On Saturday 20th February I participated in Red Top‘s Sport Relief Challenge. The challenge was to do 100 x 100 m (10 km) swim on a Saturday evening at St Georges 33 m pool in Shadwell and many swimmers from Red Top were involved.
I’d not swam more than 4 km in one go since swimming Lake Coniston in August of last year as part of my 3 Lakes in 3 Days challenge, and I’d been a little ill in the run-up so had missed both my regular Red Top training sessions that week. I was therefore unsure how 10 km would feel and so set myself the target of just doing 5 km. However on the night the level of excitement before we started was palpable. The adrenaline kicked in and I decided there was no way I wasn’t going to do the full 10 km.
As it turns out, only 12 people who were there did the full 10 km and whilst I wasn’t the fastest by any means, I’m pleased to say I was one of the finishers. Completing the 10 km was a great mental boost as once I’d passed the 5 km mark, I knew I was going to make the full 10 km. Having spent 3 hours 20 minutes (ish) doing 10 km in a pool, subsequent one hour pool sessions have felt very short!
Elliot's Swimming Adventures 