7) In The Groove

Overview

I have new toys! But what to do with them?

These past two months have focused on speed with some technique work thrown in for good measure. I'm hereby coining the term 'GAD' - my 'I can Go All Day at this speed'. My training has been about increasing speed in an effort to bring my natural GAD pace to a faster level.

Not that my GAD pace is slow. And I can move reasonably fast for short sprints. When young, I swam (and won) races with my school and city swimming teams, but even then, I was more of a distance swimmer than a speedy one. But channel tides are unforgiving and many swimmers get pushed backwards late in the swim when fatigue has already set in. So speed to 'break the tide' is essential and definitely something to work on, especially for me as a breaststroker which is naturally slower.

During winter months, pool work is far more beneficial than short, cold, open-water swims. It's the time to focus on speed and technique, before open water reaches temperatures suitable for more meaningful training. So my kickboard, pull buoy, paddles, fins and snorkel all help me work on my legs, arms, head and breathing individually.

My running and workouts have taken a bit of a dive, due to all the swimming. On a non-swim day, I'd think, OK, no swim - a chance for a run. But my legs begged to differ!

February 2026

9th February - a significant date. 18 months to my English Channel tide opening on 9 August 2027. And by pure chance, it was also the day I started training with my swim coach Emma France (who has swum the channel 3 times solo and 20 times as part of a relay - and heads up Dover Channel Training).

It started with a Zoom call to talk goals, scheduling, plans and concerns. Emma had already added me to 'Training Peaks' which syncs with my Garmin watch. So every time I swim (or run or workout), she can see my distance, time, heart rate, effort and rests. My training plans are also posted there.

I receive a different session plan for each swim day i.e. this distance, at this speed, in this time. Speed is expressed using the RPE scale - something I'd not come across before. In fact, I'd never done drills before! I'd had no-one push me since my teenage swimming club days; so this was a completely new experience and I needed to learn what it all meant.

Emma scheduled sessions for specific days but had given me permission to move them around to fit other commitments. Here's my first week:

It was a tough week. Only 4 pool swims, only 10.3km and only 5.25 hours. I'd been doing more hours and distance before I started with Emma. But it's what she'd set me that was important, tough and different for me. There was a mix of strokes, including backstroke (seriously?) which I hadn't done since school days and my front crawl stamina was definitely improving as the month went on, which will make a useful back-up stroke if needed.

Every session is different. For example, this first week's Saturday was about technique, so slow and short, followed on the Sunday by everything as fast as possible - including 1.2km (48 lengths) breaststroke. Phew! Plus I managed to get a workout & a run in there somewhere too.

Honestly, I felt as if my arms & legs were going to drop off. I considered when they might stop aching and decided October 2027 was probably a fair estimate! BUT I did everything that was set. And I'd better get used to it... it's 5 swims per week starting next month!

The rest of the month's training progressed much the same; sometimes further distance in the same time; sometimes the same distances in shorter times. It was hard but I felt good.

On 25th February, I went to Dover. I'd been itching to go for a recce and my trip couldn't have fallen on a better day weather-wise. And I could see France! I was like a little kid, constantly declaring how excited I was.

I wanted to see the beach where everyone trains over the summer - affectionately known as Swimmer's Beach, where car parking was, where pilot boats leave from in the marina and where my B&B was that I've already booked for weekends this year.

And more than anything, I wanted to stand on the starting beach, Samphire Hoe. It felt surreal to finally be there, almost a year since booking my pilot boat. I closed my eyes as it's usually night when swimmers set off. I couldn't quite block out the sun's rays through my eyelids, but I could hear the waves lapping and imagined standing in my swimsuit, cap and goggles, navigating the pebbles with my bare feet and wading into the water for the most challenging day of my life.

Then it was lunch at the White Horse pub, famed for its walls, ceilings & doors being decorated with the signatures of channel swimmers. I picked my spot (as everyone does), knowing the chances of it still being free in 2027 was slim to none.

Finally, I paid my respects to Captain Matthew Webb at his statue. (the first successful channel swimmer - 1875).Matthew Webb at his statue. (the first successful channel swimmer - 1875).

I also managed to fit Dover Castle in there somewhere, which was a bonus - and much bigger than I'd imagined - as I figured I won't have the time or inclination to do that on swim days.

March 2026

Early March training continued much as February, only 5 swims per week with distances and durations constantly changing to push boundaries.

As every day was different, I couldn't always remember the session's plan. So I started to write the drills on small index cards which I bulldog clipped onto the lane sign at the end of the pool. Worked a treat.

My front crawl has improved immensely much to my amazement. I had two different strangers compliment me on my technique - those stroke assessments obviously did the trick - and my stamina has gone from strength to strength. Last year, I was lucky if I could keep front crawl going for 100 metres - which sounds ridiculous when most people swim the channel with it. But for me, it's always been my sprint, not my endurance stroke. So I was childishly pleased with myself to complete my first ever front crawl kilometre.

While working in Amsterdam, I visited Sportfondsenbad - a 25m length pool which had looked great online when I was researching pools there, but the reality was approximately 10 people per lane swimming noses to toes - far too crowded for me. I was either holding people up, or frustrated at those holding me up, with no leeway for anyone to overtake. So after a short 2.5k, I legged it back to my hotel.

Mid-March I went on a short break to a lakeside cabin in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Wales. Stunning! I'd found it online by accident last year and hung my nose over it for several weeks, before relenting and booking it. I wasn't unsure what the weather would be doing in March, but they were the only dates available for many months. Then March came and what unbelievable weather I had.

There was no TV, no wi-fi, no phone signal, no freezer, no microwave, no people, no cars and no noise - except for a waterfall and bird song.

There was, however... silent seclusion and complete privacy, a beautiful lake to swim in, a deck with easy chairs, cushions and a fire pit, a lake-view sauna, indoor and outdoor rainfall showers, an outdoor stone bath overlooking the waterfall, a cosy wood burner, plenty of logs and a super king-size bed which looked out over it all. And I used every bit of it!

Perfection!

On 19th March, while comfortably ensconced in the stone bath with the sun on my face, looking through the smoke of my open fire to the lake beyond, it dawned on me that it was exactly a year since I secured my English Channel pilot boat - the point of no return! Since then I've swum Lake Windermere, have a swim coach, have booked Jersey to France and have swim a kilometre front crawl 🤣.

Back home, in a post-break relaxed haze, I dropped to 4 swims a week for the last couple of weeks, reverted to my GAD pace and even managed to get a couple of runs and workouts in - yay! OK, that's enough relaxation!

Onwards & forwards...

What have I learned these last 2 months?