220 lengths

Last night I swam in a coached endurance session for 220 lengths of a 25m pool. Just over 2 hours of swimming front crawl and quite high level of intensity. I didn't have my buoyant wetsuit or salty sea water that I have become so accustomed to help me out. This was raw swimming monotony.

When I finished I was ravenous, sore and my back was killing me. This back trouble is starting to worry me. My Chiro and Physio say that I developing very tight hamstrings from the swimming and this is pulling on my lower back. I need to work on this fast as swim intensity increases next month. I went out for a pizza and 2 beers afterwards to chat with a friend, lots of carbo's but probably the wrong kind for recovery.

Pool swimming has become somewhat of an anathema, a sacrifice I make to the Atlantic swim Gods, I hate pool swimming, too many people, the turning after each 25m, the cramps I get in my calves from pushing off the wall to quickly, the monotony - it is so much more difficult to switch off and zone out, which is what I can do when in the sea, it is this mental displacement that enables me to swim for so long without getting bored - this is practically impossible to do in a pool.

There is only one comfort though - no sharks.

Shark attack

2 weeks ago I swam for the first time in the Atlantic Ocean. I was at Widemouth Bay in Cornwall, the weather was excellent, the surf was 3 ft and I wanted to swim way out beyond the breaking surf to the deep blue swell. I wanted to get a feel for what it would be like to swim away from land in very deep water. I checked with all the life guards about currents and tides and picked the safest time to swim, I had Tasha my safety kayaker with me and so just put my head down and swam out through the throngs of surfers and crashing waves into the deep blue Atlantic Ocean.

What is quite incredible and always seems to hit me after a swim like this (fortunately not before), is how 4 months ago I still had a huge fear of deep open water and it is now only 4 years since I learnt to swim. I seem to have developed this tunnel vision about the swim ahead of me. I had planned to swim straight out into deep water for 40 minutes and swim back for however long it took. This session was about experiencing new conditions, but also a normal training session for me.

I swam out for a mile and half, I wear ear plugs to prevent the feeling of dizziness you can get from swimming for a long time and so I can't always hear my safety kayaker correcting my course or warning me of problems ahead, this scream was different, I quite clearly heard the word shark and in that instant I panicked. A wave of nausea hit me and I instantly brought my legs up into a ball then called Tasha over so I could wrap my legs over the boat and hold on. I wanted to climb out of the water and sit on the kayak but the risk of capsizing was too great and needed the safety kayak to be 'safe'.

Three or so Basking shark, about 4 ft long surfaced within a few metres of me. What I didn't know was that these shark are harmless, but to a swimmer, looking through goggles, lost in his own thoughts a 4ft shark with fin, is a scary thing to see.

It took a good few minutes to calm down, I was just floating on my back in the big blue Atlantic swell, enjoying the peace and solitude, trying to get the sharks out of my head. If I carried on swimming west I would eventually reach New York!

I love swimming in the sea, how I hate swimming in a pool.....

Mike Horn

I have spent some time with Mike Horn this week, for those that don't know, he is a South African extreme adventurer/explorer and lives in Switzerland. He is about to leave to pick up his new yacht "Pangea" that will form a key component of his next truly huge expedition.

Mike wants to live his dream and take young explorers onto the oceans and over the seven continents, to share his passion for exploration and discovery, to teach about the world’s natural resources and man’s impact on them, and to provide a platform for actions that preserve the planet for future generations.

He kindly spent some time advising me on the preparation of my next expedition, his unique insight and experience will have saved me much time in searching for the specialist information I need.

Mike's book "Conquering the Impossible" was a key inspiration in the adventures I have had this year, it is a must read and Amazon have it here, you wont regret buying it, I promise!

Mike if you are reading, I have just ordered the North Atlantic Pilot Atlas, it has everything I need....thanks

Mike Horn's Website