Mike and I gettin' pumped up for the final 1.5km |
It is 5 days after the camp now and the body is still
recovering, but overall its responded well and I am extremely happy with where
I am in my preparation at the moment. I found 2 swims particularly hard - the Friday night swim was for an hour and a half
and we were not allowed to eat (for anyone that knows me - I LOVE MY FOOD and I
get frangry when I’m hungry'). I also got a bit cocky in the 3 hour swim earlier
on that day and maybe went a wee bit too hard considering we had to complete an
8 hour swim the next day. But after the swim, I did a Linford Christie and made
a B-line for the fish and chip shop over the road from Brighton Bay! I looked
like a homeless person wrapped up like an onion shivering uncontrollably and
horsing the chip into me..MMMMMMMMM they were so good! (Not sure if I actually
had time to taste them - but this is the power of the human mind and the tricks
it plays on you…)
(Scary Me!!!) After the Big 8 Hour Swim... |
The Last Swim - Middle Brighton Pier, Melbourne |
Anyways I'm not going to bore you with every detail but
there was a few cool things that happened during the camp in regards to research,
self-learning and great advice/mentoring too. The camp was paired with bonds
University as a research project directed by a successful nutritionist - Tara
Diversi - and it was fascinating. Blood tests, urine samples, body fat,
"fat folding" test (don't know the technical terminology for this
one) all sorts of data collection along with nutritionists monitoring the type
and quantity of feed consumed. This data is currently getting assessed and as a
result, advice will be given about the type of nutrition we should consume at
what time intervals, and also how my body reacted to the 13 - 14 degrees water
at different times during the 8 hours. We even swallowed a temperature sensor
in a small tablets and by doing this they could monitor our core temperature (COOL
OR WHAT?!) and tell if I need to put any more weight on and which location it
needs to be put on etc etc - FASCINATING HEY!
The last thing I’m going to say is, we received a talk from
a pain management guy from Wollongong - it was all very technical and sure you
know I’m not the brightest spark, but talking about having to manage your pain
in a task like the channel was pretty interesting. We discussed pain as a
warning to your body that something is wrong, whether it be big or small, that
its inevitable that there is intense pain in these challenge and that's why it’s
such an accomplishment - we deserve the pain we earned the pain - EAT IT UP!' That
helped me to think of it like that - you know it’s not a serious injury and
every ache and pain that I ever had,
small knocks that I got playing under 12 football came back and haunted me
during the long 8 hour swim, but I was prepared to say “nope, not today - that’s
just my mind playing tricks” and an orderly cue of complains, aches, reasons to
get out, excuses and one faint quiet reason to stay in – “this is an 8 hour
full on, intense battle of the mind and I have to just keep swimming”. That’s
the greatest thing I got out of the camp. I have to clear my mind, take it
elsewhere, eat the pain, be grateful, peaceful and powerful.. without this
learning curve I wouldn't have believed anyone that says this challenge is 40%
physical / 60% mental (I would even go as far as 30% / 70%!).
A massive shout out to Vladimir Mravec and Charmian Frend
for their never ending enthusiasm, support and patience. Also to all the participants
- you are all amazing and so inspiring, thank you for the help during each
swim!
(Also if you have never been to Melbourne - it AMAZING! Food,
wine, shopping and well organised transports… worth a nose!)
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