Week 10 - Plan B
Just before a wayward shoe whizzed past my ear!
Weekly Review
NB Please scroll to the bottom for a selection of the photos taken
Nervous anticipation
The sun was out this weekend and it was glorious! The bit of breeze made for a bit of chop as the sessions progressed each day, but that didn’t deter anyone.
What was lovely was the number of people who were gathered on the beach, particularly on Saturday, nervously or excitedly anticipating their upcoming swims that are on the next tide. With any luck it’s going to be a tracktastic week ahead.
Everyone has a different approach - some go quiet, some chat excitedly, some go from one to the other! Whatever is your approach is just fine. Get some rest though and go and let dreams come true. Some have waited a very long time for this opportunity and I really hope that this is your year.
Periodised training
Whist some are in the final days before their swims, others have some time to go yet and so we had people at all phases of training this weekend - tapering, recovering, building and the BIG training swims. Well done to all swimmers for being focused on doing their best training for the phase that they are at.
Near and far, old and new
If the beach could speak, it would tell tales of all the swimmers who had stepped on it over the years. All the legends have stood where we stand today. It’s steeped in history.
I wonder which of the swimmers of today will be the legends of tomorrow?
This weekend we saw the Class of 2022 regulars. We some saw regulars from previous years back on the beach training for their next adventure. We saw swimmers joining us for the first time. We saw international swimmers.
We also had another one of the Aspire training weekends and this time we were able to welcome the 2022 relay teams and the 2022 Solent swimmers.
I like how everyone blends together so well, with our common passion and goal. I think it’s wonderful the way you support each other.
Once your swim is done, please come back and tell us all about your adventure.
Shout outs
Training
Congratulations to:
Ady, Peter & Jacques for your 7 & 6 weekends
Hayley for your 7 & 4 weekend
Geoff for your 7 hour swim
Allan, Louisa, Charlie, Marion, Nikki and Yoel for your 6 hour swims
Swim stats
Note: Water temperature taken during the swim session in the harbour. Air temperature, wind direction & wind speed taken from the Port of Dover app.
Saturday:
Swimmers: 32 plus 44 Aspire
Water temperature: 17.1C
Air temperature: 15.8
Conditions: F3 gusting F4 SSW. Sunny. Fairly calm with a bit of chop by the ferry wall as the tide came in.
Sunday:
Swimmers: 21 plus 41 Aspire
Water temperature: 17.3C
Air temperature: 18.5C
Conditions: F3 gusting F4 SW. Sunny. Mostly calm with a bit of chop by the ferry wall as the session progressed.
Volunteers & beach crew
Thank you to everyone who helped out this weekend - either a little or a lot. A very special thank you to Richard Brant for stepping in and keeping things working whilst Mandi is isolating and to Richard & Hayley for covering the end of the Sunday session, enabling me to leave the beach early for my flight (this blog has been written at the airport and finished in South Africa!).
Thank you to all the swimmers who helped with feeds and flashmob arches once their swims were done.
If you want to join the fun, why not pick a date and join the fun on the beach!
The adventures of Dover Dave
Dave’s not quite living his best life now, he’s come down with the dreaded Covid-19 and is now isolating with Mandi. He’s gutted as he was hoping to crew for some swims on this tide. It looks like he’s been a right diva when poorly
If you’d like to host Dave for a week, please let us know on the beach. We’d love to see a photo diary of Dave’s summer in our Facebook Group.
Get well soon Dave!
Paddlefish Ponderings - Being flexible
“Be clear about your goal but be flexible about the process of achieving it.”
Your work isn’t over once you’ve written a plan for training for your swim. The most important aspect to any plan is the flexibility to change. This philosophy is critical. A plan will not help you if you do not allow yourself the flexibility to make changes as you go.
That’s not the same as coming up with excuses to stop a training swim in the moment!
Having a plan is all well and good, but life rarely respects plans. Things happen. We get ill, have injuries, have responsibilities at work and at home. Our circumstances are ever-changing.
Take the process of running training, on the previous weekend (week 9), we already knew that I would need to leave the beach early on Sunday to get my flight to South Africa. What we didn’t know is that Mandi, who was going to provide that cover, was going to be poorly with Covid.
I could have thrown my arms in the air and given up because the plan broke.
I didn’t. I worked out what Plan B could be (I also had plan C, D and E up my sleeve). Richard Brant was already on the beach crew rota and I spoke to him and Hayley about their availability to step in and they were delighted to help.
The ability to be flexible is paramount. Flexibility is not about flip-flopping, making excuses, adopting the mindset of a ‘participant’ or even changing your mind. It is about allowing yourself and your plan to adapt to a continually evolving environment to ensure success.
How to be flexible
Flexibility is hard. People don’t like the uncertainty of change. Learning to be flexible takes discipline. Once mastered, you can apply it to achieving success in all aspects of your life.
Flexibility is the extent to which a person can cope with changes in circumstances and think about problems and tasks in novel, creative ways. This trait is used when stressors or unexpected events occur, requiring a person to change their stance, outlook, or commitment.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when addressing your ability to be flexible:
5 ways to improve your flexibility
Accept the cliche that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Change is a part of life.
Keep an open mind to new ideas and trying new things.
Accept the things that are challenging your plan and ask your coach or mentor for advice on how to adapt for the change in circumstances.
Don’t keep secrets. Let others help you.
Change the order of your daily routine or the location where you perform daily tasks. For example, take a different route to work, use a different coffee shop, wear your watch on the other arm or even put your other foot in your trousers first when you get dressed.
Getting good at being flexible requires some trial and error. Please don’t force it. Keep practicing and it will become easier.
How to be spontaneous
Planning is just goal setting. Goals also change. When goals changes, you need to rethink the steps in achieving that goal and take time to contemplate the best actions.
Sometimes, the best step to take is a spontaneous one. Living in the moment and just doing what feels right without overthinking the benefits or consequences can often lead to the most rewarding experiences and memories. If a spontaneous decision is going to lead to disaster, you will probably know that, so hopefully, you will also intuitively make the best spontaneous decision.
Spontaneity gets more comfortable as you gain experience. This is because you gain more comfort in your decision-making. Making decisions on-the-fly is a valuable skill in all aspects of life, and it is a skill that pays to have when flexibility is key.
Change often appears to be a sudden thing to outside people, but to you, this is a process that can, and sometimes should take quite a while to implement. After identifying that a change needs to come, you can spend a significant time seeking out the adjustments that make the most sense. It is good to investigate options, but don’t let the abundance or lack of apparent possibilities hold you back from making a change once you know you need one.
If you find that the change you made was not the best, that is fine, because then you get to make another change and will be all that much more well-prepared to choose wisely.
Key takeaways
The definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome! So if your best plan is not taking you close enough to your goal then one of two things need to change:
Your approach; and /or
Your goal
Each year we have a conversation or two with a swimmer who needs to go through this process. It could be because of an injury or illness that got in the way. It could be because of psychological barriers or any other reason. One option is to battle on and hope in vain that you’ll be successful. A better approach is to reconsider your goal and your options for achieving it and adjusting as necessary.
I’ve seen it work both ways, plans being pushed out into the future to allow more time or plans being accelerated to make the most of a great mental and physical position.
Keep in mind that though flexibility is a crucial characteristic of achieving your goals, it is not a skill you can perfect overnight. Becoming flexible requires discipline. Do your best in affording yourself flexibility when you can do so.
Most importantly, remember: the most important part of any plan is the flexibility to change.
Reminders
Remember to book your sessions online. By far the easiest way is through the app. This QR will take you to the app where you can book directly and see what you have already booked. You can cancel and reschedule.
Bookings can be made up to 48 hours ahead and be cancelled or rescheduled up to 48 hours ahead also. The system doesn’t arrange automatic refunds, so if you would like a refund, please check out our refund policy and get in touch if you would like a refund.
Those of you with training subscriptions, enter your email address and click in the discount code box and your automatic voucher should appear. Let me know if you have any trouble with this.
Those of you who are members, please remember to cancel your membership when you no longer want it. You can do that within a membership period and still have all the benefits of it, this will prevent it from auto renewing next year. You can do this within your account, by following the link in the confirmation email when you took out your membership, or by asking me to do it for you.
Looking ahead
On Tour
Future On Tour dates:
Saturday 16th July
Saturday 20th August
Saturday 17th September
Spotlight in the shop
As the season progresses, so do the number of badges that you can add to your collection - which ones have you earned?
I’m in the process of designing a few new ones. Watch this space…..
We have a range of badges to celebrate your training and swim day successes. Which ones have you earned?
NB - our night swim badge is very special - it includes glow in the dark thread!!
Photos
A few photos from the weekend….
If you’d consider leaving a review of your training experience, it would help those who are deciding on where to do their training for future years. Nothing means more than the voice of someone who’s used the service.