I am on the mend, 10 days after the Memphre swim, I have a few light pool swims under my belt and another open water swim, I am feeling stronger every day, I still seem to tire very easily,and  my speed has slowed considerably,  but some good nights sleep is combating that nicely, there is one area still being examined by the docs, my liver enzymes are off the charts high, not normal I am told, ” I would like to take one final blood test, to see if they have lowered  before we refer you to a specialist”, says the doctor. 

In the meantime I have been doing some research of my own on the effects of marathon swimming on the body. I’ve come across some useful reading on electrolytes and also research completed by a physician curious on the effects on the body of a swim of 10 hours or more, he completed a swim himself and then drew blood pre and post swim, he  later completed the tests on a fellow physician and swimmer, the results were interesting indeed……

Here is an exert from his paper:

Swimming in the ICU

By Peter Attia

To study the physiologic impact of marathon swimming I decided to use myself as a guinea pig on during my Catalina swim in 2005.  My friend, Marc Lewis, who is also a doctor, drew my blood for a complete panel of labs 3 hours before I started my swim, and immediately after I finished.   Some of the lab results were ‘expected’, such as my sodium level going from a low-normal (142 mEq/L) to a high-normal (148 mEq/L), as a result of ingesting quite a bit of salt-water.  Some blood tests that measure dehydration – coupled with an immediate pre- and post-swim body weight – suggested I was neither dehydrated or super-hydrated.  However, the lab results that surprised me the most were the counts of my blood cells.  My CBC (complete blood count) was completely normal before the swim.  Immediately after, however, it showed changes compatible with a condition called SIRS, systemic inflammatory response syndrome.  Without getting into the details of SIRS, my white blood cell count and platelet count had risen from normal by 5- and 3-fold, respectively.  These blood results are typically seen in patients with profound infections or traumatic injuries, as a result of an inflammatory cascade in the body leading to margination of blood cells (e.g., certain types of white blood cells, platelets) and leaking capillaries.   Several months later, we repeated the experiment when Marc swam the Catalina Channel.  The results were the similar.  While a sample size of two is hardly worth drawing conclusions from, I am convinced that marathon swimming is stressful enough to induce an ‘inflammatory cascade’ in the body.  When the body is under extreme physical stress (e.g., infection, tissue damage), immune cells in the bloodstream are activated and release chemicals (cytokines), which dilate capillaries (leading to capillary leak), and inciting an inflammatory response throughout the body.

– swimming for 10+ hours is as stressful to the body as having the worst infection, or being hit by a car.  It is actually like being in the ICU.

 Well, I found this very helpful, my blood work was consistent to someone having been hit by a car, add in my water toxicity and we have ME  post swim.  I continue my research, reading articles on Hyponatremia and electrolytes, helpful reading on recommended electrolyte intake during exercise  confirming that my feed mixes were within recommended intakes and mixed correctly, excellent, but how did my body get so out of balance?

 Well I’ll never now for sure but after research, reading and meeting with my crew to talk things through here are our findings:

 Missing feeds early in the swim was a contributing factor

During hours 10-12 my feeds were accidentally diluted, less electrolytes going in

I swallowed some generous mouthfuls of lake water in the early part of the swim

I vomited some feeds up

What did me and my crew learn?

Some lessons on feeding at night and the importance of seeing how much water is added to the Maxim feed cups

Salty foods = good in fresh water swims

Leave some water in the lake

Make sure I finish all my feeds every time

 We also came up with a long list of things that went right, here are just a few…

Our communication was excellent

We were well prepared with our supplies and roles, we each new what we had to do, when things didn’t go to plan we readjusted and carried on, none of us panicked or ” threw our toys out of the cot”

My crew motivated me by lying about how far I had to go, and staying upbeat

We never gave up, I kept going and so did they

We completed the swim WAHOO

2 Weeks after the swim, not up to full speed yet, but I'm Bright eyed and bushy tailed

 So with the above  findings in hand, it is almost 2 weeks since the swim, we have one more blood test to retake, ” Doctor, I have a race in 2 days, we don’t have the final test results, are you comfortable with me swimming”, I ask the doctor over the phone, ” well how do you feel”, she asks, ” well, I am feeling much better than I was, I tire easily, I am not back up to full speed, but doing alot better and in good spirits”

 She replied with, ” swim, but just do what you can tolerate”, I thank her, as I hang up the phone I have a smile on my face like a Cheshire cat, ” PERFECT, I’ll swim and just do what I can tolerate”, I get the giggles, I know very well what that means to me, I am going to race full steam ahead WHAT FUN!

How much will I tolerate? I’ll keep you posted

Closing thought: “Better to be pruned to grow than to be cut up to burn”

                                   – John Trapp

Back at home what a relief, we pull into the driveway at midnight, the car is packed with all the wet soggy gear from the swim, I am an ” unpack on arrival type of person”, but not tonight, with Jeff’s help I stagger into the house, up the stairs and flop into bed, before I can roll over to wish Jeff goodnight he is out cold, exhausted, I lay there, my body aches, the kind of ache you have when you have a fever, there is no position that feels good, I toss and turn, drift off to sleep, later to wake in a sweat, I change my clothes, drift off to sleep again to be awoken by the same feeling, I am burning up,  I glance at the clock 4am, I edge out of bed and creak down the stairs navigating them one at a time, it seems to take forever to make it to the kitchen, PHEW made it, ” now the doctor said potato chips and Gatorade, don’t feel much like it but maybe it will help”, I think to myself, I shuffle over to the couch and collapse down with my Lemon Lime Gatorade and Cape Cod chips.

 I sit for a bit, the simplest of tasks feels like such a challenge, I am banged up and banged up good, what is next…. time to reflect, research and reevaluate. But all in good time for now my body is beat and my mind is battered, it is still whirling with images of the dark, stormy night, swimming alone, swimming into the daylight with a picture perfect sunrise the crew by my side, losing track of time, emerging out of the water at the end of the lake on Canadian soil, then an afternoon of deterioration of my mind and body,  the whirlwind ride to the hospital and now back home, an action packed  32 hours, there has not been a moment to take it all in, I feel numb.

  I sit on the couch, simply not knowing what to do with myself, Jeff is still sound asleep and quite rightly so, if I could physically pace around I would but my body won’t support it so I just sit, actually more like a slouch. I am about to surrender and go back to bed when I see a shape behind the front door, then it is gone, I shuffle over creak open the door and see a big paper bag, inside is a jar of Vermont honey and some locally made chocolate treats, written on the bag….

  Congratulations Charlotte! You are our wonder woman!

   Treats for your recovery ( can be shared with superman Jeff)

    Love to you + yours,

            Margaret

 “Margaret”, my quiet voice crackles through the crack in the door, there I see her,  it is my dear friend Margaret, she replies ” I am not here, really I’m not, I’m just dropping off this bag” she says, ” come in Margaret, please”, I say, she does and we sit on the couch for a bit, I tell her  about the swim and a bit about feeling sick, then poor Jeff comes down the stairs looking a bit worse for wear, ” are you going to rest some more!”, exclaims Margaret, ” well I have to go back to the emergency room today to get checked out and Jeff is off to Burlington to pick up the kids”, I reply, Margaret looks at me with a strange look, one I have not seen before, it is a ” you must not realize the state you are in ” look, she then politely asks ” do you need help today”, “I don’t think so, I just have to go to the hospital, thanks though”, I reply, ” sure you wouldn’t like me to drive you?”, Margaret asks, I pause a moment before I answer, I then remember how hard it was to get down the stairs just a short time ago, I notice how I can’t even manage to sit upright at this very moment and then I concede to myself, YES I NEED HELP, I do my best to communicate my thoughts to Margaret…… ” you know, thank you,  a ride would be great, as long as it’s not too much trouble”

 Margaret departs, I go back to bed, a few hours later she is back to drive me, she steers me into the car and we are off to the hospital once more, I am convinced that they will take one look at me and send me on my way, like getting my entry stamp when I arrive in New Zealand to visit my family ” you’re all set mate”. Well today I don’t get a “your all set mate stamp of approval”. I check in at the Emergency Room, the receptionist takes my details, I am getting tired, my legs begin to waver, Margaret is steadying me, I feel weak. Into the emergency room I shuffle, before I know it I am on the bed and collecting a few more bags of fluids. Margaret sits with me and we wait while the IV bag empties into my body, Margaret calls her family to let them know where she is and explains our predicament, ” more IV, now I know how she does it, I’d be bionic too if I got a few bags every day” says Margaret’s husband over the phone, it makes me smile, I feel safe. Hours go by, more blood tests and more results, I  have improved since yesterday, but not out of the woods yet,  the physician orders more tests for tomorrow, it’s  Sunday night,  I am released…. back home and back to bed.

So what happens next?Well there is no swimming for the week, the doctors orders took care of that and a good thing too, Monday and Tuesday are consumed with more  tests and an ultra sound of my liver, things still aren’t back up to speed yet, the prognosis is a referral to a specialist if things don’t begin to improve over the next week. Each new doctor I see begins with the story…” Well, I had a long lake swim”, each day I feel like I am getting a little more energy back,  finally the week is over, Sunday arrives and I am allowed to get back in the water, I am excited. 8 days later I am able to dip my toe back in the Green River Reservoir.

Mirror like water and a foggy morning for my welcome back swim

  8 days later……. how things can change in 8 days!. It is 9am Sunday morning and welcoming me back to the lake is a cool 42 degree air temperature and a water temperature of 63 degrees. I have declared the goal of a 2 hour swim ( yip 2 hours, what am I thinking, right!), remember I have the New England 10km Open Water Championships in just 7 days and I am eager to get back in the water and get ready, as I said I am excited to swim, but what I didn’t tell you is that I am also a little scared, I haven’t been in the water since the battle with Lake Memphremagog, I haven’t swum since I felt so sick,  I haven’t asked my body to perform at all and I still feel out of sorts, this is unfamiliar territory, I know I have to get going again but at what cost, I have embraced the last week of rest and repair, now that week is over and I am entering into a new learning phase, a new type of patience, ” Has my body repaired enough?, What should I feel like one week after swimming a marathon?” These are just a few of the questions to be answered by experience….my experience, I have to figure this out myself, so here we go into the water, learn by doing coming up!

  Down to the waters edge and off to one of my favourite swims, picnic island, Paula is swimming with me, we make our may out of the canoe launch area, it feels like I am home, it is great to be back in the water, my shoulders creak a little bit, but overall things feel pretty good, I stroke away down the center of the lake, I feel like I am flying, WAHOO! 30 minutes down and it is time for my first feed, Deb passes me my hot Maxim, the smell of it makes me gag, memories of projectile maxim vomits come rushing back, I scrunch up my face as I tip the feed cup back and most of it pours down my face, not a very good feeding effort. Back to swimming, around picnic island we go, we start heading back up the lake and stop for my one hour feed, I notice we are not as far as we usually get in one hour, “weird, Deb must have taken us a longer way”, I think to myself as I swim on, I am into the second hour, my energy levels tank, my stroke loses power, I try to kick it up but there is nothing there, to make matters worse I am getting cold, ” swim harder to keep warm”, I tell myself over and over, but there is no speed improvement, Deb tries to speed me up with an enthusiastic pick up signal, even that doesn’t work, I continue to slow down and sluggishly complete the 2 hour swim, I emerge from the water, I managed to drink the rest of my feeds without throwing up and only ate one Jelly Baby, I am not back to my usual self, I self prescribe a few short pool swims and a few more days of rest, I feel despondent.

 Deb later tells me I was swimming painfully slow, my stroke count barely 60 strokes per minute, ” you’re not your normal self, I can tell because I am dry and you usually drench me with your arm strokes when you swim, I couldn’t get you to speed up a bit”. I reply with the following, ” funny I felt rocking fast for the first hour and then things got really hard, but the hot chocolate afterwards was the best”. It might have been a toughouting but boy was it the best to get back outdoors, and visit with the crew”

What will the next swim feel like  and will I get the Doctors stamp of approval to swim in the New England 10km Open Water Championships just 7 days away? I’ll keep you posted

Closing Thought: ” He who limps is still walking”

                                     – Stainslaw  J. Lec

 Somehow I find myself back in the car after hanging over the guard rail on the side of the road, it seems to have gone from daylight to dusk in a split second and I find myself slumped forward in the passengers seat, I don’t know if my seat belt is secure or not but I figure it must be the thing that is holding me upright, preventing me from collapsing forwards in a heap on the floor of the car. Almost all conscious  thoughts have vanished from my mind, everything is muffled, I can hear Deb, Cynthia and Jeff talking but it sounds to me like I am in another room, they are talking like I am not here with them,  ” she needs medical attention”, a voice echos ” yes but in the US, not  Canada”, another muffled sentence, ” best is to drive  to the border and then to Newport, there is a hospital there”, ” how long a drive is it”,then it’s mumble, mumble, mumble, words I can’t hear, things are moving, the car is off.

 I feel numb, my only focus is the horizon, someone on the beach had said ” you’re probably sea sick, as long as you can see the horizon you’ll be fine”, this is now my mantra, ” I must keep my eyes open and on the horizon”, the antsy moving about I was having on the beach  has passed, sharing with the crew on how I am feeling has passed, now there is just me and the horizon, that is all I can see, I’m not really sure I am even in the car anymore, I know the crew are here, I can hear their voices, but strangely I don’t seem to be in their world, ” just focus on the horizon, hold on, don’t let yourself drift any further off”, my  mental training is still with me, this time it is my mind commanding my physical body and my mind itself, weird, ” stay strong all you need to do is hold on to that horizon, don’t let it out of your sights”, my mind is relentless on the command, ” horizon, horizon, don’t lose it, no closing your eyes not even for a second”

 I can’t see the road, only the horizon, suddenly I feel a rush of cold air, the car has stopped and the window is down, there are voices, we are at the border, the customs offical is talking to Jeff at the American border, ” how long were you in Canada”, the official asks, ” Just the day”, Jeff replies handing him all our passports , ” What was the purpose of your visit”, the officer asks, ” the international swim from Newport to Magog”, Jeff responds, ” which one is the swimmer”, the officer points to Deb and Cynthia in the back seats as he asks the question, in response Jeff points to me in the front seat, I am slouching  forward, my mouth is ajar, there is a stream of drool pooling from my mouth into my lap and my glazed over eyes are staring out to the horizon,  ”  it is HER”, How was your swim?”, asks the officer, no reply, ” How was your swim?”, asks the officer again, still silence from me, ” HOW WAS YOUR SWIM”, the officer abruptly shouts, then he stares at Jeff,  ” does she talk?”, the officer asks, ” we are on the way to take her to Hospital in Newport”, the officer asks no more questions and waves us on immediately, onto the highway, every minute is bringing us closer to Newport and that hospital.

 The horizon is getting harder to see, the sun is going down and it is getting dark,  ” what now” I think, ” if you can’t see the horizon….. focus on the highway signs”, I do, a big green Interstate sign is getting closer, ” funny I don’t remember the writing being that hard to see, it must still be  a long way away off, HEY   the letters curvy?”, I think, the words are topsy turvey, the letters are all different shapes, the sign blurs as we speed by, I feel like I am riding in a space ship, stars and galaxys wizzing by at the speed of light, but I am not in a space ship, I’m in the car and we are on the exit ramp, ” we must be close to the hospital”, I think, I feel hope.

  Lights everywhere, white walls, uniforms and me in a wheel chair, next thing I know I am lying down, there are faces close to mine, ” tell us what’s going on”, the question is asked over and over, words are coming out from my mouth but I’m not sure what, I want to tell the doctors and nurses what’s wrong, but I don’t know, all I can manage to say is that I had a big swim and I’ve been sick lots.

 Next thing I am in a room, I am being pierced with needles like a pin cushion, ” we are monitoring your heart and running blood work, ” get her on an IV”, “take a temperature”, the doctor says to the nurses, I want to help, in my mind I’m lending a hand but in reality I’m not, I’m not sure if I just don’t have the strength to raise either of my arms or if there are too many needles and tubes pinning me down, I feel like Gulliver secured down to the ground by the villagers, I feel weak.

 The doctor administers something to reduce the nausea, the IV is pumping into my right arm, I am starting to focus, I see Jeff in the corner of the room, he looks tired and sad. I scan my body, electrodes on my chest monitoring my heart, IV in my right arm, blood being drawn from my left, oxygen in my nose, oh and the thermometer, we won’t talk about where that went, uncool.

 The doctor returns to the room, ” give her another bag”, then turns to me, ” your white blood cell count is alarmingly high, you have Hyponatremia, you are over hydrated, your sodium is very very low, you are hypoglycemic, you body is way out of balance, and your liver does not look right” she says, ” we are giving you sodium, glucose and another bag of fluid” and with that she is gone. ” Can I see my crew?”, I ask the nurse as she fiddles with the tubes around me, she brings in Deb and Cynthia, I am so happy to see them, I am feeling more alert and am grateful to not be alone, ” I don’t like the IV, am I done yet”, I ask them, ” not until they say”, says Deb and with that I lie in the hospital bed and wait for the IV bag to drain, I wait and wait, time  for that patience again.

Cynthia, Deb and me, I'm the one in the middle...

 Time goes by, nurses come in and out, they take more blood and the doctor returns with the results, I am hopeful to be disconnected from all these tubes and sent home but the doctor says  ” another bag of fluid your sodium is still very low, white blood cell count alarmingly high and your liver does not look normal”, when is your next swim race?” Ahhh… well……. I really want to tell you but I haven’t told my husband I entered yet”, then I blurt out ” it’s in two weeks in Rhode Island “, ” NO SWIMMING FOR ONE WEEK”, the doctor announces and leaves the room.

 The nurse comes in with the third bag of fluid, for some reason the fluid aches, I am not sure if it is the sensitivity in my muscles from the battle in the lake or the fluid itself, but I do know when the IV is draining in my arm aches are excruciating……  ” Oh a third bag”, I exclaim to Deb, I grimace as the third bag is manoeuvred onto the stand, I feel the cold fluid shooting into my arm, it feels knife like, I don’t like it all, ” Cynthia can you talk to me about relaxing things, Deb I don’t like the IV it hurts” Even though I am not enjoying my current predicament  I am grateful for the wonderful care  this medical team is giving me, I can’t help feeling bad, although I did not do this physical mischief to myself intentionally I did undertake the swim knowing the risks, I know that Marathon swimming is an extreme sport and that it has its dangers, for that very reason I pack my insurance card in my swim bag for every swim, well looks like today I need it. I thank the doctors and the nurses ” thanks for helping me, I am sorry to be consuming your time”, they are so kind ” you are an inspiration”, one replies, ” I wish I could be more like you”, another says, I am flattered but embarrassed, here are these unselfish people caring and repairing day in and out, they are the heroes.

 You know how I told you that I was no longer ansy, well that was when I arrived at the hospital, now I have some fluids in me I want to go home, Jeff, Deb and Cynthia have been in the waiting room for 4 hours, I have jusy noticed there is a clock on the wall in my room, 10:00pm, ” my poor crew, they have been in the same damp, wet clothes for over 26 hours, they have to be starving and exhausted, I’ve got to get them home, I want to get home”, I ponder the thought. Jeff enters the room, ” Jeff, you take Deb and Cynthia home, I’ll be fine”, my brain thinks it is back to plan navigation mode, ” No, I not leaving you”, replies a very tired looking Jeff, ” well how about giving Deb and Cynthia the car, they can go home and rest and we’ll figure out getting back to Stowe in the morning”, I spit out another option, Jeff heads out to talk to Deb and Cynthia, meanwhile to doctor returns and I begin to plead my discharge case, ” might I be released soon, I really am doing so much better, look”, I lift my hand and smile…….., the doctor replies ” you have been very out of balance, a major stress on your body, you are improving but are your sodium levels are not yet in the normal range”, she leaves the room and once more I am alone.

Doctor,I'm really much better, look!

 I wait and wait, Jeff comes back in, “we all want to stay”, he states matter of factly, ” well I am pretty sure I am getting discharged soon”, I reply, ” did the doctor say that?”, Jeff enquires, ” well I am confident she is considering it”, with that the doctor returns, ” now you look a lot better Charlotte, how are you feeling now”, ” oh sooo much better thank you doctor, I feel great, just a bit tired”, I reply enthusiastically. ” Well good then, we are going to get you ready to go home, BUT NO SWIMMING for a week and you must go to the Emergency Room in Morrisville tomorrow to get checked out, oh and 2 bags of potato crisps on the way home” I am thrilled, ” Jeff go tell Deb and Cynthia we are going home”. Jeff leaves the room and I lay and wait for the nurse to unplug me, ” oh dear, how am I going to sit up?”, I think, the nurse comes in and removes the IV, the oxygen and the other bits and pieces, I am left in my gown faced with the overwhelming task of sitting up, ” I have to go to the bathroom”, I tell the nurse, ” can you get there on your own”, she asks, ” yes” I blurt out, wondering how I am going to make it across the room, I grasp a pole and stagger over,” harder than I thought”, I think,  as I struggle to walk. Mission accomplished and it is time to get dressed, the nurse brings in a big plastic bag, it smells terrible, inside are my favourite cozy after swim clothes, I peer inside, they don’t look very inviting, the nurse struggles to get them on, I am not much help to her, now lets get you out to the car, she pulls up a wheel chair, I am about to protest and then feel my weak legs quiver, they are ready to give out on me, I sit obediently. Out I go to the lobby, there they are Jeff, Deb and Cynthia, finally we all get to go home together.

 Back into the front seat I go, Jeff is driving and the girls are in the back, I munch my crisps staring at the near full moon, the same moon that guided me and my crew on the lake just 24 hours ago, ” what a beautiful night, how lucky am I to see this moon 2 nights in a row?” Very luck indeed.

What will my body feel like tomorrow ? I’ll keep you posted

Closing Thought:  ”  The harder you work the harder it is to surrender”

                                                                                    – Vince Lombardi

15 Hours, 30 minutes and 45 seconds; I swam from Newport, Vermont, USA to Magog, Quebec, Canada …… so what is the damage?

 The swim is over and I am looking forward to getting cleaned up and pulling on my favourite after swim sweat pants, T shirt and Hoodie”, I ask Deb and Cynthia, ” will you help me clean up?”, they reply, a warm ” yes” and with that we are off to the public facilities located on the beach. I have Deb on one side of me and Cynthia on the other, along the beach path we go, it is a bustle of activity, there is a wine festival in full swing, we look out of place bundled up in all our clothes, we make our way into the bathrooms, there is a line of tres chic women waiting for the bathroom, they throw us a few disapproving glances, with a ” don’t make eye contact” look on their faces, we look a right mess.

Off to clean up, we look unlike the other beach goers

  Deb senses my delimma, she snaps up the rag and starts scrubbing, the grease  comes off bit by bit, I stand there helpless looking like a poor sap locked out of the house in the pouring rain. Finally the grease is all off, ” I want to wash my hair” I declare to Deb, ” my shampoo and conditioner are in my backpack, can you pass them to me?”, kind Deb, a reply of ” are you kidding me” would have been quite appropriate at this point in time, but she doesn’t say that, she passes me my shampoo and conditioner, I go about a technique of washing my hair without lifting my arms above my head, harder than it sounds, but after swimming from USA to Canada I figure I should be capable of atleast washing my own hair. There, done, ” I smell good’, I think, ” now I can relax in some clean cozy clothes and enjoy recovering from my battle with the lake”, but it’s not my time for clean, cozy and enjoyable, things go downhill and they go downhill FAST.

 Deb turns off the shower, she is completely drenched from helping me degrease, ” time to get dressed, Cynthia, she’s ready for clothes”. At that moment I begin to deteriorate, I double over in the shower and heave, I vomit, vomit and vomit some more, each vomit more violent than the one before, I don’t know how long I have been buckled over but I can see that the white shower box that earlier reminded me of the Ritz Carlton now looks like a mud pit, it is covered with a black tar like substance, I feel sweat on my forehead and a wave of dizziness, I don’t feel good.

 ” Deb, I have to clean this up”, I mumble, frightened to open my mouth too wide in the fear of more black tar coming up, ” I’ve got it”, says Deb, ” Deb, I feel bad having you clean up my mess, it’s horrible”, I reply, ” I work in an animal hospital, I do this all the time, get out there, Cynthia will help you get dressed”, Deb replies kindly yet firmly, I obey begrudgingly. Out I go, there is Cynthia passing me my clothes, the line of ladies looks horrified, ” I don’t think me or the shower smells good anymore”, I think.

 With Cynthia’s help I pull on my sweatpants, a tank top, fleece pullover and sweat shirt, ” I want to brush my hair Cynthia”, I blurt out, Cynthia’s eyes widen, ” really, OK where’s your brush”, she digs it out of my bag and passes it to me , I pull my hair back and then put on my favourite merino wool hat I got in Ireland, ” there, that’s better, I am sure to start feeling good now”, I think, but I don’t feel better, I start feeling worse.

 Cynthia and Deb steer me back out towards the beach, I plop down beside a tree and lean up against it, we start to chat a bit, I feel sick, ” I’m not feeling too good, I might try a walk”, I say to my crew, they help me up and I head over to the beach, I want to congratualte Liz Fry, she was the first swimmer in, about an hour before me, what a great swim, I want to offer my congratualtions, ” Hi Liz, terrific swim, what an honor to swim in the lake with you”, I say, ” how are you feeling”, she replies, ” A bit nauseas Liz, but in good spirits”, I say, ” try a little bread, sometimes it helps”, I thank Liz and head back to the security of my tree and fill in the crew, ” Liz is super nice, she suggested trying a little bread”, with that some bread appears, I tear off a penny sized piece and pop it in my mouth, then another, before I can get in a third in I lurch forward and throw up again, it hurts, the stuff is coming from the pit of my stomach, it is a black paste and looks like it has coffee beans in it, I hurt.

 Some of the other bystanders from the beach come by, ” try some gingerale, or some water”, “you might be dehydrated”, ” you are probably a bit seasick”, a cup of gingerale appears, I take a few sips, again I heap forwards vomitting, now a cap full of water from a water bottle, a thimble sized amount, I vomit up more black bile, it hurts bad. I collapse back against the tree, I can hear my breath, it is loud in my head, my ears are ringing, my arms are starting to tingle, I feel scared.

 2 hours pass by and I am still chained to the security of my tree, I am afraid to stray from it, for some reason I feel worse when the tree is not beside me, yet I know I need to go home, the sun is lowering in the sky, it is 5:30pm, my crew looks beat and it will soon be dark, what to do? I just don’t think I can sustain the 2 hour car ride back to the United States, back to the comfort of my home, I feel torn, should we stay or should we go?

 ” The other 2 swimmers have landed, they made it”, Deb and Cynthia tell me, ” I want to go say Hi”, I inform them, again the crew help me up and I head over to the landing chairs, the very chair I sat in just a few hours earlier, it seems like a lifetime ago. Elaine Howley and Greg O’Connor, are all wrapped up just like I was, the last of the 4 out of 11 swimmers who survived this battle with Lake Memphremagog, ” great job you guys”, I say, we chat for a bit, then I say farwell and head over to thank Phil White, the “Pied piper of open water swimming in the North East Kingdom” and the guy who made this pioneer swim a reality, ” oh you have to get your AFTER  picture taken”, he says, before I know it there is a camera lens close to my puffed up face, I give my best possible impression of a smile….

After the swim, I am in good spirits but feeling sicker by the minute

 Back to the tree, I go and I have a cunning plan…..” OK, we travel back to Vermont, if I start feeling worse and need a break from the car we stop at an Inn , or perhaps a diner, until I feel better”, I say to Cynthia, Deb and Jeff as we shuffle towards the car, seems like a solid plan to me, yet my crew make no comment, they look concerned, they steer me into the front seat of the car and stuff a wad of paper towels in my lap, the door closes, I feel trapped.

 Jeff starts the car and we roll out of the parking lot, Jeff starts making his way along the side streets towards the highway, every turn we make I feel worse, like a steam engine that is about to blow a gasket, ” this is getting hard, I am too hot, I am going to blow, I’ve got to get out of this car, HELP”, my mind is screaming at me, finally I blurt out ” Stop the car”, Jeff stops the car and I fall out the door and hang myself over the guard rail on the side of the road, beyond the guard rail is a steep bank that leads down to a river feeding to the lake, ” I wonder if the lake is having the last laugh?”, I think as I heave, ” how can there be anything left”, I ask myself, there is not, it is the pit of my stomach itself coming up, tearing the back of my swollen throat as it explodes onto the bank, I heave and sob, sob and heave some more, then my legs buckle under my body, everything goes numb, ” game over, I am toast”.

  Somehow I am back  in the car, what happens next?  I am in no state to travel, I can tell you that for sure,  perhaps an Inn for me to rest for the night, or worst case scenario a hospital , which will it be?  I’ll keep you posted.

Closing thought:

 “You never know what events are going to transpire to get you home”

                                                                                       – Apollo 13 Movie

 LONE SWIMMER CHICK ……..ARE YOU MY MOTHER?

Remember the book ” Are you my Mother”?, the little bird  gets lost and asks every man and their dog ” Are you my mother?”, read on……

 “How long have I been swimming alone in the dark?”, “Irrelevant”, I answer my own question,” just be patient , head down and swim, every stroke you take is one stroke closer to Magog, Quebec, Canada, make each stroke count, one at a time”, I start to sing, my crew and I had been talking in the car about songs to sing tonight, from some random place I pulled out Kenny Rogers’ song ” You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille”, I sing it a few times it makes me laugh, I switch up to my trusty 10 green bottles hanging on the wall song, I know it takes me close to 30 minutes to get through my kiwi version and as I do I breathe to the side and come alongside a smorgasbord of lights, both kayaks and swimmers, suddenly I recognise someone it is Dave Dammerman a fellow swimmer,     ” can I swim with you”, as I ask bright lights approach on my right side, it is confusing, lights everywhere, who is who, is that my support boat”, I scan the area trying to make sense of it all, I hear a shout from the boat, I can’t hear what is being shouted at me, I am blinded by the bright light shining right in my face, I see nothing but the light and the muffled voices behind it, it seems like everyone is shouting at me……but what are they saying? I see someone lean over the side with a feed bottle, what a sight, I swim in and swipe it, thank goodness FUEL, as I am downing it I hear ” Jeff is coming, Jeff is coming, SWIM”, I drop the feed cup and swim away from the boat, alone again.

I swim and swim, the warm feed feels comforting in my belly, I drive through the waves, ” patient, just be patient” I instruct myself and with that I wait, I wait some more holding onto those few words, ” Jeff is coming, Jeff is coming”, I know he will be there but when? Then amongst the jostle and splutter of the waves is my knight in shining armor, Jeff my husband is battling through the waves and he is right beside me, ” fanbloodytastic”, I say to myself, I am thrilled. 

 I can’t see much, Jeff looks quite dark, I only see one light on the kayak and it looks like it is shining right in his eyes, I feel relived to not have the need to sight now I can follow the kayak, a welcome relief on the muscles in my upper back, then I notice that I am hungry again, how can I be hungry already, I keep swimming, I have trained myself not to stop until my 30 minute feed time, I swim on and on, finally hunger gets the better of me, I pull up, “Jeff how long til my next feed, I am starving”, I ask, ” I have no idea, the stop watch was tossed off when we switched”, he replies, ” feed now please”, I blurt out,  Jeff passes me a feed, it is like he is balancing on a trapeze, as soon as he stops paddling to reach for my feed cup and pour hot water into it from the thermos the kayak tips this way and that, I wait silently treading in the water, we manage to exchange the feed cup to me and I pour the contents down the hatch along with a few swigs of lake water, I gag, vomit and swim on.

 Jeff and I start slipping into a groove and then Jeff starts to fall back, just a boat length, ” Noooo not again, Nooooo”, I scream inside, “come on Jeff, come on”, the waves are not letting up, I can see Jeff digging it in with every paddle hit, he pulls back along side me, PHEW, I feel grateful to have him by my side.

COMPANY IN THE WATER, WHAT WAS THAT?…..

 I have had 3 feeds from Jeff, I know that after one more feed he will head to the boat and switch out with another kayaker, 2 hours on and 2 hours off plus a replemishment of the feed bag. I am feeling strong after my 3 feeds, a state of calm seems to have surrounded me like a blanket, apart from a close call with an abandoned light house a while back and weaving in and out of the other kayakers and swimmers I have not been aware of anything else in the water, I stretch out with each stroke, I feel like I am slipping through the water, I must be moving into the deeper part of the lake, the water is cooler, still rough yet I feel I like I am floating, then it hits me, not like a jolt of ” what’s that”, more like a slither on my thigh, something is soft yet firm and it is on my right thigh, it gives me a shudder like an electric shock or vibration, I keep swimming, my leg is tingling from the sensation, not in pain, more like my nerve sensors all saying at once ” what the heck was that?” I remain in my state of calm not alarmed at all, what ever it was did not harm me, it was a gentle brush, before the 30 minutes until my next feed is up I feel the same thing again, ” I must remember to research what is in this lake when I get back, Electric Eels maybe, that was the strangest sensation I have ever had in the water”, I think.

This or an electric eel...only answer is below the surface of Lake Memphremagog

NEW KAYAKER IN BIG YELLA, BUT WHO?

 Jeff gives me my final feed, I swim on alone, he turns and paddles back to the pontoon boat, ” I wonder who they will send out next”, I think, I can only imagine how hard it must be to get out of the kayak in these conditions and for a new kayaker to navigate into the boat. I continue to swim and notice a kayak coming towards me, ” no idea who that is”, I think, I swim along side the kayak, I still feel calm and now also curious, like I am the seal in the large tank in the zoo, no where to be but here, my only entertainment is who comes by to see me, ” now who do you think this is, come out, come out whoever you are, show your self to me”, I make a game of guessing who it is, feed time arrives, ” finally I can find out who is the mystery kayaker”, I smile underwater at the prospect, someone new to interact with, goodie, goodie!

 Feed time, I stop swimming and the dark silloette in the Kayak turns towards me, ahhhhh BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT, the headlamp is angled right in my eyes, I am blinded and can’t see who is there, then I hear the cheeriest voice ever, ” What a lovely night, the moon is just beautiful”, says the voice, I am overcome,” Cynthia is that you, so great to see you”, Cynthia goes about mixing up my feed and saying the most positive of statements, by the time I have downed my feed I am swimming off looking at the moon on my left side thinking ” Yes what a lovely night, how fortunate am I to watch this moon all night and if I am patient I can see the sunrise too, how lucky am I?”

Nearly time to say " Goodnight Moon"

 Turns out very lucky, my crew has stuck by me through this rugged start, we are making good progress and at my next feed Cynthia says ” Welcome to Canada,you are over the border now”, it is music to my ears, I swim even stronger, but amongst all this good and uplifting news I am noticing pain in both my thighs, right up into my hips, it is a constant muscle soreness, the muscle feels like it is in a state of constant contraction, a nasty cross between a muscle strain and a cramp and it is not letting up. I evaluate the options….number 1, stop swimming NO, not an option, number 2 release the muscles by drawing your knees into your chest at the next feed, YES, I try this at my next feed, it helps for a few seconds,  I feed, vomit and swim on, the pain is right back. OK option number 3, massage your thighs with your hands at your next feed, 30 minutes comes around again, while Cynthia is mixing the Kayak I rub my thighs, it feels great BUT as soon as I touch my legs I realize that I have made a BIG mistake, GREASE, all over my thighs, I forgot I had greased them and now it is all over my hands,” must remember NOT to touch my goggles with my greasy fish hooks”, I make a mental note, hands free for me.

ANTICIPATING THE SUNRISE…..

   So here we are Cynthia and me swimming into the night, I have maintained the strong stroke I started with, for the last few days I have been studying the lake, where it is deepest, where the cold springs are said to lurk and the fore-casted air temperature hour by hour, between 4:00am  and 7:00 am I project it is going to be the lowest air temperature, my plan is to keep up a good effort level and maintain a workload heavy enough to keep my heart rate elevated enough to warm my body in this colder mid lake water, so I stick to my tactic:

 RELAX, SWIM STRONG AND IN CONTROL, YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO LET UP, KEEP WARM BY SWIMMING SRONG, GET COMPLACENT AND YOU ARE OPENING THE DOOR AND INVITING  HYPOTHERMIA TO COME ON IN, NOT TONIGHT….

 As the moon lowers things get dark, the wind begins to drop and it gets still and cold, the cold air feels like it is boring a hole into my head, I plunge it under the water as I swim knowing the water will be warmer than the air, I still feel pain in my thighs and every now and then pull my knees up under my hips in a sort of a frog kick to release the intensity of the pain, it dulls for a few seconds and then returns. The darkenss goes on and on, the only thing I am focusing on is a sign that the world has turned enough to start bringing the sun into view, I can’t wait, this feels like the coming of the first sunrise  ever seen, I am poised on the edge of my front row aquatic seat waiting for the show, my patience pays off and soon after my 6:00am feed, after 6 hours of swimming the sky begins to light up, I can see Cynthia’s smile in the kayak, I am elated, I have made it through the night and soon the sun will rise and warm my back, I can’t wait.

" The Sunrise....well worth the patience"

 7-8 HOURS, A DARK HOUR…….

 Cynthia paddles in, time for a relief kayaker, out comes Jeff, he is smiling and bundled up in a winter hat, gloves and jacket, he looks cold, I check in on my body, my core is warm, my hands and feet all have feeling, the only spot feeling the cold is my head and bare back, I choose to ignore those parts of my body and focus on the areas that feel warm, just as I change my focus the pain in my thighs, after 4 hours dissipates, my thighs are not screaming at me anymore, I feel relieved.

 The sky is stunning, yellows, oranges and reds, 7:00am rolls around and the sun tries to heave itself from behind the hills, ” this is taking forever”, I think, finally the sun peaks over the hills teasing me, ” come on sun, just a little higher, you can do it”, I wait patiently and then I see the rays on sunshine hit the water and me, what a beautiful thing, I have imagined this for hours, now it is here, Wahoo! But things don’t perk up, the sun seems awfully powerless this morning, there is no heat in it, if anything I feel colder and to add insult to injury the winds has started to pick up and we are now swimming in the shade, no sun for Jeff and I. I feel down, I feel despondent and frustrated. Next Feed I ask Jeff , ” hey when will we be out of the shade, how many miles have we done”, Jeff passes me my feed, I swallow and swim on, I am in the shade and seemingly swimming alongside of the longest hillside ever, this is my darkest hour.

After a while the pontoon boat pulls alongside my left side, I look at the boat and think….

 ” I am feeling pain in my shoulders with every stroke, I am cold, things are very dark in my mind, I can end all this pain and just get in the boat”.

 I focus on the sound of my breath, my stroke is still steady, I am feeding, I am cognitive and communicating with my kayaker “, I look at the boat again and think…..

 ” I am not getting in that boat of my own free will, I will be in much more pain if I do, it will be mental anguish, the anguish of giving up, memories of the torture swim in Ireland rush into my head, during that swim I got in the boat, I did not make it to the beach, it  is still fresh in my mind….I am not giving up, I will be in less pain staying here and swimming for as long as my mind and body are able “.

 And that is that, the only thoughts in my mind now are thoughts of Magog, I don’t know what the beach looks like, but I have plenty of time to imagine, the round smooth rocks, the water warming near the sure, the sand under foot as I walk out of the water and me, on dry land fist pumping both hands up in the air victorious after navigating this battlefield Lake Memphremagog.

Light Sky Dark Mind

 I have lost track of time, it seems to be slipping away, like sand slipping through an hour glass, I have been trying to estimate how far down the lake I am, from how many hours I have been swimming, but I’ve lost track, when I asked Jeff where I was a few feeds ago he said ” half way, nearly 13 miles”, I was excited and picked things up,  time went by, Cynthia is now with me “you’re doing great you are at 12 miles”, my hopes crash, how could I be further away from Magog than I was a few hours ago” I think, my heart sinks, ” pick your self up, the only thing that matters is getting to the other end, just swim”

JUST YOU AND THREE OTHERS….

Jeff comes back out in the kayak, ” just you and three others left” he says, that one sentence shocks me and makes me even more determined, “11 of us started on this quest, Memphremagog has defeated 7 of my fellow swimmers, she might be putting up one hell of a fight but she is not taking me out “, I declare to myself, ” we are doing this” , I say to Jeff and with that we are off once more. Feeds come and go, I don’t know where we are, every now and then I see the pontoon boat on my left, behind it trail the 3 kayaks belonging to the rest of my pod, the faces on the boat look cold and tired, like poor lost souls, I dive my head under and swim looking the opposite direction when I breathe, the pontoon boat is spooky.

MAGOG IS THAT YOU….

 Hour after hour goes by, feed after feed, all I want to know is how many miles to go, Jeff tells me 4.75 miles, ” sweet I can do that, that is the length of my Picnic Island to Little Italy loop at the Green River Reservoir where I train, I do that all the time, I can swim that, I know I can, 2.5 hours tops”. I am excited this will all be over in just a few hours and I will finally get to live the dream….walking out over the smooth rocks and onto the warm sand in Magog, Quebec, Canada, I feel excited. I swim, swim and swim some more 1, feed, 2nd feed, 3rd feed, 4th feed, that’s 2 hours, 30 more minutes and I should be there, Cynthia takes over paddling, I sight to see Magog, I see nothing but lake ahead of me, where is the beach, WHERE IS IT? Finally Cynthia stops me for my 2.5 hour feed, ” how many miles Cynthia”, I ask, I am expecting her to say” half a mile”, or ” Oh Charlotte, it’s just around the corner, 15 minutes and you are there”, but Cynthia doesn’t say that, she says……” 4 miles to go you’re doing great, come one just a lap around blueberry”

 What a blow, I feel like I have just received a hit  to the head with a baseball bat BAM, how could it be still 4 miles to go, there is only one thing I can do, put my head down and swim and it hurts, every muscle in my body is screaming at me, ” DID YOU MISS THE MEMO WE ARE SPENT”, not yet muscles I reply, we swim on. 1 feed goes by, 2 feeds go by, 3 feeds go by and still no sign of Magog.

13 hours down, hours to go? Just keep swimming...

TIME TO BRING IN THE HEAVY ARTILLARY…

And with that in comes Deb in the kayak, I am thrilled to see her, this is the time I need her the most, “how far Deb”, I know she knows where I am at, I am in pain, there is no doubt in either of our minds that I am going to make it to Magog, it is just a matter of  how long is it going to take? You have just over a mile SWIM. I desperately want to see that beach, I stop to look, every time I do Deb shouts SWIM, stroke, stroke stroke, I am crawling along, the water has warmed up and it is now quite shallow, Deb stops me to feed,” banana?”, ” Yes”, I reply, I get half a banana, gag and swim on, I stop again,” SWIM, there…. the orange buoys” Deb commands, I put my head down and swim, finally I have a landing in sight, the orange buoys, my mind is coaxing my body to respond……

” swim to the orange buoys, you have been so patient, now it is time to swim in, come on do it, NOW”

 I swim and swim, apparently making very little progress I know this because I peak, I have to strain my eyes to see the buoys, they don’t look any closer at all. The pontoon boat is there lurking waiting for me with those coffin like kayaks dragging behind it, I dive my head under water to hide from it and SWIM.

Deb firmly shouts " SWIM", the word gives me a helpful slap on the face....I Swim on

THE END IS NEAR….

 I can see the rocks on the bottom, it is so shallow I can almost touch them with my hand, ” maybe I can stand up and just walk the rest of the way?”, I think, I know that will not happen, my legs are sure to be unstable after all night and most of the day in the water, I limp onwards until the orange buoys are big and right in front of me, I swim through them and know that anytime I can be done, but not yet, I am going to stand up and walk up onto the beach for that fist punch….I can’t believe this is happening, I am here, the dream is about to become a reality, I have been living the dream for so many hours, so many days for weeks….dream it, believe it, achieve it…could this really be happening YES. I feel the smooth rocks under my hands just like I imagined, I lift my head, the first thing that strikes me is the sandy beach, and the cheering from it, I hall myself to my feet and collapse, my legs are unstable just as I thought, I give it a few more tries and then I make it, and walk out onto the beach, my crew are there already, I raise my hands, I am thrilled, WAHOOOOOO!

The Dream becomes reality, I've rehersed this moment in my mind for 15 hours, 30 minutes and 45 seconds

Next thing I know I am being wrapped in a towel and blankets, hat on and I am in a chair with a hot chocolate in my hands, WOW what a feeling, we did it me and my crew,  Lake Memphremagog put up a great fight but we left victorious.

All bundled up, the Lake and I look at each after the battle

I sit for a bit and warm up with the help of the blankets and hugs from my crew, I suck down the hot chocolate, my chair is facing the lake, there are people everywhere around me all a buzz with   congratulations and cheers, my crew are hugging me, others are rubbing my back, yet  for those moments in that chair wrapped up in all those blankets I am not living the congratulations and the pats on the back, I feel a quietness, I reflect, even just for a few moments amongst all the bustle on the beach it is just me and the lake, staring at each other square in the eyes, quietly saluting each other, what a battle from both of us, I respect the lake and I get the feeling she respects me, what a formidable opponent and one I will never forget. 

Next up, time to clean up, inspect the damage and lick my wounds, will I discover any wounds from the battle?…. I’ll keep you posted

Closing Thought:

 Success isn’t being the superstar who always gets the applause: It’s sitting back and letting someone else get the credit -Ken Harris

 Thanks to ” The Superstars”….

•  My crew : Deborah Beier, Cyntha Needham and Jeffery Brynn
•  My fellow swimmers scouts who went to battle with me
•  All the volunteer kayakers and support boats
•  Phil White, “The Pied Piper of Open Water Swimming in the North East Kingdom”

The Expedition: Newport, Vermont,  USA  to Magog, Quebec, Canada

Date: September 10th, 2011

Plan, Prepare, now time to Pack, a mission in itself

A Sleepless Night…..Time to get my head in the right place

 Thursday night and I can’t sleep tonight, I toss and I turn, ” this can’t be good that I am not sleeping the night before my big swim”, I think to myself, so many thoughts swirling around my head, negative thoughts about cold lake water and cold night air, positive thoughts of me emerging from Lake Memphremagog in Canada after traversing  the lake, the thoughts all swirl together like I have tossed them into the washing machine and pushed the spin cycle button, I am not resting easy and I am not relaxed.

 I have been resting my body all week as part of my taper for tomorrow’s swim, I have been looking forward to this, what I didn’t bargin for was that while my body rested my mind would be on high alert, it is in fact on over drive, I can feel my heart rate elevated….” I’ve got to quiet my mind”, I think to myself , ” noticing is the first step”, I think as I formulate a plan, ” right, time to relax, long slow breaths, slow everything  down, your heart doesn’t need to race right now, it is time to relax, doesn’t matter if you are not sleeping just rest your eyes…… relax your body, relax your mind”, by the time I have finished my pep talk I have drifted off to sleep, next thing I know the darkness is lifting, ” YES, it is morning”, I think as I wake, I am aware of a shift in my body and my mind, there are no more negative thoughts just this……I am going to DO IT, I am EXCITED and I can’t wait to SWIM! 

 Mental Preparation….CHECK, I am ready to go with this firmly stamped in my head:

 My mind can conceive it, and my head can believe it, I know I can achieve it.

Time to pack….Time to get my gear in the right place

The Crew Bags

 9:00-11:30 am, this the time dedicated to packing up for tonight’s swim, I start with the 2 crew bags, we have one kayak which Deb and Jeff will share, each of them will take turns kayaking beside me for 2 hours at a time until the swim is concluded. My plan is to pack a bag for each of them, in each bag is…

 a spare set of goggles, spare earplugs, a spare cap, a stop watch, a whistle, and emergency blanket, advil, 3  feed cups of  2 x maxim, 1 feed cup of potato bomb, one thermos of hot water, one 237 ml bottle of water and one a cup of 4-5 Jelly Babies, also the rubber duck for Deb’s bag and my miniature Mini Mouse for Jeff’s bag, both make me smile when I swim.

 The Feed Bin

 The Feed Bin is a big plastic container that is home base for the crew bags, this has all the supplies to refill the crew bags after they return from their 2 hour kayak stint, in the Feed Bin is…..

 3 Litres of 2X Maxim, this is a Maxim concentrate, 150 mls goes in my feed cup and just before my feed the crew adds 150 mls of hot water from the thermos giving me hot feeds to help combat the cold.

3 Litres of Cold Water, 10 237 ml bottles of water, 3 bananas, 2 bags of Jell Babies, I bag of York Peppermint Patties, Ginger Nuts and Mint Chocolate. There is also tea, coffee and hot chocolate for the crew.

The Gear Bags

 Now there is the gear bags, one for the end of the swim containing my favourite Swimming Hole towel (I take it to all my swims),also sweatpants, fleece hoodie, T Shirt, Fleece top, my favourite Merino hat from Ireland, dish soap and my grease rag to scrub off the grease with, a peanut butter sandwich and some bars. A second  gear bag to go on the boat, this is what would be used to wrap me up if I get out, I start packing it with more of my favourite things, then I stop and take the gear out,” I am not putting my favourite stuff on the boat, I have not intention of being on the boat”, and with that I focus again only on getting out at the other end of the lake… NO BOAT RIDING FOR ME TONIGHT, there I declared it!

Travel Bag

 Phew, finally the last bag to pack, this one is the bag I will have at my feet when we are driving to the lake, inside…..500mls of Maxim, I plan to down this 15 minutes before the start of the swim, 2 bottles of water, 3 hard boiled eggs, 1 Ham & Avocado sandwich, Almonds, my swim goggles, ear plugs, swim cap, light stick, and grease.

The Gear~ Packed up and ready to go

 Packing Complete….time to fuel with lunch then nap

 Packing takes longer than I think, 12:30 pm rolls around and I sit down to lunch, a ham sandwich and some eggs, a bottle of Gatorade and then off to bed. I rest for an hour and a half, before I know it I hear the school bus grind to a halt at the end of the driveway, Heidi and Soeren are home from school, they bound up the stairs, burst open the bedroom door and sprawl onto the bed like they have just cleared a record high jump at the Olympics, it is fun, we chat and giggle and with a wosh they are off downstairs ready for Jeff, my husband to drive them to Burlington, where the kids will be staying with their grand parents for the weekend,it is a 50 minute drive.

 Next up for me 30 minutes of Yoga, then back for another nap, out of bed by 6pm and into my battle clothes…..black TYR bathing suit, sun lotion applied, sweat pants on, T shirt on, hair tied back…I am ready to go, now I WAIT!

 Dinner Time………

  I wait and I wait, it is getting late and Jeff is still not back yet from Burlington, 6:00pm, 6:15pm, 6:30pm, “how is he going to manage being up all night tonight?”, I ask myself, he left for work at 5:00am this morning and has been on the run ever since, just as I am pondering the thought I hear his car pull in the driveway, he made it, we pack up the car with all the gear and kayak, then settle down inside for 1 hour, just enough time for a steak dinner, cooked by Jeff and my Potato Bomb brew of sweet potato, banana and orange juice to be blended up into a smoothie.

 I suck the 2 steaks down and rub my swollen belly, I have an extra 8 pounds of fat stored in my body which I have collected over the last year or so, 20 months ago my % body fat was 13.46%, this week it is 18.70%, I sprawl on the couch, there is just 40 minutes to go until our departure time of 8:00pm.

Support from Down Under……

 The phone rings, on answering I hear a bright cherry voice on the other end of the line, it’s Dad, calling from New Zealand, thousands of miles away, yet so close to my heart, ” Hi Charlotte, how are you?”, he asks, ” I’m great, you’re lucky you caught me I’m close to heading out the door”, I reply, ” where are you headed?”, he asks, ” well Jeff and I are off to Canada tonight”, I reply again, ” Oh your swim, how far is it?”, Dad asks, ” 26 miles Dad, we start at midnight”, I reply matter of factly. ” 26 miles Holy Moly, why that is such a long, Holy @$##”, Dad chatters like a machine gun firing bullets, just for a few seconds and then he very shrewdly slows his speech and says ” Aww no worries Charlotte, 26 miles, no problem, it is JUST IN ONE END AND OUT THE OTHER, no problem, KBO, KBO, KBO” ( This stands for keep buggaring on)

 Well I get the giggles, what a clever fellow my father is, a quick recovery and he has swung this swim into the mega positive, we chat a bit more, say our goodbyes and with that Jeff and I pick up our final bits and bobs and are in the car to meet the rest of our crew, Deb and Cynthia, it is 8:10pm…….for us the night is young.

8:30pm we meet Deb and Cynthia, the four of us are a tight fit with the kayak and all our gear but we make it into the car and we are off under the moonlight, what a night, it has an erie feel to it with lashings of adventure. Cynthia was not present at our crew meeting earlier in the week, we only got the OK to bring a crew member a few days ago, I feel lucky to have 2 kayakers and a crew member….. ” time to fill you in”, I say to Cynthia, we go over the map, the way-points loaded in the GPS and the feeds, ” Cynthia the plan is for you to be boat crew, in charge of refilling the crew bags with feeds, supporting Deb and Jeff and watching me in the water”, we talk over more details, Cynthia, Deb and Jeff were all crew  during my 16 mile 2 way crossing of Lake Champlain last month, we are a good team, I feel grateful to have this team with me tonight.” One more thing to talk about Cynthia, Deb, Jeff and I have gone over this already but it is important”, I want to make sure on this one, here it is……

 ” You are my crew, you know me in the water, my stroke count, my communication, my signs of Hypothermia, only YOU make the decision to pull me out, do not let someone who does not know me  make the call to pull me from the water, if my stroke count abruptly drops, if I repeatedly swim away from the boat when asked to swim in, if my eyes are closed, if I am disorientated, for example I don’t recognise you, if my shoulders are blue, make the call  YOUR DONE and I will get out or you pull me out.  Be sure to watch me closely, if you see signs like clawed hands, sluggish swimming, give me the pickup signal, there is a good chance I may be able to make some progresse and  avoid a premature YOUR DONE. If I am cognitive enough to say, ” I want to get in the boat, I am tired and cold, tell me to SHUT UP AND SWIM”

 Finally I tell the team some things that I know are uplifting to me, a smile, an upbeat tone of voice, mileage benchmarks, when I cross the border to Canada, when I am half way, 16 miles, 5 miles to go, 4 miles to go, anything I can visualise from my training swims, just one lap of blueberry island, that’s 30 minutes, I can swim that, I know I can, small manageable steps, we can do this together.

 Finally I quieten down and think about what song to sing tonight, an unusual mix emerges….

~ I can see clearly now the rain has gone, I can see all obstacles melt away….

~ You picked a fine time to leave me Lucielle, by Kenny Rodgers

~ Telephone, by Lady GaGa

and of course….10 green bottles hanging on the wall

With that we pull into to Newport, Vermont, 10pm we arrive at the Gateway Center our launch location, we roll out of the car and are welcomed by a strong North wind blowing down the lake….it is a head wind, the lake is jostling in protest with 3-4 foot waves, it feels spooky out.

Lake Memphremagog, head wind from the North, the darkness of night and a new moon not quite ready to bloom still 3 days away

• Clearing Canadian Customs before we swim
• Hearing our support boat assignments, where are to have 2 swimmers per support boat
• Finding out our swimmers pods, we are planning to swim in small groups
• Applying grease and downing 500mls of Maxim my Carbo drink with electrolytes

Will things all go to plan for me and my crew? I’ll keep you posted, coming up next, a curve ball before the swim starts.

Closing thought:

” It is never safe to look into the future with eyes of fear”

                                                                                                             – E.H.Harriman

 NO LANES~ NO LINES~NO BORDERS

In search of Memphre an International Swim, No Lanes~ No Lines~ No Borders

 The whirlwind of swims in August has come to a close, a revolving door of tapering for one swim, recovering and preparing for another the following weekend…. here’s what was swum in August

• 2 way Crossing of Lake Champlain 16.4 miles: August 4th
• Boston Light Swim 8 miles:August 13th
• Lake Willoughby Swim 4.75 miles: August 20th

Time to ease off the throttle right?  Well you would think so BUT back on July 26th, I received the following email, here is a bit of the content to give you a feel for the potential mischief I am considering……

Hey Charlotte:

Elaine Howley, Greg O’Conner and Jen Dutton and I are organizing a 26 mile swim on September 10^th— In Search of Memphre, International Swim.  We (I mean they)  will be swimming the length of the lake from Newport to Magog or Magog to Newport depending on the wind direction on the day of the swim.  It is intended to be a small, by invitation only, group of good spirited, swimmer scouts.  We figure with 5 or 10 in the water our chances of a “sighting” will increase significantly.  We know this is short notice, but we’d like to invite you to join us.

There has not been an organized international traverse of Lake Memphremagog since at least 2001.  Part of our goal is to return this type of a swim to Lake Memphremagog and also to “break the border” so that more of these swims can occur.  We have already started communications with border officials to pave the way for this swim to happen.  

And, if we spot Memphre during the swim, well, wouldn’t that be wonderful.

Hope you can make it.

PS  If you have a felony conviction in your background, forget it.

Phil

Well, I read the email, I am honored that these fine swimmers have extended me an invite, I ponder a reply, “hmmmm well it is very close to home, no flights required, I have a conditioning base started, these are terrific swimmers I am sure I will learn lots, I don’t have any criminal convictions and I do LOVE an adventure………better check in with the family first”, I think to myself, with that I call out to my daughter Heidi and son Soeren ” hey I’ve been invited to swim to Canada, what do you think?”, ” Awww go for it Mum”, they reply together, I ponder for a few more minutes, ” better check in with Jeff,  my husband”, rats he’s not around to ask right now, and with that I type the following email reply…I’ll give you a hint before you read on…..”Canada Oh Canada”

• An international swim, starting in the United States, finishing in Canada
• At least half of the course will be swum at night with a midnight start time on September 1o
• Distance = 26 Miles, my longest attempt
• Estimated time of completion: 13-14 Hours
• Water Temperature 60-65 F
• Air Temperature : Night 49 F/ Daytime 72F

 That has been the drive for the last 3 weeks, adding big miles, eating to fuel my swims, sleeping and fitting it all in around day to day life of work and family, PHEW!

 Here is how the list of swims from week One:

Monday August 22nd 4800 meters Pool

Tuesday August 23rd 5.75 Miles Open Water

Wednesday 24th 3800 meters Pool + 2 miles Open Water

Thursday 25th 5.75 Miles Open Water

Friday 26th 5.75 Miles Open Water

Saturday 27th Split Swim: Dark 5am start 6.75 miles  + Daytime Swim 3-5pm 5 miles TOTAL 11.75 Miles

   Total for week One= 58,682 Meters or 36.4 miles

    Total for the week  Two =  58, 927 meters or 36.6 miles

   Total Meters in the last 2 Weeks : 117,600 meters

   Calories Consumed: A Whopping 84,000 Calories

 So….here we are 117,600 meters in the last 14 days, that includes 2 rest days, 4 sessions of strength training, 4 sessions of Yoga and teaching a handful of group fitness classes, oh and a bucket load of eating, literally a bucket loader full of food.

 What about the Training Swims….

Cool morning air of 43 Degrees combined with a warm 66 degree in the water makes for a steamy lake swim

 

 The Cool Vermont Air, Fall is on the way…..

  Sunday August 20th I send my crew an email with the training schedule for the next 4 weeks, it includes 16.5 hours of swimming per week, many of the sessions an early start time meaning getting up at 4 or 5am, the email is delivered with a chipper little note that says this…….

Subject Line: Summer comes to a close

Content:“Hey Crew, attached is schedule for late August and early September, big miles and early morning swims in preparation for Canada on September 10th”

 Well, I got a quick smart reply, it is a ………THE SUMMERS NOT OVER memo right back at me from Deb, I quietly read and snicker to myself, next thing you know it is time to meet for our next swim. I notice a change in the air, during the night I find myself burrowing under the comforter, you guessed it there IS a chill  in the air, I roll out of bed at 5am and go about getting ready for my swim, out of the house at 5:45am armed with feeds, a thermos, woolly hat and warm clothes, I glance up at the temperature prominently displayed on the bank in Morrisville, the little town I drive through to get to the lake, 43 degrees it proudly boasts, I am BEAMING, infact I am currently grinning like a Cheshire cat, I can’t wait to see Deb, I purposely stride over to her on my arrival to the lake and say” it is cold this morning Deb, the summer is coming to a close”. Deb is tight lipped as we take all our gear down to the canoe launch, I can’t take it anymore and finally blurt out the following with a mischievious smile ” Bit cooler this morning don’t you think Deb, specially with it being summer and all”, Deb looks up and smiles and I laugh a very ” I told you so laugh”.

It is in fact the only bright spot of the swim, the cold air bores  into my head and my shoulders burn as I swim as strong as I can  to keep my heart rate up and my core warm, the water Is 66 degrees, it was much warmer than the air and I drive my head under water to escape the cold early morning air. Deb later tells me she had never seen me so powerful in the water, here is what she reported…

Turtle puts on a brave face as he prepares to take the first swim of the morning, " this is the LAST time", he squeals as I plunge him under the water near the canoe launch, what a trooper.

 

One Lake Two Countries, the Goal and International Swim