The Great North Skinny Dip



Sunrise over Druridge Bay, Northumberland

 September is obviously the silly season for outdoor swimmers in the North East, as following hard on the heels of the Tyne River Swim last weekend came the North East Skinny Dip in Druridge Bay yesterday.

The swimmers who attended were forced to contend with an air temperature of 5.5 degrees which made the North Sea possibly balmy, possibly as barmy as the 146 souls who bared all and braved the conditions to raise money for MIND. Respect!

And why I hear you ask was Binge not there? well I must admit that I took the Facebook page rather literally and decided that there was no way I could possibly stretch the adjective "skinny" to cover my current ample frame so I dipped out.

Seems I misunderstood that judging by some of the pictures (see below) but what a gloriously life affirming and slightly eccentric event. Maybe one to put in the diary for next year.

I've had an interesting Sunday which included making my third Sunday Swim session in a row, it's a pity about the rest of the week as I can see my mile a day challenge for 2012 may need to be postponed until 2013. I think Binge needs a serious Mojo hunt.

Busy session though as Proudie turned up fresh from a similar 3 months out, and Cloughie (another veteran of the Tyne River Swim)

4 x 100 @ 2 mins warm up increasing pace 1 -3 lengths
4 x 66 @ 80 secs pull
4 x 33 @ 60 secs kick (hard)
266 free @ 5mins
2 x 133 @ 2.20
266 free @ 5 mins
4 x 66 @ 1.10
266 free @ 5 mins
8 x 33 @ 35 s
266 free
2600 metres

I really need to swim through the week as well.

Flog on the Tyne 2012 (not mine not mine)

Once you fall out of this swimming habit it proves darned difficult to re-establish your regular trips to the pool.

But inspired by watching Sparkie Clarkie et al set off on the 10 mile trek to South Shields I struggled to Consett to follow in the wake of the Awesome Sparkie Walton, this afternoon.

As if the effort of swimming in extremely cold and salty water for over 2 hours wasn't enough, Graham was also sporting the war wounds (significant wetsuit rubs) to prove he had completed this particular Flog on the Tyne. It had been a bit of a mad start as the swim just happened to coincide with the Junior Great North Run and I received a couple of stern looks from event security  for stopping in the wrong place to take these pictures.

Slightly less of a struggle than last Sunday, and EMSC 1.0 even took pity on me and suggested that I miss out the middle 100. Further evidence he's going soft?

2 x 200 133 swim 66 pull
             133 swim 66 kick @ 30 s RI
4 x 66 @ 90s
            no 1 16.5m max rest easy
            no 2 33 m max 33 easy
            no 3 49.5m max rest easy
            no 4 66 max
3 x 100 @ 2mins
2 x 100 @ 1.45
33 swim *
2 x 100 @ 1.45
3 x 100 @ 2 mins
4 x 66 @ 90s
            no 1 66 max
            no 2 49.5m max rest easy
            no 3 33 m max 33 easy
            no 4 16.5m max rest easy
2 x 200 133 swim 66 pull
             133 swim 66 kick @ 30 s RI
2300 metres

* this should have been 100 @ 90s

Evil Mutant Swim Coach 1.0 goes soft? (whilst Sparkie and Clarkie get tough*)

My comeback last month was just a bit short lived as it's taken me nearly a fortnight to face enduring the pain of a second session, but I couldn't avoid it today, having bumped into EMSC 1.0 in town yesterday and assured him I would be there.

I turned up (late) to be met by EMSC 1.0 collecting the fees, and he advised me that I was the only one in as the rest of the squad (proper hard swimmers in Consett!) had done a couple of miles at Ellington lake this morning.

Now I know the dynamic duo of Clarkie and Sparkie are down to do the waterfied version of the Great North Run in a couple of weeks when they swim from Newcastle to the mouth of the Tyne during the world's most popular half marathon. At a mere 10 miles it's a bit shorter than the run and probably a bit cooler. I had been following their training on Facebook and was dreading the ribbing I was going to receive for finally daring to show my face at a session.

Sparkie, Clarkie and Cloughie with AN other!

Anyway survived that ordeal, as they'd obviously opted for the Great Outdoors leaving just me, Dazz and Queenie to plough through this rather benign little set. It may have been benign for them but it was torture for me, I was struggling to complete the technique swim within the repeat time and dipped out of one of the 66's on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th repeat.

Unsurprisingly I am regretting my slothful summer.




Warm up 200 swim 133 pull 66 kick
133 swim 66 pull
266 @ 4.40 steady for technique
1 x 66 @ 80
200 @ 3.30 steady for technique
1 x 66 @ 80
133 @ 2.20 steady for technique
2 x 66 @ 80
66 @ 70 steady for technique
3 x 66 @ 80
266 swim down
100 loosen
2100 metres

* Clarkie and Sparkie het hard didn't really sound appropriate!

Computer say "No" (amidst Olympics, Floods and the usual summer madness)

Hi there, so after an uncharacteristically quiet and unusually dry summer ( in swimming terms), I find myself in the rather unenviable position of not having swum since I left the swim down pool in Riccione way back in the middle of June. 

That's not to say it's been a dry summer, far from it; in fact it has been punctuated by one or two moments of extreme wetness. I am of course referring to our fabulous weather.

Most notably this included a flood during the Geordie Monsoon season which was mercifully short this year, lasting perhaps 3 hours on the 29th June, but with devastating consequences as our driveway turned into a raging torrent, sweeping away, amongst other things a wall, about 4ft of road, 3 wheelie bins, the cat's hutch and my dad's car. For one short moment it looked like I would need to do some serious open water work across the garden if I wanted to access my house, which was at this point under about 9inches of water.  

However all this palaver, the Olympics, a pretty awful chest infection and post world championship blues all contributed to about 12 weeks without a swim, now that is highly unusual because even on holiday I can flop up and down a leisure pool somewhere with the best of them. But as my summer holidays were spent in London, (I am forever indebted to Lesley Cook who very graciously provided us with somewhere to crash) our hectic schedule didn't allow any surreptitious dips, and tonight provided the first opportunity to get back on track with the 2012 swim challenge.

I turn up at Blaydon, dived in, or rather jumped (for elf and safety reasons) and set off up the pool, that first 25 felt pretty good, strong and sensuous; but oh dear elephants, pianos and any other entity of large mass you care to name came crashing down on my back just after the turn. I became completely demoralised when in a set of 5 x 200's I swam 3.10, (encouraging,) followed by a 3.25, (oh dear,) and finally after a 3.35 (woeful) I decided that discretion definitely was the better part of valour and called it a night.

If that wasn't demoralising enough I returned home, fired up the laptop and clicked on "2012 swimlog" my absence has caused havoc with my mile a day schedule I not only find myself having covered only 40% of my challenge in 66% of the year, but the question "Is it a sensible target? is now answered with a rather resounding "NO" and my forecast distance for 2012 is a mere 371,000 metres... 

Need to get my act together, but somehow I know this is going to be very painful; Olympic inspiration is needed but as Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu said " a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step"
I feel a mega binge coming on.
Tonight's session for what it was worth:-

300m Warm up
3 x 200 @ 3.30 free*
100 swim down.


* should've been 5 of these but called it a day after I missed the repeat time....Wuss

Binge at the Olympics Day 2

View from the Aquatic Centre.

Wow what a night at the Aquatic Centre some phenomenal swimming Dana Vollmer going sub 56 for 100 fly, Kitajima well and truly eclipsed in the 100 breaststroke, and pay back time for the French in the 4 x 100 freestyle team.

That's not to mention a fabulous swim from Becky Adlington, to claw herself a bronze medal. The noise levels were truly unbelievable as she tried to swim down Muffat and Schmitt in the final 50.

The home crowd's favourite had emerged onto the pool side to a primeval roar, and obviously meant business. Swimming  from Lane 8 she had worked out that she would have little time on the pool side, to compose herself,  she had already shed her tracksuit, removed her shoes dumped them in the box and before you knew it they were off.

Lanes 4 and 5 set a blistering pace and were well under world record schedule for the first 100 with Adlington trailing in 6th. You could feel the atmosphere and the noise build as she gradually worked her way past the other swimmers. At 125 meters everyone (and I mean all 17500) was up on their feet screaming at the top of their voices...not sure I've ever been anywhere, where the atmosphere was so visceral and certainly never in a swimming pool.

Astonishing! what a gutsy swim, I won't be there to watch her 800 but I think that's going to be very  special. What a competitor.

Anyway first stop this morning Boots for some Strepsils

Binge at the Olympics

Hi I'm still alive and currently pottering around London with Teenage Triathlete. We're suffering from a bit of sleep deprivation having spent last night in Victoria Park watching the Opening Ceremony about 4 hours sleep and back to Stratford for the opening session of the swimming.

I think LOCOG are obviously considering "the queue" as the debut sport in 2016 and Team GB are going to wipe the floor with the rest of the world with all the training we're getting in.

All good humoured though and met some Canadian Masters Swimmers in the queue as well as Tam Jaggs and Susan from Swiss Cottage.

Oh here we go MEN'S 400IM more later.

Binge's Adventures Abroad Day 7 (live as it happens)

It's all over, a real lack of commitment in the 200 Breast this morning a very relaxed and unmotivated 3:23. Put me in 10th place for a putty medal and another rubbish swim from Lane 1.

At least the Brits appear to be improving their results. Meritorious Jen smashed the opposition to win the 60 years age group and Dave Milburn also struck gold as he became the first male British Champion (as far as I'm aware)

It is kind of interesting this meet, I haven't fully trawled through the results but there have only been a handful of world records, however apart from the odd phenomenal swimmer (who sadly all seem to be in mu age group) the depth of swimmers has been astounding.

Many of our swimmers who would normally be shoe ins have struggled and British World Champions are very few and far between. With somewhat predictably Jane Asher (the dasher)landing 4 titles to date, and Nic ( we are not worthy) Latty providing a master class in how to beat very tall opponents including Olympic Champions (Claudia Poll). The answer in case you are interested is even pace swimming. Nic went out in a controlled 34 and came back in an even more impressive 34 passing the whole field.

I'm back on the sun lounger at the moment experimenting with blogging on an iPad which explains the poor grammar and spelling and somewhat erratic punctuation.