Apologies for the tardiness. I left you the evening before the Dart 10k swim. Mr Dizzy made yummy Paella. We drank a couple of beers and I inspected my swimming cossie a number of times. Still looking small and cold.
A plan was made for the morning to get me to the start line and for Mr Dizzy to find somewhere good for coffee and wandering before meeting me at the finish. The start area was great. Lots of people walking round with vaseline and looking at maps of the river. I met Lindsay (a traitor who had purchased a wetsuit) and generally worried about whether I could do this. I guess its a bonus that its heat that tends to make MS characteristics worse.
At the early briefing for the special people I was allocated my own paddle boarder for support and emergencies. He was allocated a separate packet of jelly babies in case I needed an extra pick me up. I think he ate them. My main area of concern was the getting in and out as that’s when I tend to slip/trip so we came up with a plan where I would use the paddle board for balance.
It was time for the off and it wasn’t that cold. apparently the water was about 16 degrees but it felt warmer. The weather was nice enough and I enjoyed the stretch to the first food and water station. That was a bit of a bear pit though with quite a bit of jostling to get in. I had a few jelly babies and swilled my mouth out with some fresh water. After a quick check in with the paddleboard I was off again. Every so often I was going past people, which I didn’t expect – I am a slow swimmer.
By this time some of the quicker waves were coming past me and there was one chap who seemed to be doing butterfly who would every so often creep up and half drown me as his sighting was not the best.
I had intended to take in the scenery along the way but have to admit I got a bit focussed on getting it done. It is a very pretty estury though.
Getting to the second feed stop was harder as this was at about the 8km mark. However, my view was that if I got here I could get this done. By the time I got there I needed a significant jelly baby boost and got through 16! Another swill of the salt out of my mouth and it was time to get the home stretch done.
The final kilometre was tough, really tough and I was really pleased to hear people starting to say it was just a few hundred metres to the finish. My amazing sense of direction kicks in and I start heading left – great. The finish was on the right.
I make it to the end and I am a bit wobbly using the board for stability as I get out through the muddy uneven surface. A couple of other ladies then come to use the board as well and this makes it quite hard. After a few stumbles I am up and out and people are trying to put warm layers on me – but I’m not cold! Thanks MS.
I got a time of 3 hours 12 minutes but I reacon its 3 if you take off my getting in and out time! I really enjoyed it and the amazing hot chocolate I was handed as I got out.
After getting my big towely robey thing on I was toasty and wandered round in that for a while. Happy. I swam 10 kilometres.
At least for the time being I can still achieve bigger things, set myself challenges and complete them.
DizzyBlonde 