Lumpy Loch Lomond was another Great Swim

With just a few weeks to go until the Great Scottish Swim in Loch Lomond I somehow picked up a shoulder ouch! Some rest, some physio, some stretching, and massage saw me carefully back in the water. 

On arriving at Loch Lomond the day before the swim I was met by wind and choppy water, reminded myself of the fact this was why I get in my local lake in all weathers and then checked the phone for the latest forecast on wind, rain and sun!

On the morning of the event I tucked into an early and hearty bowl of porridge and then met up with a swim friend in the changing tent before heading to the start. Rhian was taking on her first 5km and her wave was set off just a couple of minutes before the 10km wave.  Now I am not a fast swimmer but the first 5km seemed to fly by and I was sure that would have given me a 5km PB if I had got out there and then! 

A pit stop for the favoured Cliff Shot Bloks and off I go for lap 4, by the time this lap finished the still waters and the sunshine had somewhat changed and heading into lap 5 it was like being greeted with a washing machine on spin; every stroke to half way was hard work but I kept thinking if its tough going up hopefully it’ll be easier coming back down and to some degree that was true. A final pit stop and I powered on through the choppy waters joined by a one-mile wave who knew no different than these conditions. 

Having glanced at my watch at half way I thought I had the potential to PB the 10km despite all of the chop.  A very focused and well sighted half mile saw me across the line 9 minutes faster than my Windermere time!

Now I am not competitive, I take part to challenge myself but I was pretty damn chuffed with the time improvement over the summer and totally loved the Great Swim series and would recommend the swims to anyone wanting to take the plunge into open water events or looking to try out new distances.