Tracey's Challenge.... My Swim Blog 2016

Thank you to everyone who supported me during my 'President's Challenge 2016'. I set the challenge which was to swim a 25m length of a swimming pool for every member of the institute. I had aimed to complete all the lengths before our 2016 AGM, after 16 swim sessions and six weeks since the day I started I had swam a length for every member of our Institute and finished two days early. 

1,795 lengths complete in total, with a total swim time of 35hr 39mins.

All monies raised have been donated to Insurance Charities which is a fantastic way to support our industry.

Below you can read my Blog of all my 'swim sessions' and how I worked my way through our alphabet of members!

Swim 1

Distance: 74 lengths

Time: 1hr 34mins

% of target: 4%

Blog: On the letter B's I step out on the poolside and my foot slips, I hope this is not a sign of things to come! I haven't swam for almost two years so this is going to be a huge undertaking but worth it to raise money for The Insurance Charities. Swim 1 was slow but steady...

Swim 2

Distance: 60 lengths

Time: 1hr 09mins

Running totals: 2hr 43mins; 134 lengths

% of target achieved: 7.47%

Blog: Still in the letter B's We have a lot of members whose surnames begin with B, it'll take a few sessions to get through them all and Swim 2 wasn't as long as I would've liked it to have been but its a warm up to the big swims which I'll start doing from next week...

Swim 3

Distance: 126 lengths

Time: 2hr 50mins

Running totals: 5hr 33mins: 260 lengths

% of target achieved: 14.48%

Blog: Almost through the letter B's The plan is to swim every day this week, all I have to do is think like Dory in Finding Nemo and keep swimming and of course remember to push the counter at the end of every length...

Swim 4

Distance: 130 lengths

Time: 2hr 55mins

Running totals: 8hr 28mins: 390 lengths

% of target achieved: 21.73%

Blog: Almost through the letter C's I knew I would finally finish the letter B's today, this is the furthest distance I have ever swam, my arms were aching but I kept going. For those following my Twitter @IICGTracey #IICGTraceyschallenge you'll know I spoke too soon about understanding how the counter works, it shouldn't be too difficult it only has one button?!

Swim 5

Distance: 120 lengths

Time: 2hr 36mins

Running totals: 11hr 04mins; 510 lengths

% of target achieved: 28.41%

Blog: Completed letter C's, straight through letter D's and started letter E's I'll be honest this third swim of the week was hard going, my arms really ache and it wasn't helped by the fact I couldn't remember if I'd been warned on day three I would ache or after day three, I made it through 120 lengths and I think I've mastered the counter! Its for charity, its worth a bit of pain...

Swim 6

Distance: 120 lengths

Time: 2hr 15mins

Running totals: 13hr 19mins; 630 lengths

% of target achieved: 35.1%

Blog: completed letter E's, straight through letter F's and started letter G's I've been advised the ache is most likely on day three, the next day should be better and it should be easier beyond that. Today I hit my stride (or whatever the swimming equivalent would be), todays 120 was much easier than yesterdays (as my time shows) so from the advice I had tomorrow should be a breeze... Find out how I get on in next weeks update...

Swim 7

Distance: 128 lengths

Time: 2hr 24mins

Running totals: 15hr 43mins; 758 lengths

% of target: 42.23%

Blog: finished the letter G's and onto the H’s… I had to wait three days for swim 7 as the pool I’m using had a gala. The pool was busy and at one point with the speed of other swimmers it felt like there was wave machine, I went sideways in the lane which was not going to help me complete the length!

Swim 8

Distance: 126 lengths

Time: 2hr 34mins

Running totals: 18hr 17mins; 884 lengths

% of target achieved: 49.26%

Blog: Finished the letter H’s, straight through the letter I’s and into the letter J’s…......Until tonight I didn’t realise swimming was a contact sport, twice I was hit in the arm and once I was kicked in the side – ouch! I almost stopped on length 99 when I had leg cramp but I battled through to complete 126 lengths and tonight’s swim took me past half marathon distance!

Swim 9

Distance: 106 lengths

Time: 2hr 06mins

Running totals: 20hr 23mins: 990 lengths

% of target achieved: 55.15%

Blog: Finished the letter J’s, straight through the letter K’s and started the letter L’s…

I’m over halfway!!! Tonight was a steady uneventful swim, just what I needed after the last couple of nights and thankfully my third swim of this week was not as painful as my third swim of last week.

Swim 10

Distance: 142 lengths

Time: 2hr 43mins

Running totals: 23hr 06mins: 1,132 lengths

% of target achieved: 63.06%

Blog: Finished the letter L's and quite far through the letter M’s…I’m super excited!!! I have never before been able to swim as far as I did tonight and I’m getting quicker #PersonalBest!!! I looked at my running totals and couldn’t believe I’d got so far, I triple checked them just in case.

Swim 11

Distance: 82 lengths

Time: 1hr 30mins

Running totals: 24hr 36mins; 1,214 lengths

% of target achieved: 67.63%

Blog: Finished the letter M’s, straight through the letter N’s and not many letter O’s to go… A short swim to finish the week took my total lengths for the week to 584 and my overall total to 1,214. I’m over two thirds of the way through my challenge…

Swim 12

Distance: 150 lengths

Time: 2hr 48mins

Running totals: 27hr 24mins; 1,364 lengths

% of target: 75.99%

Blog: finished the letter O's, straight through the letter P’s and letter Q’s and halfway through the letter R’s… A new personal best of 150 lengths means another 8.36% of the challenge has been completed but oh boy did my arms ache after I finished!

Swim 13

Distance: 130 lengths

Time: 2hr 33mins

Running totals: 29hr 57mins; 1,494 lengths

% of target achieved: 83.23%

Blog: Finished the letter R’s and swam quite far through the letter S’s…

The pool was so cold tonight, I never felt warm once, what kept me going was knowing how close to the end of the challenge I am getting, I didn’t think it would go as smoothly as it has been…

Swim 14

Distance: 62 lengths

Time: 1hr 09mins

Running totals: 31hr 06mins: 1,556 lengths

% of target achieved: 86.69%

Blog: Finished the letter S’s and started the letter T’s…........A short swim tonight as my arms are aching from the last two swims, at least the pool was warmer again tonight. The end of the challenge is in sight!

Swim 15

Distance: 122 lengths

Time: 2hr 19mins

Running totals: 33hr 25mins: 1,678 lengths

% of target achieved: 93.48%

Blog: Finished the letter T's, straight through the letter U’s and letter V’s and started the letter W’s…It was my last swim of this week as it is our Institute’s Annual Dinner tomorrow. After the coldness of the pool on Tuesday and my aching arms yesterday tonight’s swim went smoothly. I have 117 lengths left to complete my challenge and I should be able to do that in one more session next week 

Swim 16 ? the last one!!

Distance: 117 lengths

Time: 2hr 14mins

Running totals: 35hr 39mins; 1,795 lengths

% of target: 100%

Blog: I completed the letter W’s and with no letter X’s I moved onto the letter Y’s, once they were finished as there were no letter Z’s my challenge was complete!