Its 28 days until the 27th July and the day I attempt to swim 13 miles across the atlantic ocean to my hometown of Portstewart.

Its more likely to be 15 with the tides and be around 13 degrees C. Last weekend the Channel was 14.5, and the local rivers are close to 20. I have officially been training for this for over a year now, and thought I would give you a brief update, as everyone who knows me, im not a long distance/amazing swimmer, I just swimming, and lord have I had to learn a lot this year! Lets just hope its enough, I can bear the cold, the jellyfish stay away, the waves dont get too rough, and my shoulders take the strain! I am presently sporting a gorgeous goggle avec swimcap face tan (yes picture it) and on monday could barely lift my arms to brush my teeth. (That soon passed when my children needed catching and chasing!:)

Nutrition & Practising feeding

Feeding from a boat!? surely not... there are many things over the past year I have read about and just thought oh my lord, how do you do that, and is it really necesary? After much chat to very experienced open water swimmers and reading about 20 books, I set in stone a plan of decisions I would have to make and practises I would have to learn (What will I eat and drink? - every swimmer does it differently), How will I do it? What costume will I wear that will cause least chaffing in the salt water? Will I grease up? Will I wear earplugs? Will I shave my legs? After many trials and tests, I have concluded every crucial elements of the swim, so now all is left is for me to get good weather, and to swim and not stop until I get to the other side.

The nutrition element of course is key. I ruled out many liquids and solids which I could not cope with (coffee and sports drinks for example), and had just a few last ones to try which seem to be working a trick and so I am using them. Since having my second child Basil, I suffer from heartburn from time to time, and being horizontal in the bobbing sea and swallowing salt water in slurps over many miles frequently induces far worse hearburn, which could cause you to stop. If I stop for too long I wil get hypothermia, so that would be the end of the swim. So i've got my liquids and solids decided upon, and now I need to practise getting these from the boat whilst swimming in the sea.

If I touch the boat, its game over. The Irish Long Distance Swimming Association (running by the Channel Swimming Association rules) state that swimmers must wear goggles, 1 swimcap, a swimsuit that doesnt extend beneath the bum or over the shoulders, can not recieve any assistance in or out of the water, and musn't touch the boat. Oh, and apparently not hitch a ride with a dolphin. Those are the simple rules. When swimming to these rules in Open water you are tracditionally thrown a bottle on a line from your support crew in a kayak or boat, which can be reeled back in, or passed a food item in a net, reached from a long pole.

I dont know why I was so apprehensive about trying this out but was adament I would before the swim, as I wouldnt want my inexperience to make me fail, and so booked to do a three hr swim on Windermere with Julie Bradshaw and her boat, allowing 'swim buddy' and key crew member Sam Whale to practise. My great friend (and legendary midnight kayaker) Kerry Jones Leggatt came to act as lifesaver on the boat for the swim, and we had a great giggle between us all. The fog descended and the rain slapped down, but between that we learnt a lot in those 3 hrs, perfecting the art of feeding from a boat (3 chunks of bananna less at the bottom of Windermere), and the realisation of how useful a massive whiteboard to write messages on would be.

Going the distance

I need to be able to swim approximately 15 miles, potentially for up to 9 hrs, in the cold, and consistently, arm after arm not just flopping them or I wont get anywhere...actually swimming, hard the whole time. When I stop to get food or a drink, that can only last a minute or two or I might get cold, and during which im still swimming of course, just not front crawl, and that will probably be every hour.

When I started this whole journey, the most I had ever swam was 5km in a pool (20 average lengths). This swim is between 20 and 25km, and in the sea, and much colder therefore it will drain energy much more quickly. As my training entered winter months I was swimming upwards of 7km in Olympic sized pools (half the turning every end as they are bigger but still incredibly mind numbing), and would get thrown out when the pools shut at night. My outdoor swimming was kept brief due to the nearly freezing temperatures (still crucial for acclimitisation to the cold), and when it was 5 degrees, I would only stay in for under 10 minutes. As soon as spring came, I had to up my distance, and quickly. I increased my distance up in the open water in local lakes, rivers, and the sea any time I was near it. My first stint in Dover harbour with the channel swimmers I was so pleased I swam approximately 7 miles in the sea. In windermere I swam 5, and then atleast 9.5/10 on my second swim in Dover but I didn't record the distance. I lasted 6 hours which is the important thing, which is the time you must swim to qualify to swim the channel , so I was well chuffed with that. ( I don't know if I had been looking at the distance on my watch if phycologically I would have completed the 6hrs) and If thats enough to get some people across the channel (21 miles), then lets hope its enough to get me to Portstewart. I have one more big milestone to crack this weekend and I will be quite disheartened if I dont make it. The British Long Distance Swimming Association 8 mile Championship swim at Torbay. Being supported my someone I dont know, in sea I havent swum in before, most likely with a crowd of pros WAY faster than me. I will leave you with this, I have trained for over a year, it is 4 weeks away, I hope it will be enough, and if not, I am still SO excited that I am being able to attempt something I have only dreamed of since I was a child. I am incredibly excited about it, and of course nervous, wouldn't you be!? Oh, and yes, im greasing up.

Training update 4 weeks to go

The Swim for Portstewart - from shore to shore.

I DID IT!

The Wait

Who am I fundraising for and why?

The gauntlet of the swans (training update)

May Training Update

An honest account of Eye Laser Surgery

Eye Laser Surgery - at last

KIT ESSENTIALS: Goggles (and contact lenses!)

Heather Clatworthy