Back in the day when I was on Minti last time I was training for an open water swim held here in Perth - Rottnest Channel Swim - it is the biggest open water swim held in the world (as far as number of entrants) 19.2km if you swim in a straight line between Cottesloe and Rottnest Island.

I have completed the crossing in a team of 4 on two occasions but this past 6 months have been training to complete the crossing in a duo.  The training was hard, staying motivated was harder.  To help we went to a seminar held by Shelley Taylor Smith over the Christmas break (marathon swimmer) and she gave us a lot of tips to keep us motivated including the suggested of joining a swim squad.

We joined our local pool and they were a god send. That extra motivation when you are swimming with a group goes a long way - and of course my new favourite mantra - if you don't quit you will make it - I used that alot both before and during the swim.

The event was held on Saturday 16th February and we made it.  7 hours 51 minutes 40 seconds.  Our goal had been to break 8 hours so we were very happy.

So what's next:

Well I am the sort of person who cannot continue exercise without a goal, so we have entered the Bussleton Half Iron Man to be held in May.  The event is 1.9km swim, 90.1km bike ride and 21.1km run.  I am only doing the run part and started my training a couple of days after Rotto.

I am no runner and certainly haven't tried to run in a very long time so I am struggling a bit.  Particularly with sore feet - if anyone has any suggestions that would be great.

The event is 7 weeks away and coming up fast - stay tuned on how training progresses.