28th 29th June Dover 'Beast of a weekend'

This was the big one. 7 hours Saturday, 6 hours Sunday. Known as the 'back to back' or 'split' channel swim. The idea is to do the equivalent of the swim with a nights rest (and a big dinner!) in between.
Driving down on Friday, after a bit of am I really up for this type bottling, was a 'mare, got away from the office about 12:45, and arrived at the hotel in Folkstone (Brittania) 8:30pm. Luckily Diane (relay team organiser) was staying and saved me a dinner- Thanks Diane!
Saturday morning came around real fast, once I'd decided to use my earplugs at night to drowm out the nightclub noise!!
On the beach, I met most of the Malta crew, and Kevin was also facing the same challenge. We both commited to ' a 7', greased up and in we went. I stayed out for 2 1/2 hours before a first feed as I felt really strong, and was late for all the remaining feeds which seemed to help the time rattle by. There were resonable waves on the north side which made life more interesting, although notably slowed down progress. The sun pretty much beamed all day. In the last hour I treated myself to swimming down by the south wall, before swimming in to finish. I had delivered some choclate rolls to the helpers, and seemed to get one at every food stop. Laarvely.

Saturday evening was a bit of a low as I felt shattered. But a good dinner and pep talk from Lesley and Diane helped. Got up Sunday morning raring to go again.
Usual routine, breakfast, pack, car, Dover, chat, smile, grease, splash - we're off. It was mostly overcast, which I was glad for as I wanted to test my cold water resistance more. 2 weeks before when I did my first 7, I had shivered for 6 of the 7 hours. Yesterday was comfortable, but the sun was strong. Today was also still comfortable. the wind was stronger, and the waves great fun onteh north wall, but quite wearing on the shoulders! I kept honest this time and avoided a 'skive' in the calmer waters as I am aware I need wave practice. All of a sudden 5 hours were done and I tried a sprint, that lasted 15 minutes before my pecs seized up, and it was good to learn that a stretch of arms behind my back cleared the muscles and I could proceed - at a steady pace.
Homeward bound, 6 hours swimming followed by 6 hours driving and I was home!
That was the last monster session before the big swim. Looking forward to the relay next week, hoefully with another Windermere on Friday if Lesley's arms are up to it :)