The Day after the 13.1 mile swim was a rest day, post swim I felt banged up, nothing really ached just dead tired like my body was recovering from a high fever…..wiped! I convinced myself that a 30 minute session of Yoga and Foam rolling would help my recovery, it did by Sunday I felt great, my body lapped up the day of recovery and I concentrated on refueling!
 I am often quizzed on what I eat, how much food, how many calories I take in each day, well if you are curious lets take a look at Sunday,  the day after the 6 hour swim, I did not add up the calories, most days I don’t running on feel, food intake dependent on what my fuel needs are  with regard to training, when I have done a tally up the total is between 4500- 5500 calories/day.

Breakfast
Hot Tea ( Love English Breakfast), Banana on toast, apple, cereal with blueberries and milk
Snack
Kashi Peanut Butter Bar
Apple
Lunch
Ham, Hummus and Lettuce Sandwich on 8 grain bread
Kashi Tasty Little Crackers ( lots of them I love these!)
Lara Bar
Special K Protein Meal Bar
Large wholegrain crackers with cottage cheese and nectarine on top

Afternoon snack
Chocolate Milk
Peppermint chocolate
Large Wholegrain crackers with cottage cheese and pumpkin seeds on top
Apple
Baby Carrots
Pretzels

Pre Dinner Snack
Smoked salmon on crackers
Glass of red wine

Dinner
12 oz Grilled Salmon, Salad of Lettuce, Tomato, Pumpkin Seeds, Hummus, Dressing and Sauteed Mushrooms

Dessert
I have 3 of these…..
Ice Cream, Ginger Chocolate and 8-10 Ginger snap cookies, I love these with hot tea.
…….by the time morning comes I am hungry!

Monday I am back to training, after Sunday’s rest day it is time to get back on the horse, off to the Green River Reservoir again this time for a 4 mile swim, I meet Paula a fellow swimmer and training crew team member , she is swimming with me today, I am so excited to have someone to play with in the water, also with us is Deb she is in charge of navigation today and is leading the swim in a kayak. Paula swims in a wetsuit and fins, a perfect pace beside me, we stretch out and soon fall into a good rhythm. An out and back loop, easy on the way down with the wind at our backs helping us down the lake, on the way back we have to earn it swimming into the wind.
 We are well led with Deb at the helm, no duck on the Kayak for me to look at today but in its place a life sized cat with huge emerald green eyes,  not real of course, but at first I wasn’t sure, Deb is great with animals, it is quite feasible that this was a real cat that she had trained, in fact I would not be surprised if it could pass me food at my feed stops, Deb can do anything!
 Swim achieved and onto my complete favourite post swim ritual, during the 25-30 minute drive home I toast myself in the heated seats of my mini club man wagon, these seats are on fire! Love it, combined with the heat on high I begin to defrost.

Tuesday, today I have a 6000m swim on the books, tough swimming but completed, the last 2 sets the hardest, 10 x 200’s SCM on the 3:00 interval and 8 x 250’s of pull. All done, entered my distance log figuring out that last week was my biggest mileage week that I have completed during this last 8 months of training, 48,180m, 30 miles of swimming!

 Open Water tomorrow then this weekend off to the coast in search of cold ocean water, jelly fish and swells, I’ll keep you posted !

Welcome to my Blog! Training Crew this for you to hear about the 6 hour Green River Swim yesterday, you know the rest of the story up to this point, to those of you that don’t I will fill you in on my adventures to date in preparing for my 2012 English Channel attempt in upcoming blog posts!
 Saturday September 4th we were scheduled for our first 6 hour OW swim, location the Green River Reservoir in Vermont, it is described as a ” wilderness-like setting” managed by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, it became a Vermont state park in 1999, 5110 acres of land which surrounds the green river reservoir.
 Wake up time 6:00am, pickup training crew, today that is Cara, boat is on the car, gear is packed we are ready. We planned to six at six,( 6 hours at 6:00am), the reality was we both agreed me leaving home at 6:00am was a good way to still hit the 6 at 6 and more time for a cup of tea, my morning ritual before I swim, hot tea and milk and multi grain toast with banana mashed on top.
 On the 25 minute drive to pick up Cara I also wolfed down a Peanut Butter sandwich and a bottle of water.
 We had not shortage of supplies, the boat was so loaded down we thought it may indeed not float…it did!
2 sets og goggles, 2 caps, 2 containers of Maxim( liquid fuel ) 1000mls in each container, I take 250mls per feed, 2 Peanut butter sandwiches cut into bite sized cubes, hot tea, Ricolas, water, cozy sweatpants, hat, mittens and a fleece jacket, a lifeguard belt and a giant over sized yellow plastic duck…it makes me smile when I swim!
 We are off, serene, still, peaceful, so quiet yet alive with nature, Cara was kayaking on my right, confident and strong, comforting to me as we embarked on the journey, the challenge = 6 hours in the water. We have so much stuff, it looked like we were going camping for the weekend not a 6 hour outing!
 Cara was navigating the Reservoir, her plan to travel around the perimeter of the lake, all the inlets, ponds and islands she plotted the course I followed her lead, a boat and a swimmer we were off!
  I can see, smell and taste the reservoir as we weave in and out of the inlets, the name reservoir makes it sound small, clear and so controlled yet it’s not, it is 653 acres of water with 19 miles of shoreline, conditions can change from glass like water to strong winds in a heartbeat making the water choppy, today we start in glassy water but the forecast is for wind as Hurricane Earl moves up the East coast.
 First 30 minutes, I am pacing myself, taking it easy, that means to me I am in uncharted territory both physically and mentally, it is not can I swim for 6 hours? it is Yes I Can but what will it feel like, will I crash, hurt, get down, racing through my mind are thoughts of these questions that have the answers yet to be discovered, but they will be if I settle down and am patient, stroke by stroke, 30 minutes, by 30 minutes, small steps to reach the 6 hour mark.
 I swim in 30 minute segments, at 15 minutes I get a stroke count from my trainer, at 20 minutes I get a hand signal to build speed, at 25 minutes a sign to step it up, my pickup for 5 minutes, then feeding and some welcome crew contact.
 # 1 30 minutes, messy, stroke count 63-67, 30 minute # 2 excited to get a feed and contact from Cara. At 2 hours Cara reads me well and sees my stroke, short and choppy, she tells me to stay long and relax, things start to click and I relax for the first time. The scenery was stunning, Cara told me I swam with 2 beavers, one slapping it’s tail at me, many loons, loon nests and beaver dams, the trees are starting to turn the shades of fall and there were many fish today, fun to watch!
 At one point I was swimming in 10 ft depth and suddenly swam over a huge boulder only a few inches of water covering it, then it dropped away like a grand canyon under water, other times it became shallow as I skirted around islands my fingers tickling the bottom kicking up a cloud of sediment and reminding me to keep my elbows high and not drop my arm while I,m swimming,
 3 Hours an exciting benchmark, on the menu 4 cubes of PB sandwich, bite size, I swallow them in one gulp, and drink water from a camel back clipped onto the kayak. The wind kicks up it becomes blustery, the water rough, we solider on in the choppy, windy conditions, it brings  alive, I like it rough and stormy and it finally snaps me out of conservative mode, stroke rate 68-70 strokes/minute and at my pick ups 72-76 strokes/minute Pickups and builds keep me warm but I do find them taxing. 4 Hours I am excited, I look forward to food and contact with Cara, contact is huge, body language, facial expressions, motivating words, or just saying something to make me laugh, it all keeps me going and looking forward to the next 30 minute feed.
 4.5 Hours, next stop is 5 hours and that will mark our longest EC training swim to date, can’t wait! Swimming through bubbles, where does that string of bubbles come from? Fish, beaver, loon, I  have to remember to find out when I am not swimming! How long have the things that I can see been down there? Can I swim over that fallen tree, I have to remember to lean forward, press my chest down to raise my hips so my legs don’t drag and hit a branch…..reality stroke technique drills right here, it makes me smile when I swim!
 5 Hours Wahoo, two 30 minutes steps to go and we have achieved the goal for today. Things that ache….my shoulders are burning but don’t hurt, lower back and hips tight, hands want to claw up but I fist and unfist here and there is ease the feeling. New favourite thing, couple of frog kicks as I start swimming after feeds, seems to loosen things up for a bit.
5.5 Hours English Breakfast Hot Tea and milk, the best!
6 Hours A ginger snap, wow that was insanely good, I didn’t pack it but bummed it off Cara, not only did she expertly navigate the kayak and read my needs, she also manned the Kayak for over 6 hours straight solo, amazing!
 Wahoo! We did it and make our way back to the canoe launch our entry and exit point, 6 Hours and 17 minutes, we complete the swim, our course 13.11 miles, the air temperature was 64 degrees when we started and 70 degrees when we finished, the water temperature 70-72 degrees.
 Not sure of the exact temperature of the water, a new invention of keeping the thermometer 2ft under the water involving a weight, the thermometer did not fly and we lost it in the first 30 minutes, I will be on the lookout for it next time I am swimming!