On April 24Th I attempted a 6 hour swim at the Aquatic Park. The course was a 0.8 mile, aka cove. I was able to swim 10 coves; 8 miles and stopped the attempt at 4:10 minutes due to the uncomfortable water temperature of 52-55 degree water. I had great pilot support from my wife, Kimberly Howard, Jen Valosek, Elizabeth Glass, Andrea Kellogg, Bill Wygant and many other South End Rowing Club members. The swim was dedicated to Kim's grandmother, Helen Stewart, who is not doing well health wise.
The following is a quick summary of the training event:
GOOD FACTS
1- I slept well the night before
2- I ate well the week before
3- I swam 2 hours in the bay the day before the swim
4- I took a nap the day before the swim
5- I prepared early for the swim
6- Lots of people involved with the swim, great support
7- I ate a good breakfast the morning of the swim
8- I woke up in a great mood, feeling ready for the challenge
9- I had a fantastic kitty support (my kitty Chandelle made sure I was well prepared)
BAD FACTS
1- I did not prepare a good communication line with my pilots regarding feeding
2- I decreased my swim mileage the month before due to work, fatigue, jet lag
3- I did a marathon 10 days before the swim
4- I did not stretch or warm up before the swim
5- Started too strong and continued too strong for the first 3 hours
4- I didn't feed properly
5- The warm liquids were too hot, making it hard to drink
6- The water was cold: 52-55F
7- All of the above led to making a poor judgement call (got out too early)
8- Tunnel vision regarding quitting: I am done! No more swimming! Coming out of the water now! Instead of changing the course and swimming in shallow warmer waters or pushing harder
THE START
JEN VALOSEK, ON THE YELLOW KAYAK ESCORTED ME AROUND THE COVE
TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH MICHELLE DEASY
SWIMMING WITH JP, TOM KELLER, JOHNNY WALKER, SUZIE DODS AND KAREN ROGERS
SWIMMING WITH MELISSA BRAISTED
KIM HOWARD WAS THE CAPTAIN OF THE PENAAT TAKING GREAT VIDEOS
WARM AND HAPPY AFTERWARDS
For all of you who have been supporting me during this English Channel Swim journey, thank you so much for the love and support. I could not do it without you all! Thank you for standing by me. Enjoy the video below:
