March update.....

Once again it's been a while since I updated this, sorry!

Firstly - to invite you ALL to my fundraising event. Details are as follows:

I am going to be holding a fundraising event at The RAA (Richmond Athletic Association) on Saturday 30th May 2009! I am hoping this will start as a great 'family' day out and then follow with a good party in the evening. The event will be running from 2pm until late evening (11pm ish). There will be a price of £15 per person (no charge for children under 13). This will include a hog roast meal which will be served around 5pm. There will be an open cash bar from arrival until the end. There will be a bouncy castle for children along with a couple of other games and an 'assortment' of activities for the adults including either a live band or DJ in evening.Please come along! This enormous challenge has been the main occupant of my mind for a very long time! The training is exhausting, along with juggling family life & work - so please support me and help me reach my target of raising £5000 for WEZIMBABWE. The support that I have received so far, by either donations directly to WEZIMBABWE, or through the many messages & emails that I have received, has been amazing. I hope this event will be a great gathering of friends & family. I will then be able to personally thank everyone who has helped so far....So, PLEASE accept this event ASAP if you plan to come along. At the moment it's running as a facebook event 'Channel Swim Fundraising Fun Day for WEZIMBABWE!' - go on there and join the event, it's open to everyone. I will then forward the details to everyone on how to purchase tickets. Please pass this on to all your friends & family, the more the merrier.... If you don't have a facebook profile please just email on jacquismith@baileysmith.co.uk and I will send details on to you directly!P.S. For those of you that do not live near enough to Richmond to be able to get a train / bus / cab home, here is a link with hotels / B&B's - not sure on availability so I'd call sooner rather than later!http://www.activehotels.com/wl/servlet/search/freshSearch.do?trkref=SMU&latLong=51.469131,-0.294897 http://streetmap.co.uk/postcode/tw92ssSo - onto an update on my swimming!!! - Training is going WELL! The new year was good and I felt really strong after starting up at the gym again. January was a great month and I managed to cover a lot of distance in the pool. February I found very tough. For some reason I felt like I had hit a brick wall! I asked advice from fellow swimmers and I also emailed Alison Streeter - Queen of the Channel - swum it 43 times! The feedback that I got was to maybe cut back on either the gym work or the cycling. Maybe I was overdoing the 'less necessary' parts of keeping fit. Rather spend more quality time in the pool, than spend half hearted time in the pool because of being too tired. This seems to have worked and at the moment I am either cycling in the morning and swimming at night, or going to gym and then swimming at night - not all three in one day! Also I think I was pushing too many weights. I have gone back down to doing 'few weights and many repetitions' - for endurance rather than strength as it were.

So, unfortunately there is not anything particularty exciting in winter training to update you with! However, open water starts very soon which I'm really excited about. The first 'dip' in the Albert Dock is on the first Sunday in April. This is going to be a nice breath of fresh air after the stuffy indoor pools! Amazing how quickly your body adjusts to actually enjoying the cold!

There has been a lot to think of in the last month or so. I am in the middle of booking all my swims for the year. There are three or four organised swims that I will register for but one that I will have to attempt individually is Lake Windermere, which is 10.5miles. I need to cross this successfully in order to qualify for the Channel (it's required that you do a 6hr swim in 16degree water). However, this is not the only time I intend to swim for that long in cold water. I intend to go down to Dover for one of the 'training weekends' that are available in the harbour for aspiring Channel Swimmers. Apparently these involve a long hard 5/6hr swim on the Saturday and then another on the Sunday. Usually the distance covered is that of the Channel, or nearabout.

So. Once the open water starts again I shall post some pictures up and keep you up to date with swims I intend to take part in!

Thank you SO much to everyone for their support. To date I have raised £970 for WEZIMBABWE. I am so pleased with this as I haven't even swum the Channel yet! Thank you EVERYONE.

Coming soon will be a raffle - open to all. Many great prizes so far - but watch this space for a more detailed update!......

Cheers for now,

Jax