ThinCats Endeavours

Background

I am the CTO at ThinCats but in my spare time train for triathlons and endurance events every year.? Swimming is probably my strongest discipline but the one I struggle most to make time to train for.?

I've done a few charity swimming events before including swimming from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight.? Made even more challenging by some unwanted bad weather on the day of the event with strong winds and choppy seas.? The Aspire charity approached me in January about completing their latest swimming charity event knowing I like a new challenge!?

The event they were organising would be an overnight swim across 12 hours where a team of 2 swimmers would swim a mile each hour alternating?between them from 7pm to 7am.?

It struck a chord with me as the charity are small and support a cause with little visibility that I liked and also the challenge sounded impossible which again appealed to my desire to take on something like this.? ?

Training Update March?

Three months into my training and I have maintained my plan with weekly swims ramping up my distance.? With the event being a series of mile swims my training involves pausing between sets to try and mirror the stop / start nature of the charity swim.? On the night of the swim I will be attempting to swim over 400 laps of a standard pool.? I need to build up to this duration and currently maxed out at 140 laps.? So, one third of the way but with another 3 months until the event.? I would say I am confident I will build up the mileage but with another 260 laps to build up to it feels like staring up at the peak of a mountain that I'm not sure how to scale.? But - keeping it simple, keep on swimming!

Training Update May

With just over 4 weeks to go until I attempt the Swim the Night challenge training is in full swing.? I am currently hitting the pool 3 times a week and swimming up to 4km in each session (160 laps for those counting). When I complete the event I will be covering 10km from start to finish so I still have quite a margin of distance to cover.? As the event is a series of 1 mile swims I am not expecting to get to the full distance in one training session but to be confident on the day I need to be getting up to 5km in a single session.?

With a holiday planned between now and the event maintaining my training is going to be a challenge.? I have managed to continue swimming in spite of two broken toes so I'm sure a holiday won't stop me!? Fund raising for the charity has been going really well and currently sitting at over ￡1000 that I hope I can keep on contributing to.? Since the start of the year when I decided to take on this challenge I have clocked up 80,000 metres in the pool.? Counting is becoming a habit!

Training Update June

Currently in the final stages of training now and fund raising.? Last week I managed to squeeze in more than 400 laps in the pool across a few days that gives some hope I will be able to make it on the day where I am doing that distance in 1 night.? Planning now has shifted to what I need to think about in order to stay awake all night and fuel myself through the night without any pool vomit comet moments.? Injuries have all cleared up which allowed training to crack on fully just in time for me to taper down before the day.? I'm onto my 3rd?pair of goggles so far this year and likely needing a 4th?pair for the event.? Just keep swimming...