Battle of the Dinosaurs Stage 8 - Epic Ullswater 3.8km swim

[Jack Hughes]

Just a reminder of the GC after 7 stages (including a prologue and one stage was two events).

1. JH 06:19:15.10
2. JE +00:14:43.90

This is jon.e's "home" event. Good swimmer vs incompetent swimmer. Experience of many many 3.8km swims vs never swum more that 1500m before.

Although the time gap was surprisingly small in the OW swim sprint leg, there's a lot of difference between 750m and 3800m.

Over to the competitors:

jon.e
Battle of the Dinosaurs Stage 8

The Wet One:

A jovial 3.8km in new money or 2.4 mile in old money, paddle around a lake.

Organiser : Epic Events
Where. : Ullswater , North of Manchester if you need to know.
Cost : can't remember, £12 or £20, dependant if you wanted a t shirt.
Freebies : a medal.
Car parking : £3
Marshals : plenty of safety canoeists

Before I start, I would just like to point out a few things that could, maybe have improved the day slightly, I don't like to moan, if someone puts on a race, and I enter, all I want is a safe race for the money , I am not bothered about freebies , if it's too expensive I won't enter, however.

1. Maybe it would be easier to put the entrants list in alphabetical order for registration, as it would be quicker, saves, having to look down the complete list to find the name.

2. If the generator is the only source of power, maybe some form of back up, particularly if the generator powers the canteen supplying the hot drinks.

3. Have a nice board with the race details, entrants, and course changes on it, to alleviate confusion.

" Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of War. "
This terminology is more apt for this battle than may at first seem. The term ' slip. ' is actually a name given a specific lead used on hunting and racing dogs, and the old naval warships were referred to as greyhounds/dogs due to their speed, so it could well be a naval term.

Meanwhile , back on dry land , this was one of two races where I could have the advantage through experience, the other being the MD race, where it is a journey into the unknown for Jack , but a familiar land for me.

I may have cajoled JH into doing this, but I enjoy seeing people pushing their limits , and getting something out of it , the comfort zone is always there, the hurt locker has to be opened. Maybe I am presumptuous, but I had a feeling JH was not looking forward to this.

Arriving quite early, I wandered to registration, as I went by the lake, the course was marked out with nice yellow buoys, the race instructions gave a course description of , start at Buoy one, swim past buoy 2, at buoy 3 turn ninety degrees and swim to buoy 6,turn onto the back straight, swim past buoys 7 and 8, turn at 9, across to 10 back to 1, repeat three times, keep all buoys on the right except number. 10 on the last lap, keep on left then turn to shore and finish.
Simples, count to three, not two, neither just one, three shall be the number, four thou shall not count as that takes you onto another course and five is right out.
Why, then were there only 8 buoys on the course. ? See note 3.

Race briefing shed some light on the situation , making the course three laps around all the buoys, deep water start.

Met up with JH, chatted, watched the first race, a 500m, ours was the second, the third was a mile.
The quickest were out in just over 12 mins, the last took over 30 mins.
Some of these swimmers exited the water looking like icicles, see note 2.
Maybe JH at this point was starting to relish the idea.

Into the start pen for the briefing, then everyone was counted into the water, this took time, but it allowed for some nice conditioning time, like ten minutes in 16 degree water, I have raced in colder but only for shorter distances.
Prior to the start, and as the race was in Royal Ullswater, we couldn't start until we had sung the National Anthem.

Two waves to start, at minute intervals, me in the first, JH in the second a minute later.

And so it began, oooops, maybe I should admit first to almost ending JHs swim before it started, by assisting him into his wetsuit and breaking the zip, I admit, at times I may be ham fisted. I did a temporary fix using micro pore tape, which held in place for the swim, and rectified it properly later.

The water was cool and clear, I chose the outside line to avoid the fist fight and develop a steady pace, This was basically it, maybe around 280 swimmers in total, a lot of the second wave soon swept past me, and by the second lap the cold was starting to create small cramp spasms, these would continue for the remainder of the swim, some lasting seconds, others minutes where I just had to drag my leg along until it went.

The clearness of the water was mesmerising at times, when the sun shone, the greens would change to blues, the lake shelves deeply and just occasionally before taking a sighting, I would look into the depths, light blues going to dark blue then to indigo and the blackness of the abyss, tranquil, a stillness and darkness that belies a beauty, the occasional fish would flash past and dart into the weeds, maybe I should be swimming not seeing. But the hypnotic colour transition is a wonder to behold , what wonders we miss by going to fast !

So three laps done, turn to shore and across the mat. Now where is Jack. His kit was still in the kit store , stopwatch started lets see what happens.

JH soon emerged , triumphant in his achievement , and it is a huge Chapeau to him for doing it, really it is, given that ,
He has never swum the distance be it pool or OW.
It was cold in the lake
He had to put up with me
And the plus side, the knowledge gained for his stats may go into volumes.




JH

Pause. Rewind. Play.

Must have been back in August/September last year, when jon.e, in an attempt to get me to race more often (well, at all), led to us coming up with the Battle of the Dinosaurs challenge. As we were kicking around the ideas for events, obviously, marine boy suggested the idea of a swim. No problem. But then he suggested it should be a 3.8km iron man distance swim. Oh. Swimming isn't my strong suit. And a 3.8km swim RACE is not something I had considered doing. It's bad enough coming out of the water last with all the other runners/cyclists in a tri leg. But once the idea was floated, I could hardly say no. I promptly entered the race there and then, mainly to make sure I didn't have the opportunity to change my mind.

I had some ideas of getting some swimming done, but the reality for timing meant that there was no way I was going to achieve my ambitions. Then the local pool closed. Eventually, I had to join the local health club with a 25m pool. Given that I will only be able to go at most 1 or 2 times a week, it works out at quite a lot for a swim session. But needs must. I also bought the most expensive wet suit I could find. Free speed. An open water session (15 mins probably) to get used to it, a sprint tri, and another open water session (20 mins probably) and I was ready. Backed with some pool work, just focusing on building up duration in the pool (managed 1h15m for about 2.5km a few weeks ago) and I was ready as I good be.

Although a critical part of the overall GC for the battle of the dinosaurs, this was really just the personal challenge - learned to swim in 2009 - never having swum as a child (I bet kevy had more pool time than me) - and like all things you are not too good at, it's hard to invest in the time to get better. There are always nicer, more rewarding things to do. At the outset, I budgeted on losing 30 minutes overall. So to stand a chance over the last couple of tris, I would need to have a lead of 30 minutes, going into the event. So 15 minutes... probably not enough.

I had thought of it as a learning experience, but I think that would be overstating it, in the same way that going through an automated car wash on your bicycle would be a learning experience: you know that you will learn that it is horrible and a bad idea, but you knew that already. So it was really going to be "finding this out".

Extrapolating from pool times and the openwater swim got me a predicted time of between 1:25 and 1:30. But of course, you can't just extrapolate out. Lots of things to consider:

1) Fatigue
2) Cold (deep dark lake)
3) Technical issues (googles fogging, new suit etc. How would the suit fair after more than 20 minutes? would it chafe etc?, being hit by another swimming etc. cramp)
4) Fear and despair

Control what you can control

Fatigue: Start as slowly as possible (it will bound to be too fast)
Cold: Not much you can do about this, but foot covers were allowed, so I wore my five fingers, I also put the tri suit on, given an extra layer around the vital organs.
Technical: Lots of use of anti-fogging, lots of body glide. Create opporunties for cramp in the pool and practice working through that (done). Plot a course wide of the pinch points
Fear and Despair: tricky

Then there were the unknowns:

1) jon.e lept in to do my suit up, followwed by "oh the zips broken". I did have a spare suit, which was a bit broken, but this was back in the car. Oh well. A bit of gaffer tape, and lets hope for the best (the best happened and it didn't come undone).
2) Just how cold is cold. Chatting to a 500m swimmer, and she was saying it was cold. Colder than... reels off large list of swims recently done... Jon.e makes some helpful comment about how it is that the cold hits at 45m ins. I am starting to calculate where I would be at 45m. Half way?

3) It's going to be a long time in the water. Great to watch people being fished out of the water during the 500m swim.

Oh well. Into the water. Didn't feel that back. looked at jon.e and he was dithering. Oh dear.

Slow acclaimatasation. The best thing to do for avoid anxiety and heart attacks is to get in slowly. Just have your feet in. Then after a bit get in a bit deeper, so your hands are also wet. Wait a bit. Then let the suit fill with water. Then out to let you warm the layer of water up. Then in. float and relax. Take note of how the wet suit lifts you out of the water. Get the head/face wet with a few strokes. More relaxing.


Deep water start, so swim out. Away from the pack. Watch jon.e's wave start. Then we are off. No rush as this is going to take a while.

3.8km, split over 3 laps, with about a 200m swim in. So each lap just over a km.

Divided the race into thirds: Phase I: Learning to swim in the wet suit in a relaxed manner. Phase II: Getting cold and tired: Phase III: Survive.

I am quite pleased with the first 1000km. Showed the evidence of progress, as I was generally catching up and overtaking people, with no one going past. Sighting a bit erratic as I seemed to be pulling over to the left.

Then, just as I get to the end of the first lap, the first swimmer overtakes me. 45-50 minute time I suspect. But still, unless he slows down, then this means that I am on for a time nearer 2 hours if I am only a third of the way through! This was rather depressing.

The weather conditions were good - water was flat as a pancake - visibilty was good.

But it was a long way between buoys.

Starting to get lapped more often now. But stilll catching and dropping a few people.

Then at the turn (about half way). I got completely swamped by a pack of 1 hour finishers. Mental low. Just as I hit the wall (basically, what I was used to swimming + half as much again). jon.e had also added a few bits to the wall. My neck was sore by this point too (not really swimming related, but a long standing issue caused by too much driving and computing and chair sitting and being old).

This was the fear and despair bit. I suspect kevy can relate to this - it is something that is quite specific to non-swimmers. I just had to stop for a bit. Which meant I started getting cold. Felt a bit sick too. I also felt like I was made of blotting paper at this point, and not much else. I really wanted to get out. Back to the basics. Calm. Breathe. At least there was some blue sky and sunshine. Some weed in face as well which didn't help. Lots of people going past. Although I probably was stuck for less than a minute.

then off again. A bit of stop start progress, then the course was a bit near the shore, so the lake was shallower, and the water was a bit warmer. Put the fear back in the box. I little bit of cramp, but hey ho.

End of lap two. Managed to avoid the people turning left and swimming across in front of me. But at least the water was clearer now.

I was dreading getting back into the cold bit, but by this time the sun was shining, the top of the water was quite warm, and I good feel the sun on the back.

My technique was more doggy paddle than crawl by this time. Shoulder/neck very sore. Felt like arm being ripped out each stroke.

More people were coming past.

Back straight for the last time. Past the bad bit.

Try to relax, get form back, rotate a bit more to ease the shoulder. But every time I did this legs starting to cramp. Oh dear.

Completely lost sight of the turn buoy. Felt disoriented (sighting was making me feel dizzy and sea sick by this point). Couldn't understand how I had turned so much to miss the buoy. Then, the answer. Bored safety canoeist had drifted into the course and was completely blocking the buoy. Great.

Onwards.

Finally get to the turn. A couple more come past. Surely there is no one left to come past by now.

Try to catch them. More cramp. Oh well, just keep on paddling in. Then I can see the bottom. Oh joy!

Landed!

Standing up is horrendous. I might as well be drunk. Wobbling around. Official takes my chip off realising I would not be able to. Don't think I could sit on a bike, let alone ride one for 112 miles at this point.


See jon.e Ask him if I am last out. Surprise - there are still about 5 people in the water.

Ask him about times. He says he's been waiting for 30 minutes. Never seen him so happy.


Result:

jon.e: 01:18:22.75
JH: 01:46:24.25

Winner took 00:45:20.5

I was 225/230

jon.e was 138/230. Not bad for latent fitness.

(Not sure how many DNFs there were, about 300 entered)


Just hoping that I will be able to not fade so much when it comes to the 1500m swim!


Not worried about the GC really (or rather, I can't be disappointed at not doing 1:25-1:30, as this was such a leap into the unknown). Could I have prepared more? Sure. Should I? Maybe. But this was always going to be a stretch, and nothing could really prepare me apart from doing it (I.e. if I had done it early as "preparation", that would have been doing it, but when I was less prepared. Will I do it again? Not until I am a far better swimmer. I just have to decided whether I want to be.


Big thanks to jon.e for providing the catalyst and the support. Personally, this is a bit item on the bucket list, gone from a non-swimmer to doing first length in 2009, to a 3.8km swim. Old dogs and that.


Next stage is Allerthorpe Classic (OD) in two or three weeks time.



GC After stage 8.

jon.e: 07:52:21.75
JH: +13:17.6

Time gap reversed!


PS. Just a few hundred metres from our swim were "Caution Runners" signs on the road. For a lakeland trails hilly trail race. Oh how I wished...

[ris]

well done jack - i recognise the 'arms being ripped out' feeling! even the recovery part of the stroke hurts!

i think that given the build-up you had to the event then all those feelings of gloom, and the pain in the body, are to be totally expected. as you correctly point out - the 1500 won't see such a big fade (if any, in fact).

[kfjatek]

Congrats to Jon.e for the stage victory and the maillot jaune, and to Jack for tonnes of HTFU factor and making it to the finish line. Epic result, dinos!

[Bopomofo]

Excellent work, both of you. That's a long time in cold water.

JH: always good to tick another bucket list item off. I am extremely impressed with how far outside your comfort zone you went, here: from 15-20mins of OW to a 3.8km swim is a big fat HTFU to anybody who says they can't do it just because they've never done it before.

Funnily enough, just after the 3.6km 'half-way' point at Brownsea I had a quick self-assessment: "Could I get on my bike now?". It wasn't a happy conclusion.

Brownsea next year?

And congratulations to Jon.e.saurus for his stage win and blowing the GC wide open!

[Sir Jibbenstein]

Seriously Well done JH! I remember my first 3.8Km at Southbourne way back when and as 'a swimmer' in your eyes probably went through excatly the same feelings as I fought the currents for a 1:45 finish. I'm sure a lot of us can relate to your experience, just over different distances. It takes a lot of determination to push through that and not get out after 1 or 2 laps!

(oh, and well done jon.e for the podium finish and the new GC leader)

[Ewan]

bookmarked for bedtime reading... Very well done both

[King Sad]

Again - well done Dinos

It's a pity Ch 4 cameras were not following you for a documentary, well perhaps a GoPro

Fascinating reading chaps

[Ewan]

yes great read and a great competition. Makes me want to go out and do some OW swimming

[Ewan]

So... what's left to do?

[Jack Hughes]

So... what's left to do?

Standard tri august 10th

HIM September 6th

Not sure if we can fit anything else in. This gives me a tricky job to pull back 13 mins.