Hi all
Back again for another installment. Last weekend I was down in Dover and Managed to do a 5 hour swim which I worked out to be about 16 - 17km, I was really pleased with myself as, surprisingly it seems to be getting easier, this time I was clever, I arrived early as there were no accidents on the way down to Dover. this gave me the opportunity to do some very important preparations like, Putting sunscreen on. My wife and work colleagues thought I looked hilarious sporting my new Long distance swimmers tan from last week.
The other major preparation that I was able to do was shave, I made this schoolboys mistake the previous weekend and ended up with a nice hole in my shoulder where my stubble had rubbed away all the skin on my one shoulder when I breathed. I also had some pretty impressive chaffing on my neck, it looked a lot like I had had some blood sucker attahed to the back of my neck and no, it was not my wife! sadly. I also put loads of lube on so I was fortunate to escape the pains of reboring the hole in my shoulder.
Well, I will be down in Dover again this weekend and the whether looks to be a bit overcast and maybe the water will be rough so I will jump into the washing machine again and see how I fair this time.
The season has started and there have already been a few solo crossing but there have been a fair amount of relays and it looks as though Oxford relay team beat Cambridge this time round, well done to both teams.
Instructions from the general
I'm the confused one scratching my chin
The Channel Swim "WHY?"
The 1st reason
Last year in September my brother must have been bored at work and got hold of me at the office and asked,
“Hey Graeme, how about doing something interesting next year?”
I said
“okay what is it”
Spencer
“How about we swim the channel!!”
Me
“Are you nuts, what drugs have you been on?”
That was the beginning of a conversation that was to change the way my summer for 2008 panned out, much to the disgust of a few friends and much to the detriment of my socialising but hey looking at the summer so far, I suppose it is not a bad thing.
After this conversation, I started to think about where I was in life and that I was a bit overweight: clinically obese according to my doctors. At that time I was training about 10 km a week and the nurse didn’t quite know how to break the news to me about the above fact.
I was also suffering from lower back trouble and it was really annoying me, thanks to the desk job!!!!!
I am the sort of person who cannot just go to the gym so I figured that if I wanted to tone up a bit and strengthen my body in general, this might be a good plan.
The 2nd reason
The other reason I am doing this is the fact that I will be able to raise some money for the desperate people of a country that has been torn apart by a dictator. With unemployment at about 90% and life expectancy in the mid-thirties, the country has gone from being one of the fastest growing economies in Africa in the 1990s, to having the highest inflation of any country in the world, currently sitting at 1 400 000%.
From breadbasket to basket case all in the space of 10 short years.
This country is
Even for the extremely wealthy, the everyday things like going to the shop to buy milk, bread, meat, eggs, butter, vegetables, fuel. Being able to have a romantic dinner with electric lights as opposed to candles, or just have electricity for more than about 2 hours a day is only a distant memory
Butterfly training
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2 comments:
Are you the son of Mandy and Brian Schlachter? I worked with Mandy at Swift Transport in Harare. I was secretary to the personnel manager. I visited your home on the outskirts of Harare. And would like to contact Many and Brian again. My email address is isandtom@tiscali.co.uk
Am not sure I am using this facility correctly. My name is Isabel Mercer was Taylor. I worked with Mandy at Swift Transport in Harare. And met Brian many times. I can be contacted at isandtom@tiscali.co.uk
I am assuming you are their son as they loved sailing and horses.
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