ONIF

Saturday

Yesterday was a big case of ONIF (“Oh No It’s Friday”…the channel swimmers replacement for TGIF!). A big weekend ahead and the weather forecast was not good. Showers and clouds is one thing. “10-20mph” winds is quite another, in an exposed location like Hythe. But I am back in the mode of “JFDI”…

…I had arranged to give another Dover Trainee a lift from Sevenoaks station to Hythe due to the lack of weekend trains there so duly turned up a couple of minutes early for 7:43 arrival from Cannon Street. It was only then that I read my texts and Facebook messages to discover that training in Hythe was cancelled. Force 4-5 gusting 6 winds were sure to result in an injury!

So the early start was unnecessary…but ONIF turned to “Morning off!! Bonus!”. It made me very, very grateful that I had taken advantage of the good weather on Monday to do one of last weekend’s swims. But it is only a short reprieve…we started in Dover at 2pm and did 4 hours in the choppy seas. It felt like 6 but was swift and brutal. Luckily given the late finish, I had decided to stay down and save the journey back & forth to Sevenoaks.

Sunday

It was nice to arrive early for once and the harbour looked calmer than on Saturday but overcast.

The Beach Crew were “in character” again, reflecting the medical theme of the Saturday seminar. “Prescriptions” were given from the “pill bottle” (TicTac) and Emma gave me 3 asking if it were a “recovery weekend” before adding 4 more. 7 hours! Feeds were subsequently “given” in large syringes (actually a very effective way of feeding…will remember that for the actual swim!) with odd further “prescriptions” served out of sick bowls. They had even arranged a cheese sandwich for my 5 hour feed…

The first hour went well due to flat seas. As I looked at the overcast skies, I felt okay that I had forgotten to put on suntan lotion. But by hour 2 the skies began to clear a bit and I was regretting this oversight. Then I bumped into the Boss who was having just as bad a swim as I had 2 weekends before, both mentally and physically. She had only been in for about 30 minutes but was already contemplating getting out.

Seeing her cheered me up immeasurably since it was nice to have someone to swim with and we settled into a steady synchronised crawl up the beach. Two people swimming together is 1000% better than 1 person struggling alone with their demons. And by the time we got to the feed (late!), with the help of a couple of Jaffa cakes, I had persuaded the Boss to come around “just once more” with me to complete her 2 hours.

The wind was now up to force 4-5 with white horses appearing regularly but we were pounding along. We did a wide circuit around the yellow buoys and right down to the end before heading back again for my 3 hour feed and her finish. But we both knew she was back in the flow again and it didn’t take much to persuade her to come around for “one more” circuit.

The tide was really high now and as we approached the slopey groyne we were able to swim across the top and stand thigh deep on top of it. As we looked out on the red hats marking each rocky groyne, the sea level was nearly up to the first one and we decided to go along slapping each one. The first was easy – just a small reach up. The second was a little higher requiring a small dolphin leap. Each subsequent one was higher above the water but with a combination of bigger and bigger waves (and a bit of monkey climbing) we complete the challenge of slapping every red hat along the harbour.

It is small things like this that make the boredom survivable for me. We were able to swim hard between the hats but have a laugh at each one. We made it back early for the feed so went as far as the yellow markers for the end of the swim area (which I have affectionately nicknamed the “ducks” since the bob up and down like yellow ducks in a bath). As the Boss retired declaring a small victory over the channel demons, I was feeling ready to attack my last 3 hours…

…but now the waves were rolling in. As one passed through and you descended into the trough between them, the land disappeared behind a wall of water all around. The swimming was going great, much cheered by my swim with the Boss and 7 hours was easily within reach. Shoulders were behaving, arms felt good and I was making good time body surfing between the waves.

But the way back was less safe – the waves had a tendency to grab each arm during the recovery cycle and yank them to the side. After a dozen or so pulls, it was clear that whilst I could continue, it was going to be a bit of a gamble on not pulling anything. So I decided to quit at the 5 hour mark.

This wasn’t like 2 weeks before…this time I was feeling great and would really liked to have continued. But there was no way that I was going to risk my shoulders so I was quitting whilst I was ahead.

My fight with the channel demons a fortnight ago reminded me of my favourite question: “Is today a day for sacrificing a goat?” Most days aren’t bad enough to require anything to be sacrificed…even if the depths of depression might suggest they are. The ridiculousness of the rhetorical question always makes me smile and encourages me just to plough on.

A fortnight ago, I went back and swam the day after my “wobble” and today in the same conditions, I had a wonderful swim. Today the Boss had a hard wrestle with her demons and next week she will putting me to shame again putting in more hours than me! That’s channel swimming.

But next weekend, I am definitely remembering the suntan lotion…even if cloudy!