty biting bluebottles and potential for being stuck quite far out with nasty stinging/hurty body........lots of potential really but not the sort that was making me feel very "glass half full"!!!
So, at about the christmas point, I had talked myself out of doing it. However, I wouldn't be me (and those of you that know me know that!!!) if I didn't tend to swing from one extreme to the other and as the swim approached I decided to quite literally take the plunge and register anyway. Perhaps I have consumed too much chlorine and sea water because I decided that despite the negative potential, there was also the possibility of immensely positive potential (even if that involved being hauled onto an inflatable rescue boat by two fabulously gorgeous life savers!!!).
Consequently, on Sunday 31st (that would be last sunday) Mike and I made the trek up to Palm Beach for the Big Swim. I affectionately (no really) nicknamed Mike my "handler" for the day and in my nerve-wridden state I certainly made him earn his bonus (which he will be asking for shortly!!) as he lathered sunscreen on me, gave me lots of water before the race and then accepted my dire instruction that if he failed to get a photo of me actually finishing the race his life would not be worth living (aah the joy of marriage!).
I will summarise the race as having three parts...these can be respectively referred to as pre-chunder, chunder and post-chunder (I'm nothing but not expressive!!!!)
Pre Chunder: Milled around amidst a pack of purple-cap wearing "mature" ladeees, whistle went and we ploughed into the surf. Lot's of heavy breathing (no life savers involved) and out to the first booooey. Had been told to consider this a "warm-up"! Next phase, towards the headland (refer attached map), this is where we had been told to "go wide" to attempt to avoid the backwash coming off the headland that can make it very treacherous (think washing machine analogy). Continued to swim, at times looking down into veeery deep water with dark shadows appearing and tried to keep sighting my marks to make sure I had not commenced swimming to New Zealand instead of Whale Beach!
Chunder: Elapsed time approx 45min, 43.5min of that had been in swell with lots of uuuuup then doooown then uppp then (splat) down all the while attempting to keep my stroke under control and not resort to some sort of stroke that could be confused with drowning. As I was considering the fact that I was sure I'd been looking at the same house up on the headland for at least 10 min and that geez I was quite buggered, my stomach decided to take matters into it's own hands and give my mind a bit of a distraction....by chucking up! Now, I know this is a revelation to some, but you can actually vomit whilst face down in the sea and it actually comes out!! I must say it's pretty hard to have a good cry when you are floating a kilometre or so out to sea, so after a nice word of encouragement from the guys (not half naked) on the IRB (that's inflateable rescue boat) I took off again...
Post-Chunder: Re-grouped and made for the final turning boooeey (or "can" if I'm being a smarty pants) and headed for shore. Could see the Whale Beach surf club and some rather nasty looking white water breaking and knew this would not be pretty....body surfing is something I'm going to have to take away from the Cantoo program assessed as "enthusiastic, but needs improvement" and sure enough, I was ingloriously dumped onto the beach...not to be dissuaded, I leapt up and believe it or not RAN up the sand to the cheers of my Cantoo support crew (not really there just for me but you know what I mean) and through the finish gate. My hunky handler was waiting with lots of appropriate words of comfort and congratulations and for once (sure to be received with amazement by many of you), I was SPEECHLESS. Mike thinks I barely said a word for 20min I was soooooo buggered!!!!
So, there you go...one down, one to go!! Cantoo journey is almost complete, the Cole Classic beckons this Sunday with quite alarming swell conditions currently buffeting Manly beach bringing with it a good number of those slimy suckers that I have so far avoided in my ocean swimming shenanigans...the Bluebottle. Assuming that some of you foreigners won't be familiar with the term, it is defined as a small jellyfish with a string-like stinger...it comes in large numbers usually and has a nasty propensity for wrapping those string-like stingers around your arms/legs/down the cossie and giving you a very unpleasant electric-shock sensation which leaves you looking like you've been whipped and feeling like you've been burnt...nice eh?
Last Sunday, whilst I was battling the conditions in the Big Swim, these little stingers made mince meat of competitors at beaches up and down the coast...but a little thing like this shall not deter me from tasting sweet success....................is that completely delusional or what??????????? Thanks again to all of you who have so generously contributed to the Cantoo cause - it is amazing to see the figure keep rising and I am so pleased you feel my pursuits deserve your support. Don't forget you can still contribute...you all know the drill http://www.cantoo.org.au/ Final update next week if the bluebottles haven't paralysed my hands!!!!!!!!
Hello to all my loyal supporters...and all the other hangers on who have just been too polite to tell me to get lost and stop emailing them these diatribes!!!
A wise woman is apparently quoted as saying: "The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences." Somehow I don't think Eleanor Roosevelt was referring to a 2.7KM ocean swim...but I'll ride on her coattails anyway! Those of you that are more attentive will recall that when I embarked on the Cantoo Program my goal was to swim in the Palm to Whale Beach Big Swim (2.7km) and the Cole Classic (2km). Those not so attentive will have tuned out and not noted this fact at all...in fact they've probably hit the delete key already! As my training progressed I started to feel quite anxious about both goals really, but particularly about the Big Swim. Reliable intelligence had alerted me to the fact that this event is not called "Sydney's blue ribbon ocean swimming event" for nothing! Competitors have to deal with challenging swell conditions (think sensation of being in a washing machine), swimming at times almost alone out there in the big blue yonder (all sensible surf life saving craft tend to avoid said washing machine areas), potential for sea-sickness (and the associated vomiting), potential for nasty biting bluebottles and potential for being stuck quite far out with nasty stinging/hurty body........lots of potential really but not the sort that was making me feel very "glass half full"!!!
So, at about the christmas point, I had talked myself out of doing it. However, I wouldn't be me (and those of you that know me know that!!!) if I didn't tend to swing from one extreme to the other and as the swim approached I decided to quite literally take the plunge and register anyway. Perhaps I have consumed too much chlorine and sea water because I decided that despite the negative potential, there was also the possibility of immensely positive potential (even if that involved being hauled onto an inflatable rescue boat by two fabulously gorgeous life savers!!!).
Consequently, on Sunday 31st (that would be last sunday) Mike and I made the trek up to Palm Beach for the Big Swim. I affectionately (no really) nicknamed Mike my "handler" for the day and in my nerve-wridden state I certainly made him earn his bonus (which he will be asking for shortly!!) as he lathered sunscreen on me, gave me lots of water before the race and then accepted my dire instruction that if he failed to get a photo of me actually finishing the race his life would not be worth living (aah the joy of marriage!).
I will summarise the race as having three parts...these can be respectively referred to as pre-chunder, chunder and post-chunder (I'm nothing but not expressive!!!!)
Pre Chunder: Milled around amidst a pack of purple-cap wearing "mature" ladeees, whistle went and we ploughed into the surf. Lot's of heavy breathing (no life savers involved) and out to the first booooey. Had been told to consider this a "warm-up"! Next phase, towards the headland (refer attached map), this is where we had been told to "go wide" to attempt to avoid the backwash coming off the headland that can make it very treacherous (think washing machine analogy). Continued to swim, at times looking down into veeery deep water with dark shadows appearing and tried to keep sighting my marks to make sure I had not commenced swimming to New Zealand instead of Whale Beach!
Chunder: Elapsed time approx 45min, 43.5min of that had been in swell with lots of uuuuup then doooown then uppp then (splat) down all the while attempting to keep my stroke under control and not resort to some sort of stroke that could be confused with drowning. As I was considering the fact that I was sure I'd been looking at the same house up on the headland for at least 10 min and that geez I was quite buggered, my stomach decided to take matters into it's own hands and give my mind a bit of a distraction....by chucking up! Now, I know this is a revelation to some, but you can actually vomit whilst face down in the sea and it actually comes out!! I must say it's pretty hard to have a good cry when you are floating a kilometre or so out to sea, so after a nice word of encouragement from the guys (not half naked) on the IRB (that's inflateable rescue boat) I took off again...
Post-Chunder: Re-grouped and made for the final turning boooeey (or "can" if I'm being a smarty pants) and headed for shore. Could see the Whale Beach surf club and some rather nasty looking white water breaking and knew this would not be pretty....body surfing is something I'm going to have to take away from the Cantoo program assessed as "enthusiastic, but needs improvement" and sure enough, I was ingloriously dumped onto the beach...not to be dissuaded, I leapt up and believe it or not RAN up the sand to the cheers of my Cantoo support crew (not really there just for me but you know what I mean) and through the finish gate. My hunky handler was waiting with lots of appropriate words of comfort and congratulations and for once (sure to be received with amazement by many of you), I was SPEECHLESS. Mike thinks I barely said a word for 20min I was soooooo buggered!!!!
So, there you go...one down, one to go!! Cantoo journey is almost complete, the Cole Classic beckons this Sunday with quite alarming swell conditions currently buffeting Manly beach bringing with it a good number of those slimy suckers that I have so far avoided in my ocean swimming shenanigans...the Bluebottle. Assuming that some of you foreigners won't be familiar with the term, it is defined as a small jellyfish with a string-like stinger...it comes in large numbers usually and has a nasty propensity for wrapping those string-like stingers around your arms/legs/down the cossie and giving you a very unpleasant electric-shock sensation which leaves you looking like you've been whipped and feeling like you've been burnt...nice eh?
Last Sunday, whilst I was battling the conditions in the Big Swim, these little stingers made mince meat of competitors at beaches up and down the coast...but a little thing like this shall not deter me from tasting sweet success....................is that completely delusional or what??????????? Thanks again to all of you who have so generously contributed to the Cantoo cause - it is amazing to see the figure keep rising and I am so pleased you feel my pursuits deserve your support. Don't forget you can still contribute...you all know the drill http://www.cantoo.org.au/ Final update next week if the bluebottles haven't paralysed my hands!!!!!!!!
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