So how do you train for a marathon swim as long as the English Channel? In my case I went to an expert - master coach Eilís Burns. Eilís has been training Channel aspirants for a number of years now and this year she has taken 10 of us under her wing, a considerable commitment, for which we are very grateful. Eilís has set out a training program in order to build up strength, endurance and mental toughness. Training began in September, with weekly distances of about 25,000 metres in the pool and sea.
Those weekly distances have relentlessly increased, and my highest total (so far) was about three weeks ago, when I swam 52km in one week. This involved a number of days swimming in the pool for 4 or 5 hours at a time, sometimes before and after work, so the time commitment is considerable. Also, once a month or so a long distance pool swim was required of all the aspirants. These were between 20km and 24km long - about 7 or 8 hours of swimming up to 1,000 pool lengths. All in all, we have clocked up about 900,000 metres since September, or about 36,000 lengths. Sea swims have continued all winter long as well, in all weather and water temperatures. All of this makes Channel aspirants easy to spot if you bump into them on the street - they are the ones that are hurrying somewhere with a bag of swimming gear, look tired, smell vaguely of chlorine, and are eating large quantities of food.
