1) SUP the Great Glen
2) Paddle the length of the non-tidal Thames
3) Swim with wild sharks (not in a cage)
4) Swim with wild dolphins
5) Go on an African safari
6) Row the Pacific Ocean
7) Row the Atlantic Ocean 
8) Row the Indian Ocean
9) Climb Snowdon
10) Swim with wild seals
11) Roadtrip the Australian East Coast (Cairns - Sydney)
12) Roadtrip Melbourne to Adalaide via Great Ocean Road
13) Roadtrip Adalaide to Perth via the Nullabor
14) Explore New Zealand
15) Bungy Jump
16) Sky Dive
17) Get RYA Day Skipper License
18) Hike the PCT
19) Cycle the 50 states
20) Run the Te Araroa Trail (New Zealand)
21) Climb Mt Toubkal (Morocco)
22) Run the London Marathon
23) Trek the Inca Trail (Peru)
24) Visit the Galapagos Islands
25) 11 cities SUP tour (Holland)
26) Wadi Rum Ultra
27) Ski the last degree to the North Pole
28) Climb Mt Elbrus
29) Get a World Record
30) Explore the Himalayas
31) Swim with wild turtles
32) Visit Ayers Rock
33) Walk the Las Vegas strip
34) Swim the English Channel 
35) Run the Isle of Wight Costal Path
36) Run the South Coast Path
37) Run an ultra marathon
38) Trek to Everest Base Camp
39) Become PADI qualified
40) Trek, paddle and wild camp the Norweigan Fjords
41) Trek the Great Wall of China
42) See the wild orangutans in Borneo
43) See wild tigers in India
44) Become conversational fluent in another language
45) Travel to and explore the 'stans
46) Cycle tour around Eastern Europe
47) See the Northern Lights
48) Explore Iceland
49) Travel on the Trans Siberian Railway
50) Explore the Isle of Sky

51) Paddle the Grand Union Canal
52) See the Penguins on Philip Island
53) Surf in Bali
54) Wakeboard in the Phillipines
55) Explore Hawaii
56) Visit the Caribbean
57) Visit Russia
​58) Visit the Bagan Temples in Myanmar
59) Visit Angkor Wat (Cambodia)
60) Cycle tour Cambodia and Vietnam
​61) Walk Hadrians Wall
​62) Swim Lake Windemere
63) Climb Ben Nevis
64) Work on a Yacht
65) Volunteer and/or Study Marine Biology
66) Dive the Great Barrier Reef
67) Climb Mount Sinai in Egypt
68) Dog Sledging in the Arctic Circle
69) Climb Scafell Pike
​70) Dive with Whale Sharks
71) See Wild Orcas
72) See the wild Gorillas in Uganda
73) Go to an Olympic Games
74) Explore Croatia by SUP
75) Run / Cycle around Europe with no given agenda or route
76) Climb an active Volcano
77) LEJOG
78) SUP Pembrokeshire National Park Coastline 
79) North Coast 500
80) SUP to Rabbit Island
81) Travel from Thailand to Singapore overland
82) Swim the Isles of Scilly
83) Swim from Ireland to Scotland
84) Abseil Northampton Lift Tower (worlds tallest permanent abseil tower)
85) Cycle to Paris
86) SUP adventure around Lundy Island
87) Weekend Bothy adventure
88) North East 250
89) Cycle the Hebridean Way
90) Run round Ireland
91) Roadtrip from Perth to Darwin
92) Complete an Ironman
93) Explore Patagonia
94) Climb Sydney Harbour Bridge 
95) Visit the Taj Mahal
96) Visit Victoria Falls 
97) SUP adventure around Lake Tahoe
98) Explore the rainbow mountains in the Zhangye National Geopark (China)
99) Explore Japan
100) Explore the Bolivian Salt Flats

Then we got to Hawaii. Now don't get me wrong, this was pretty exciting but the last night rowing I spent most of it wanting to turn the boat around and row as far away from land as i possibly could. The saving grace was that my boyfriend Gareth was on shore and we had grand plans to hire a jeep, explore O'ahu and go swimming with sharks which seemed kinda worth getting off the boat for - plus one of the reasons I actually wanted to do the Great Pacific Race in the first place was to visit Hawaii (yes yes, I am aware there are easier ways to get there than rowing the ocean, but where is that fun in that!). What I hadn't prepared for was the following weeks post row where i felt entirely confused and lost as to what I was going to do (apart from work... I had 1 day at home before having to go back full time!) and the state my body was in. I wasn't allowed to train properly due to an increased risk of stress fractures in my lower legs and hips and I didn't have anything to aim towards. Going from 2 1/2 months of 12 hours a day minimum of rowing to not being allowed to train properly was enough to send me insane but I kept at it for 8 weeks, doing body weight / strengthening / accessory work in the gym daily, slowly building up to low impact (with a 5.5 mile open water swim race thrown in to stop me going completely mad) and eventually back to loading and impact work. 

I've spent the last few years jumping from endurance challenge to adventure, always training hard but for a different goal every year whether that be swimming the channel, running ultra marathons or rowing oceans. I love training, I love the gym, and I tend to prioritize it over most things in my life (sorry friends) and I've decided now is the time to still adventure but to actually train properly and hard with a number of goals in sight for the same thing. 

So on that note I'm super stoked to announce I have joined the Loco crew as a team rider for their 2019 SUP Race Team! 

I first got introduced to Stand Up Paddleboarding many many years ago when I worked as a windsurf instructor, and it became the perfect activity for days where there was no wind. It soon became my preference over windsurfing and I've carried it on over the years and love it, but have never had the time or opportunity to fully commit to the race circuit until now. I'm so stoked to be riding for Loco next year on their new 2019 14' race board (and have their Motion Air iSup to adventure and explore on) and have some big plans and goals in place.

Racing

There is a UK based race circuit that I will be competing on, and I'm really excited to get to race alongside some of the UK's best paddle boarders. My goal is obviously to try and podium at races and it's going to be a steep learning curve going into my first season racing against people who have raced on the national and international circuit for a number of years but I'm up for the challenge! I've also got my eye on a few European races which attract some of the best paddlers in the world which would be awesome to race at! My confirmed race calendar so far looks like the following:

18th/19th May - 70km Norfolk Broads Ultra Race (UK Paddle Endurance Series)
15th June  -  50km Thames Ultra Race (UK Paddle Endurance Series)
11th - 15th September - 220km 11 cities SUP Tour (Holland) 
21st/22nd September - 92km Great Glen Ultra Race (UK Paddle Endurance Series)

I'll also be adding the GBSUP race circuit to the above once the dates are announced (which consists of much shorter races around the 16km mark) and potentially a few more independently organised races through out the year as well. 

Alongside the racing I've got a few small adventure plans forming in my head of places I want to go and explore.. more info on that soon!

​Training

I'm now back to full training (I was allowed to start running this week which has massively excited me although I'm keeping the distance low and pace slow still) and I'm loving being back in the gym. My endurance is pretty good post row (I'm still not going to run a fast 5k, but I feel like I could happily run an ultra) but I've lost so much strength, so it's frustrating at times not being able to lift what I could 6 months ago but I've found ways to keep it new and interesting and push myself. 

I'm back training at NPC Gym and Fitness Centre (which is still the best / most fun gym I think I've ever seen...) and try and go 5 times a week. This is usually at 6am before work for one of the 4orty classes which I love as I can push myself as hard as possible during them but they are varied and tough which is exactly what I need! All the equipment I could ever want is here (I'm talking Rogue echo air bikes, ski ergs, 25m track, tractor tyres, prowlers, monkey bars) and I felt in amazing shape both pre channel swim and ocean row having trained here, so I know what Spencer programmes and does works for me and gets me ready for big races. 

On top of training 5 x a week at NPC I've also joined the local Crossfit gym 4 x a week which is something I've wanted to do for a while. I love the crossfit mentality and values (plus we all got a bit obsessed with the crossfit games documentry on the boat) and there is so much involved that I've not done before or could get much better at, so its really helping in keeping me motivated and engaged in what is usually my second gym session of the day. I've only been going for 4 weeks but I'm already seeing some great improvements in my strength and overall conditioning so I'm pretty excited to see what happens over the next few months! 

Regarding on the water training, I'll be picking up my race board in a few weeks and then getting out on the local rivers and trips to the coast as much as I can, working on technique and endurance ready for the start of the 2019 race season.

A big thank you to Loco for the support and the trust in me to become part of the team. Super stoked to see what I can achieve next year! If you want to find out more, head over to their website here and have a read from when I caught up with them the other week and then go browse the boards and see what should appear on your Christmas list!! 

If anyone has any fun SUP adventures planned and wants some company hit me up!

The last time we saw land was 59 days ago. It's hard to fathom not seeing land for that long, but instead our days had been filled looking at a distant horizon of blues and greys which often became the most incredible hues of pink orange and red during sunrise and sunset. Maui wasn't our final destination and as such, it stayed a distant blur on the horizon for most of the day, dissappearing and then reappearing behind the clouds, a dark brown shadow against the backdrop of blue.

Every glance at land bought on the realisation that the row was almost over. Part of me wanted to turn the boat around and row as hard as I could back out to the open ocean, but the knowledge that friends and family were just a mere 100 miles away kept us on track. As Maui passed by us and the sun began to set we saw lights on the horizon from lighthouses and closer to the boat from bouys marking fishing activation devices. The flashing lights pierced through the darkness, blinking on and off at given intervals, interrupting the vast horizon of black we were so used to seeing. Realisation set in that we were almost there but we were adamant to not begin celebrating early. The ocean was still toying with us, even close to land the waves were choppy,large storm clouds were circling overhead and hurricane Hector was threatening the southern Hawaiian islands. 

As the sun rose on what would be our final full day at sea we could clearly see the island of Molokai about 10 miles away from us. We were close enough to make out the colours of the land, see the outline of buildings and the contours of the land. The Mahi Mahi fish who had kept us company over the past few weeks had dissapeared, but instead we were treated to a Pilot Whale surfing in the waves and an ever changing  collection of sea birds circling overhead. Our mobile phones, which had stayed silent for over two months began beeping as we came back into range for phone signal, messages from friends and family sent over the past two months appearing on the screens. The colours, sounds and sights of land and everyday life were overwhelming, a feeling that would stick around for the next few days as our senses were overloaded after so long at sea. 

The excitement of seeing land soon wore off, and we endured a final day of sweltering heat beating down on us as we rowed towards O'ahu, which at times would make itself just visible in the distance behind our bow. The final few days on the water had provided us with a highlights package of the row. We'd been treated to beautiful blue skies to row under during the day, a final cloudless night giving us one last look at the milkyway before it faded under the light pollution from land, whale and shark sightings and a never ending line of big rolling waves in the right direction. 

But it seemed the ocean was determined to make us finish as we had begun, and so we spent the final night in full wet weather gear, crashing waves from the Molokai channel drenching us as they powered over the boat, squalls of rain frequently passing overhead and cloud obscuring the land we were heading towards. We wanted to arrive in daylight and so we spent the night rowing slowly, and at times just drifting, waiting for the first sign of morning to navigate around KoKo head.

As the sun rose to our east, the outline of Diamond Head was visible ahead of us, the white lighthouse and red bouy marking the end of a 2400 mile journey glinting in the early light. A large sea turtle swam upto the boat, as if welcoming us to Hawaii, and the sea turned to a beautiful shade of aqua blue. The rain clouds and winds that had made our last night at sea one of the most testing faded away and reality began to sink in. 

We had done it. 

2400 miles. Two World Records. Second place in the Great Pacific Race. 

Elation, disbelief, astonishment and a hint of sadness that the adventure was over. We left Monterey 62 days, 18 hours and 36 minutes previously with the intention of enjoying every minute and taking in all the Pacific could throw at us. There was laughter, smiles, tears and moments I will never forget. It's an adventure that will be hard to beat, and one that I think will take a while to sink in as to what we have achieved. 

I expected it to be hard, mentally challenging and physically punishing, and it was all of those things. But most importantly for me, we proved what each of us is capable of, we pushed through limits that we know no longer exisit, and crashed our way through hurdles that seemed to appear at every opportunity. We left Monterey as three people who had met properly for the first time two weeks previously, and we arrived in Waikiki as good friends who share an incredible journey and bond. 

Nothing in life is easy, success requires hard work, determination and some good luck along the way. But anything is possible, your journey there may be longer or harder than others, but for all the hardest part is the first step. 

'You can never cross an ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore' 

Take that step and see where you end up. 

Not the news we wanted to hear. We knew hurricanes could be a threat, previous editions of the Great Pacific Race had been affected by them, and we were rowing at the very beginning of hurricane season, but most form south in the tropics and don't come up high enough to cause any trouble. Fabio had other plans. ​No one wants to get caught in a hurricane, let alone caught in the middle of the ocean in a 7-metre long boat with one very small cabin. It was the beginning of July and we still had a lot of miles left to row. It seemed that the Pacific wasn't going to let us cross easily. Our only option was to slow down and let Fabio pass in front of us. This meant we would end up on the outskirts of the right-front quadrant where the higher winds and seas tend to be, but this was better than getting caught in the middle. The race committee had been keeping us up-to-date with weather, as had Stokey, so the news of Fabio wasn't a complete surprise, we had just hoped it would stay as a tropical storm and not upgrade to a hurricane. 

We battened down and prepared for a repeat of week one. Or would it be worse than week one?  We had no idea, and approached it with how you have to approach things out at sea on a rowing boat, prepare as best you can and hope for the best! We rowed until the conditions got too big and we deemed it unsafe for us to be out on the oars alone. On the advice of Erden, the safety officer, we drifted overnight rather than deploying the sea anchor, saving us the rather tricky task of removing the rudder in big seas! Perhaps we had acclimatized to our surroundings, got used to large waves and high winds, or perhaps week one really was the worst weather we could have had, but spending a night shut in the cabin not rowing with all three of us squished in (i actually slept with my legs in the wet weather kit bag due to lack of space..) was the worst part of Hurricane Fabio. The waves crashed over Danielle, we got thrown around the cabin and rain lashed down, but never once did we feel unsafe. Our boat (built by Justin at SeaSabre) was an absolute dream in rough weather and never once came close to capzizing. Thanks Justin!!

After the initial few weeks of bad weather, trying to get off the shelf, being cold and damp (if you are yet to read part 1 of the adventure you can read it here​) and surviving Hurricane Fabio, July bought a change in weather and subtle shift of energy on the boat. We moved from what we had dubbed the survival stage into the thriving stage and began to experience days that weren’t all the same.  We had witnessed the Pacific at its worst and over the next few weeks we got to witness it at its best. Glassy seas and clear water, dolphins, whales, sharks and tropical fish that took up residency under our boat. The most amazing 360 degree sunrises and sunsets that turned the clouds, sky and sea colours I’ve never seen and cloudless night skies lit up with thousands of stars, planets and the milkyway. We (finally) found the trade winds and our daily mileage dramatically increased, often rowing between 40 - 50 miles a day and surfing the big waves. Daytime became blisteringly hot, with the cabins resembling saunas and no source of shade on the rowing deck, which although wasn’t ideal was a better choice than the cold grey days we’d experienced for the month before. Flying squid (yes squid – who knew they could fly?!) and flying fish became frequent visitors to our boat overnight, attracted by the navigation lights as they launched themselves out of the water using our bodies as targets. Many a rescue operation to return the wildlife to the sea in a living state was undertaken each night with varying success until we realised that turning off the navigation lights may solve all issues! Geniuses. (*Family if you are reading this, please rest assured that if we saw any boats on AIS we turned the nav lights straight back on - safety first.)

Megan and I flew out to California from the UK and after having a tourist day in San Fransico, picked El up from the airport and drove down to Monterey to begin our Pacific Ocean pre-race prep period. It was an intense two week period of sorting equipment and food, packing the boat and getting in our compulsory pre-race hours out on the ocean (watch our Vlogs below to see everything we got up to!!!). Prior to arriving we had already completed qualifications in sea survival, navigation, first aid and radio use and an eventful prologue race in Monterey Bay, which saw the weather close in, all crews end up on para-anchor and eventually towed back to the marina, meant that by the time June 2nd came around we felt as prepared as we possibly could. The Pacific had others ideas.  ​

The race was delayed by four days due to bad weather, a theme that continued throughout the row, and an 18 hour weather window was identified for us to try and make it out of the bay and into the deep blue on 6th June. Conditions were far from ideal, but any further delays would put us at a much higher risk of experiencing hurricanes in the later stages of the row, so the decision was made by the race committee and safety officer to start. Our first challenge was to make it out of the Bay and off the Californian continental coast shelf, often touted as the hardest part of the row, before heading south to the trade winds and west to Hawaii.

The canon sounded and as we rowed away from the flotilla of yachts and into the fading light it became painfully clear that we would be battling the Ocean from the offset. We had 2 route options for the start, to try and head out into the bay to the Monterey canyon which would allow us to head west or to sneak around the headland out the Carmel canyon which would push us south. Ten hours later, we finally made it to the headland, having given up trying to get into the middle of the Bay which would have been our ideal route. We weren’t alone, in the darkness we could see the navigation lights of Cockleshell Pacific Endeavour and Team Attack Poverty, the two male pairs boats, which gave us a little confidence that it wasn’t just us struggling to row at over a knot and leave the bay behind. Although we had made it out of the Bay, by having to hug the coastline and therefore head south earlier than we would have wished, by the following day we had rowed directly into a particularly nasty weather system that bought 35kt winds and 30ft waves. Unable to row we spent 72 hours of uncomfortable days and nights on para-anchor and therefore shut in the cabins (Meg and El in the larger stern cabin whilst I took up residency in the smaller bow cabin), which quickly resembled wet rooms, ourselves and all our kit soaked through from condensation and the waves which crashed over you when you braved a toilet trip on deck! We were gutted to hear that Team Attack Poverty had been rescued during this time (big shout out to Mike and Brian for the Nutella recommendation – best snack ever!) and that Ripple Effect, the only other female representation in the race, had also had to retire. 

By some kind of miracle, despite spending so much of the first week on para anchor, we made it off the shelf and into deeper waters. Our weather router Stokey Woodall rejoiced that he was now able to get on with his job of routing us towards Hawaii and we rejoiced that we were able to row 24 hours a day and not have to spend any more time holed up in condensation soaked, air tight cabins! We quickly settled into a routine of each rowing for three hours on, three hours off, meaning the boat was kept moving at all times and we each rowed for a minimum of twelve hours a day. In our three hours off we spent the time sleeping or doing boat chores, desalinating water to drink or boiling water to add to our dehydrated food packs. El was suffering from chronic sea sickness (that would last until day 17 when she finally managed to eat a meal pouch!) but not once did she miss a rowing shift or complain. That set the tone for our attitude of the row – we all knew what we had signed up for and we made an effort to look after each other as well as ourselves. It’s easy to dwell on the negatives when in a stressful and uncomfortable situation, but I made a concerted effort to smile and laugh through these moments, knowing I only had myself to blame for being there! 

In the first few weeks we were close to the busy shipping lanes, and entertainment out on the water often came from the sudden beeping of the AIS alerting you to a nearby vessel which usually turns out to be a 400m+ container ship. Although sometimes a tedious process getting them to respond on radio once they hear we are a 7m ocean rowing vessel and would appreciate it if they could pass a little further away than half a mile they would soon change course and give us a wide clearance, often engaging in conversation in disbelief that we really we rowing to Hawaii! Our closest near miss came with a 40m fishing trawler who refused to respond to our constant radio calls, bearing down on a direct collision course. Cue myself rowing as hard as I could to try and get us out of the path, Meg making frantic and constant radio calls and El making as much noise as possible on the foghorn. As they got to within 50m of us a waving crew appeared on the deck. Turns out their radio was turned off and they had detoured to come and see what we were, hence the direct course.  Needless to say we didn’t return the waves and shouts quite so enthusiastically as theirs!

What had happened? One of our crew stepped away with no warning due to unforeseen circumstances. One day we were a crew, the next day we weren’t. Communications went south and Megan and I were left in limbo. We were 8 weeks out from the start line with a huge amount of money still to raise, a boat that had been packed and was on the way to be shipped and no idea if we would even be in California to meet it. You put so much trust into people when you sign up for an adventure like this, you are responsible for each other’s lives when out on the boat, and you trust that you will all be on that start line together.  All of mine and Megan’s hard work and dreams could be over for the foreseeable future due to something completely out of our control.

But as someone said to me, there are people in the world who talk and there are people in the world who just do. Thankfully, Megan and I are the latter, and in the world championships of stubbornness would be guaranteed a gold medal, so we started to make plans. We spoke to the race director and confirmed that worst case scenario we could row in a pair. In a boat designed to be rowed by four this wouldn’t be ideal, but it would be one hell of an adventure. There was no doubt about it, we were going to get to Hawaii. Ideally, we needed a third person, and we needed that third person fast. We’d had a reserve list of people who were interested in rowing so we crafted an email and sent it out, sure that these girls would have made other plans given the proximity of the start line. And then we sat there with fingers and toes crossed and waited. Well… waited in between sending sponsorship emails, doing yachtmaster offshore theory and lifting really heavy things.

What happened next made the last 9 months all worth it, there was more than one person who wanted to row, had complete belief in what we had worked hard for over the past few months and was in a realistic position to do so. Megan and I have laughed more in the last week than we have in months – it was never an option for either of us to stop and this situation has bought out the best in us.

I'm so excited that our reserve rower Eleanor is able to row and we have confirmed with her joining the crew of Pacific Terrific! The crew is back to a three, the records are back on track and we will be rowing to Hawaii in two months time! 

Training Courses

​To enter the Great Pacific Race, a number of qualifications have to be passed before you are allowed to leave. This ensures that should anything happen whilst we are at sea we are trained in how to deal with the situation. I completed my RYA Competent Crew course towards the end of last year, and followed up in the new year with my VHF Radio course (so we can communicate with any other vessels we may see) and First Aid at sea. A few weeks ago we completed the RYA Sea Survival course as a crew, a course although very fun to complete, we hope to never have to use the skills we learnt. We spent time in the pool practicing life raft drills, survival skills and learning all the things that could go wrong with the equipment designed to help us survive, and then got the chance to set off flares - something we hope to only have to use when we cross the finish line in Hawaii! With 5 courses complete, the crew are now part way through completing the final qualification which is the RYA Yatchmaster Offshore Theory course thanks to Kipper Sailing (​www.kippersailing.co.uk). 

Boat Prep

We might still have 8 weeks before we leave for California but Danielle, our ocean rowing boat, has a six week trip aboard a container ship to get to the start line. She ships this week to ensure that she has arrived and cleared customs by the time we get to Monterey. We spent three days at Hamble Point Marina going through all our equipment, checking everything worked and getting in some more rowing hours. Jack from Southpaw Sport was there to capture some footage for the documentry, and created the short edit below to give you a look at what we got up to. 

Weather Routing & Navigation prep

We are working with the incredible Stokey Woodall who will be our weather router and on-land support whilst we are out at sea. We will speak to Stokey daily who will advise us on the best route to take given the weather, wind and currents, and will do his best to keep us out of too much trouble. We spent three days on the Isle of Wight planning our route, learning to navigate using the stars should we lose all our equipment, creating our own charts and covering safety and navigation until Stokey was happy we had a good chance of at least heading in the right direction. There isn't much (anything?) Stokey doesn't know so we feel like we are in very safe hands!! 

Fitness Testing

We have all been training hard for the past few months, and last week we were put through our paces at ESPH in a set of fitness tests, to establish our baselines pre-row and also give an insight into what we really need to spend the next eight weeks working on. We did our body composition (turns out the extra kgs I've gained is actually almost all muscle and my body fat % is lower than I thought/want it to be... more doughnuts for dinner for me!!), sub max VO2 testing and strength testing. Overall I was really happy with where I'm currently sat and am confident that myself and the rest of the crew are going to be in a really good place fitness wise when we leave Monterey. 

As always, if you want to support our multi world record attempt row raising money for Mind and championing solutions to reduce plastic pollution in our oceans you can do so at www.justgiving.com/PacificTerrific. Getting to the start line is tough (take a read of our blog post on this here), and therefore any support in helping us get there and enabling us to raise significant funds for charity during the row are really gratefully received :)

We have the chance to set a world first, which in this day and age is becoming much harder to do, as travel and exploration becomes cheaper and more accessible. When I wrote the last blog post, we were a crew of four. As has been the way since day one in this journey, there have been many twists and turns and mountains to climb to get to the start line, and a few weeks ago we decided to continue this journey as a crew of three. No crew of three has ever rowed the Pacific Ocean, let alone three females. We are stoked to give this a go before a male team has even attempted it and will be rowing for two new Guinness World Records:

1) The first crew of three (male or female) to row the Pacific Ocean
2) The youngest crew of three females to row any ocean in the world. 

So what does this mean in terms of the adventure itself? We will still be using the same boat we were always using - 'Danielle', our trusty little orange row boat who is currently the fastest boat to ever cross the Pacific. With three crew instead of four it means we will have a bit more space (big win!), but it means we have one less person to help row her across to Hawaii (there's always a negative to every positive!). Previously we would have rowed in two hour shifts in pairs, but as a three man crew we will have to be slightly more inventive with our shift patterns. The key is to ensure the boat is always moving, edging ever closer to Hawaii. We've had a lot of discussions around the shift pattern recently, and we are slowly figuring out what is going to work out best for us. It means we will all row by ourselves at times (including at night), and there will be times when we may row 14 hours in a day rather than 12, so mentally our strategy is a little different to what it was a few months ago, however the basis is still the same.

In terms of the time spent at sea, we are still aiming for the 50 days, 19 hours and 14 minutes record. We always knew that record was breakable - our weather router confirmed this to us and we've been putting in the hours on the ergs and in the gym to make sure we are fit enough to break it. Whether it is breakable as a three-man crew (we will set our own new record, but if we did break it we could become the fastest female crew to row the Pacific!) who knows, but we will give it a darn good try!! 

Training is still the same, we spent a few days out on our boat in the Solent the other week and started to tick off our compulsory hours required to start the race in California. The three of us rowed an overnight training session, covering 43nm in 13-hours, which quite frankly surprised us all - even Chris who was acting as our safety cover, so things are looking good and we are certainly heading in the right direction. The bucket was tested (it is as un-glamorous as it sounds!), we got up close and personal to a few solent bouys and witnessed a stunning sunrise as we were all getting slightly delirious from lack of sleep. 

The only downside to rowing as a three is that the cost stays almost identical as if we were rowing as a four. Therefore, more than ever, we are looking for companies who want to become part of our historic row and help us get to the start line. Our sponsor pack can be viewed here with a whole range of benefits we can offer for your support. For any individuals who wish to support this record attempt, you can sponsor us on our website through Stripe here or on our Go Fund Me page here. Any donation, however big or small, is really gratefully received by the crew, with every donation of £25 sponsoring one Pacific Terrific Ocean Mile (and a shout out as we row your mile(s) out in the Pacific), and every donation over £100 gets your name on our actual boat to cross the Pacific with us! Of course, we are doing this row primarily to raise money for Mind, and raise awareness of the plastic pollution in our oceans. All money raised above the cost of getting to the start line will go directly to charity. ​

We can't wait to make history, and we can't wait to take you all on this adventure with us! Keep a look out for some more exciting news being announced soon!

There has been numerous occasions over the past few months where a little voice has crept into my head and told me maybe I should quit. Family who have always been supportive started to suggest I should set a deadline to decide if I was going to row or not, people suggested I should postpone my entry to the 2020 Great Pacific Race and I began to question whether the enormity of this adventure was just too much in the space of time I had. The thing is, I don't like quitting. I like it even less when someone tells me I can't do something. Quitting just wasn't an option.  

I was recruited into the row at the beginning of August 2017 by another rower. I'd responded to an advert, researched the race and decided it was finally time to live what I'd been dreaming about. We met, we chatted and we shared the sames dreams. Break the current world record, inspire women that they can do anything they want, raise considerable amounts of money and awareness for our causes and do something amazing. Something that only two other female 4x boats have done. Ever. I took up rowing, I bought a row erg for my house so I could train at all hours of the day, and I began to train to harder than i'd ever trained before. We recruited the final rower for the crew after a long process of speaking to a lot of inspirational women who wanted the last seat, and everything seemed great. Then I received a short call out of the blue to inform me that the rower who had initially recruited me and our latest recruit were stepping away from me (and our 3rd rower) as they didn't think we were capable of breaking the world record and therefore didn't want us in their boat. Short, sweet and no real explanation. Having never been in a boat with either of them or ever asked for my training stats, and only having spoken to the latest recruit when we interviewed the week previously, it came as bit of a surprise. But apparently my lack of rowing experience was the decider and we were unceremoniously turfed out of the crew. 

Left to fend as a duo I found myself eight months from the start line having paid my race entry non-refundable deposit without a full crew and a step backwards from where we had been a week earlier. No sponsors are interested in you without a full crew. I didn't want to ask friends and family for sponsorship in case everything fell apart. We went back to a few of the amazing women we had spoken to previously to see if they still wanted to row, all of whom declined due to having moved on with their own future adventure plans. Over the next few weeks we advertised and spoke to so so many women. I was taken back by the number of women who responded and some of the previous adventures they had been on. The crew for the final two seats was almost filled a number of times, until something would come up and cause that person to drop out. It felt like every day was a constant hurdle, time was running out and the plan was falling apart. 

When I thought things couldn't get any worse I suddenly found myself the sole crew member. Circumstances out of anyones control meant that my remaining crew member had to step away from the boat, and I lost the person who I shared so much of this journey with and really respected. Six months out from the start line I had no crew and no sponsorship. A panicked call to the race director convinced me now was still not the time to quit or be disheartened (thanks Chris Martin!!) and I put all my efforts into one final search for a crew. By this stage I was probably more determined than ever to be on that start line and prove that not only could I get there, I was also mentally and physically ready and able to break the world record. This is still the thing that drives me through this journey and never makes me consider quitting, that want to prove to myself that when others doubt you to not listen, believe in yourself and just keep going. I'm not afraid of failing and I know there is every chance we might not get that record. But i'm not prepared to not try because people doubted my ability. 

As happens in life, when I was at the point of wondering if I could row the Pacific alone three amazing women turned up amongst the long list of women who were still inquiring about the row. Within the first two minutes of speaking to each of them I knew they were the right crew for the boat. All have impressive adventure resumes, Megan has mountaineered across the globe and climbed some of the tallest peaks in the world, Siriol recently hiked the 1200 miles perimeter of Wales alone and Andrea has sailed around the world, with more than 30,000 miles at sea under her belt. Are they all rowers? No. Do I think that's important? No. Do people who currently hold WR's in Ocean Rowing think being a good flatwater rower is important? No. What's important is having a crew who are mentally strong enough to cope with the challenge, physically strong enough that they can row on the oars for 12 hours a day giving all the can and above all, three other people that I want to spend 50 days with in a small 25ft space with no way off! 

With 5 months to go it feels like we have been a full crew for months. Sponsorship is beginning to roll in from companies (big thank you to all the companies who have jumped on board and are backing our adventure so far), training is going well and we hope to have all our compulsory hours as a crew in our boat signed off by the end of January (without these we aren't allowed to race!). What have I learnt so far? Never quit, never give up, never doubt yourself. If I can just inspire a few other people to not give up on their adventure dreams when the going gets tough then I feel like I have accomplished something. What are my aims? Still the same as they always were... Win the Great Pacific Race and break the WR, inspire other women that they can do anything they want, raise a significant amount of awareness and money for our nominated causes and walk away from the Pacific knowing that whatever the outcome I gave it my all and have one hell of a story to tell.  The Pacific Terrific Crew will put up one good fight on the Pacific and we are thrilled to have another Female boat to race against. The race is on...!!

Want to follow the rest of our journey to the start line? Head over to PacificTerrific.com to find out all about our row or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

But what does Yachting have to do with Ocean Rowing? Well… not a lot really, for starters the yacht was considerably bigger than our boat and had a shower, fridge, oven, and even a microwave for christ sake. It took a reasonable amount of explaining to the others on the course that our boat didn’t even have a toilet and we would be on it for around 50 days. But what the course does do is prepare you for life at sea, things to look out for, understanding charts and weather, tying knots, being out on the water at night, getting really close to cargo ships and deciding the number one tactic for the Pacific is to stay as far away from these as possible…
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My sailing skills leave something to be desired, having spent most of the time propping up the back of the fleet in instructor races and capsizing the dinghy consistently more times than most of the kids I used to teach. Let’s just say I never quite got the point of sailing when you could windsurf. Yachting is a more fun version of dingy sailing though, and once I had got over the initial confusion of almost every rope and sail having a different name to in a dinghy I concluded that perhaps sailing could be fun. Paired up on the boat with another competent crewer and two day skippers, we got stuck into everything, raising and lowering sails like pros, sailing a set course, and a personal favourite of using waypoints to navigate. Turns out, being able to see helps with this and remembering to bring glasses would be key… Having expected England to live up to five days of wind, rain and cold we were infact faced with five days of no wind, relatively warm (for November) temperatures and no rain. Luckily, yachts have motors, so we spent a fair proportion motoring under sail. 

​After spending five days of proving my competency, I unraveled it all in asking why a rope wouldn’t release despite everything being open for it to run. Turns out I was just standing on it. School boy error. Luckily ocean rowing doesn’t involve sails, and I certainly feel more competent getting on a boat having done the course. Tides, currents, winds, ships, knots, sandbanks, maps, charts, pieces of navigating equipment that I can’t remember the name of don’t seem quite so daunting now, and as everyone on the boat told me… It’s just a straight line between Monterey and Hawaii right ;)

'You can never cross an ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore'...

In June 2018, I'll find that courage and wave goodbye to friends and family on the shore of Monterey, California and head 2,400 miles across the Pacific to Hawaii. Myself and the other three ladies in the 2400 miles crew will row in pairs two hours on, two hours off, 24 hours a day. The world record currently stands at 50 days, 19 hours and 14 minutes. Our plan is to change that. 

So how did I end up here? I'm not really sure. I've always loved the ocean, I love being on water and feel at home on a boat. Two years ago I followed the Coxless Crew row for nine months across the Pacific, setting world records as they attempted something never done before. It was incredible and inspiring. Ever since I've been unable to get the idea of rowing an ocean out of my head. I didn't even row but that didn't worry me.  Fast forward a few months, and once again I found myself in a situation where I had told just a few too many people that I was going to row an ocean and it was time to make it a possibility. The Atlantic had always been on my radar and was what I thought I would row, but an advert appeared for a place on a crew to row the Pacific in the Great Pacific Race and suddenly everything fell into place. Before I knew it my race deposit had been paid and I was 9 months away from the start line. 

So what exactly does it entail? Seven days a week of intense training for the next seven months, on the water, on the erg, in the gym, on the track, alongside an abundance of cross training. I've learnt to row and the hours on the water go so quickly I love it that much. My body needs to be the fittest and strongest its ever been, robust enough to work through 12 hours on the oars a day and reduce my risk of injury. Those who have rowed an ocean say its 70% mental and 30% physical. Extreme tiredness, isolation, pressure and environment will test us to our limits, so staying strong and mentally in the game is crucial. 

During the row we will make all our own water with the onboard water maker, eat freeze dried expedition food, fix anything that breaks and have no assistance from anyone else. The boat is 26ft, with a small cabin to sleep in and protect us from the elements should we hit a storm. We have a great support team around us, helping us with training, nutrition and a team who will provide us with onshore support as we cross, updating us on weather, winds, and the best route to take. 

As with any adventure it has its hiccups. Already we have had a crew change, losing two crew members but gaining two new ones. That was probably the best thing that has happened, the new re-branded 2400 Miles crew is incredible and I 100% trust each of them on the boat and to get us to Hawaii in a record breaking time. They are all good flat water rowers, but each bring something to the boat that makes the crew a great one. I'm excited to row with these women and excited to do something extraordinary. For me the more crews in the Great Pacific Race, particularly female, the better. I don't want to go out and win a race because we were the only female crew. I want to go out and win a race because we were the best crew out there. 

50 days, 19 hours, 14 minutes is ingrained in my brain and is the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of when I go to sleep. For the next seven months, rowing the Pacific is my priority and pretty much all I will think about. Get ready for the ride... 

Fast forward 5 days, one phone call later, and I was suddenly an Aspire Jellyfish, standing in for someone who had dropped out, with a swim date at the end of August.

This time round I got to play the dreaded channel waiting game, every day waiting for the call to say you were swimming, checking the weather and wind forecasts religiously. The first three days the weather was terrible, strong winds, rain, and no sign of it giving up. A day later we got the call to say we could swim the following morning and the weather was looking alright. I drove down to Dover in a thunder and lightning storm, pouring rain and the words so many people had said to me going through my head... 'why are you doing it again, won't you regret it if you don't make it, this will ruin your first swim'. Well... Here's what I learnt about channel swimming take 2:

1) Trust the boat pilot. Four hours before we left Dover was treating me to a spectacular thunder and lightning storm. All I know is lightning and water shouldn't be mixed and I was starting to wonder if we would get turned away at the marina when we met to swim. The boat ride round to the beach was choppy, we changed starting beaches last minute. Pretty much bang on the dot of when we started the weather changed, the wind dropped and the sea state calmed. 

2) No channel crossing is the same. This time round the weather was glorious, there was barely any tide and there were a few hours that felt like we were on a Greek boat cruise. It took us 11 hours and 21 minutes, and it was amazing! 

Yes, that's right. The swim would start at 1.15am to catch high tide meaning the first three people would be swimming in the pitch black with just the moon and a spot light from the boat to guide them. We motored around to Samphire Hoe, and after a slight English Channel swim traffic jam (we were one of 4 boats crossing that night) Stephen jumped in and swam to the beach to officially start the swim. At 1.15am we set off to France, the sea conditions were good (I think - it was dark so hard to tell, but the boat wasn't moving much) and the white cliffs of Dover slowly started to retreat.  Being third in the rotation meant I was soon attaching a light to my googles and a glow stick to my costume so I could be seen in the water, and I experienced my first night swim (no place like the channel to experience new things...). This actually ended up being my favourite swim of them all, and I was lucky enough to start the swim with the channel bathed in moonlight and to finish the swim just as the sun was beginning to rise. 

The channel itself is broken into three main parts, the first being the SW Shipping Lane, the next being the separation zone and then the NE Shipping Lane. Not only is your boat pilots job to try and get you to France along a good route, they are also there to make sure you don't get in the way of the many cargo ships and ferries that travel along the shipping lanes. I hadn't been quite prepared for how close we would be to the container ships, or quite how many there would be, and you feel really quite vulnerable in the middle of the channel on a 42ft boat! As we pushed through the SW shipping channel the weather was proving to be great, the sea was calm and the sun was shining, meaning that warming up after a swim in 13 degree water was relatively easy! The separation zone is where a lot of the 'rubbish' collects, i presume as empty water between the two busiest shipping lanes in the world. We were fortunate to not experience too much and were able to swim around some of the larger floating debris fields, but we did experience the slightly nerve inducing jellyfish swarms. Invisible from above the water, when in the water swimming it was common to see swarms of jellyfish about 2m below you. It appeared that the water was still a bit too cold for them to have all come to the surface, but the odd one did suddenly appear in front of your face and make itself known as you swam over it! 

We entered the NE shipping lane in good spirits, we were making good time and France looked incredibly close. We had caught up with some of the other boats who had left before us, and were discussing about how the winds had suddenly picked up when suddenly Kalie piped up 'Look there's a Shark'. Cue laughter and a rush to the back of the boat where we expected to see a Porpoise in the direction she was pointing, when the stunned silence made it perfectly clear that yes, 20m off the back of the boat was a little shark, up on the surface having a little look at what we were doing. It turns out there really is sharks in the channel (we think it was a smooth houndshark). With Polly blissfully unaware in the water, we attempted to not make a big deal out of it, with Tessa (our adopted Boat Leader and diver extraordinaire) consoling me that it definitely wouldn't eat me when I got in the water in 10 minutes time and the chances of it coming back were really quite small.  

As it turned out, ten minutes later I had much bigger problems to contend with. The winds had picked up to 25 knots, the sea was white capping and the slightly more sheltered side of the boat was not my favoured side (all to do with breathing and spotting) and meant that the currents would keep pushing me into the boat, so rather than swim alongside I would have to swim at an angle to try and stay parallel. By this stage two of the other channel boats had pulled the swimmers out the water and turned around due to deteriorating conditions and my instructions from the boat pilot were 'swim as hard as you can for the next hour if we want any chance of making it'. Quite frankly, it was horrendous. It was probably more horrendous for the 6 people stuck on the boat, as it was tipping, rocking and getting thrown around everywhere, but I was thankful for having swum off Hythe Beach a few weeks previously in big swell. The next hour became a game of attempting to not get pushed into the boat (the swim is over if you touch the boat), attempting to breathe despite getting constantly dunked by the waves and attempting to stay afloat and make headway. I knew I was aiming to make it into a bay where the conditions would be slightly calmer and allow us to make a change-over, and three jellyfish stings later, and alot of swallowed salt water I was pretty happy to see the sign indicating the change-over. Quite possibly the worst swim of my life but also the most rewarding!

Exactly 59 minutes and 56 seconds later, the Aspire Sea Eagles landed on the beach in France. 15 hours, 59 minutes, 56 seconds we were officially the first relay team to successfully cross the English Channel in 2017 and the earliest ever Aspire relay team to successfully cross the channel.   Would I swim it again? Most definitely. 

The sun gods were on our side as we arrived in Dover last weekend. Well actually Hythe... because Dover harbour is being dug up and is out of bounds for swimming on Saturday mornings... however, standing on the beach with France the only thing visible on the horizon, it seemed a good place to start my journey to swimming the channel. First up was meeting the rest of my team (Stephen, Stephen, Kalie, Charley, Polly and our boat leader Kay) and thankfully i couldn't ask for a better group of people to swim with. Friendly, supportive, slightly crazy and inspirational we bonded with our first sea swim. The water was a cool 12.3 degrees (your average swimming pool is at least 25 degrees), wetsuits are banned, and the swell was frankly big enough to have fun surfing in. Have I mentioned I've not (properly) swum in the sea before or swum open water without a wetsuit on...?!? 

I really quite enjoy throwing myself in the deep end of challenges with little understanding as to quite what I'm getting myself in for, however it only took approximately 2 seconds before the cold hit and I realised exactly what I had got myself into. Struggling to breathe, the cold water felt like it was stabbing my legs and arms. The first few strokes were quite frankly horrendous, putting my face in the water was even more horrendous, however the process of attempting to swim and breathe before a wave either crashed over you or threw you off the top into the next wave quickly took my mind off the cold and within a minute I was swimming quite comfortably out towards the yellow buoy. Strict instructions had been given prior to entering the water that past the yellow buoy was the army firing range, however trying to spot the yellow buoy in the waves was a fun game in its self. Good news is no one got hit by a stray bullet, and 30 minutes later I was back on the beach, in more layers than I could count and deciding that this sea swimming without a wetsuit really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. 

The aim of the weekend was acclimatization, so once we had warmed up, we were straight back into the waves for a second 45 minute swim. I concluded that the best way to get back in was to just run into the sea, struggle to breathe for a bit and then start swimming. Having already been cold, this swim felt colder than the first but I felt a lot more comfortable swimming in the waves. The chances are if the waves are like that on the day, the swim will be postponed until the swell is more favorable, however, the weather can change quickly once in the channel and so we could end up swimming in those conditions in the latter stages of the crossing.

Once back out and warm, we headed over to the White Horse Pub in Dover (otherwise known as the channel swimmers pub, as all successful crossings sign their names on the wall) for a briefing and update from Aspire - the wonderful charity all this is in aid of, followed by a 2 hour pool session working on technique and drills.  Dinner was at one of Dover's finest pirate themed restaurants (the food was delicious!) during which myself and Charley convinced Andrew (who organizes the swim events for Aspire) to let us attempt the 2-hour swim assessment the following day. You have to pass this swim at least 15-days prior to your boat date, and the next training weekend is 16-days prior to our boat date, leaving no room for any issues. Despite being told that only 2 people had completed it previously in May, the rest of my team jumped on board and said they would swim with us (despite already having there's from swim camps abroad), and with the promise to Andrew that we would swim together and get out if we started to get hypothermia we were committed!!

With building works halted on Sundays, we were allowed to swim in Dover Harbour, and as such, entered the proper world of Channel Swimming. Every weekend, people come to Dover to swim in the harbour to train for their crossings, identifiable as to what they are doing by swim hat colour. After a good covering of vaseline round the neck and under the arms to limit chaffing, the six of us entered the 12.3 degree water with the aim to stay in for 2 hours and get our CSPF assessment signed off, whilst the rest of Aspire did two 40 minute swims. We had worked out it was roughly a mile from the buoys to the harbour wall and back, and if we swum at a comfortable pace we needed to do it four times to make two hours. The first hour was great - the water was calm, the sun was out, and I quickly fell into a comfortable pace alongside Polly following Kalie's feet. During the second hour I started to notice the changes to my body as it got cold and my hands soon resembled claws, unable to straighten my fingers. Two hours later, we exited the water. Cold, shivering, but holders of the 2 hour assessment certificate that allows us to get on the boat in 5 weeks time. 

Feelings after throwing myself in at the deep end for training weekend 1... i absolutely loved it :) 

Want to watch a little video of what we got up to this weekend? Head over to the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/AspireSCICharity/videos/10154408371236536/?pnref=story

Help me support Aspire in the amazing work they do for those affected by a spinal cord injury by sponsoring me at:

​www.justgiving.com/CazzLander

The gym (NPC Fitness in Loughborough) has an OCR team that I've joined (OCR stands for Obstacle Course Racing - think Tough Mudder etc) and is not your standard gym. Instead of rows of running machines, cross trainers and exercise bikes it has OCR obstacles, monkey bars, vertical wall run, climbing walls, 25m astro track, rope swings, free weights etc. and most importantly... space hoppers! I have a personal training session once a week with the aim of making me as fit and strong as I can be, and although I'm pretty good at pushing myself, I definitely work harder in these sessions than when I'm there training alone! I then try and go another 3 times during the week, mixing it up between the evening classes and doing my own programme and on the days I'm not at the gym I try to swim and/or run.

I've also set a few smaller targets to keep me on track over the months, entering a few running and OCR races that I need to train for. Each one I complete takes me closer to the channel swim, without it consuming my life and allowing me to focus on other things whilst still training hard. 

The outcome: I'm coming into spring the fittest and strongest I've ever been. My swim times are dropping without actually doing a huge amount of swim training (which is helping my very hyper mobile shoulder stay happy!) and I'm finding it much easier to push on when mentally I begin to struggle. As the evenings get lighter and the water warms up towards the temperature of the English Channel (a rather cool 14 degrees), I shall substitute some of my gym sessions with outdoor swim sessions instead, getting used to spotting again whilst I swim to ensure i swim in a straight line, focusing on my technique and acclimatizing to swimming in cold water. Swimming in the ocean will bring a whole new set of challenges for me, but its nice to currently feel that I'm in a strong position with my fitness levels and mentally know I'm strong enough to take whatever is thrown at me. 

I'm doing this swim to raise money for Aspire, who improve the quality of lives for those with a spinal cord injury. Please help me raise money for this fantastic charity by sponsoring me at www.justgiving.com/CazzLander

So how have I ended up with a place in a relay team to take on this challenge? I've always loved swimming, but was never part of a swimming club growing up. I had no idea if I was swimming at a reasonable speed in my local pool, only aware that I was considerably slower than those at an elite level. Unlike my attempts at running long distances, swimming long distances has never been an issue for me, and I can happily lap up and down a pool for ages. Last year, I took my first steps into open water swimming and instantly adored it. No longer limited to swimming up and down it offered a new freedom to swimming that I'd never had before. Suddenly, this once ridiculous idea I'd had about swimming the channel was looking like it could be a possibility. 

Having taken part in Aspires pool channel swim challenge in 2015, I knew they offered the opportunity to join a relay team to swim the actual channel, and in November last year I found myself at an assessment day with a lot of other people from all over the country. The day was split into 3 main parts, with the morning spent watching a documentary on exactly what we would be signing up for (cue a lot of worried faces) and hearing how the charity helps those living with a spinal cord injury, an interview with Aspire to discuss not only your swimming background and ability but also fundraising - as that is the main reason we are taking on this challenge, and lastly a swim assessment, overseen by channel swimming royalty! Much to my relief (I'd genuinely been having nightmares that I was going to be by far the worst swimmer there), not being part of a swim club growing up or a masters swim club as an adut doesn't appear to have affected my swimming ability too badly, and after lapping up and down the pool for a while whilst my swim stroke was assessed and being timed over 400m I left with this feeling that if I didn't get a place I was going to be really really dissapointed. 

Cue quite possibly the longest week of my life whilst waiting to find out the results, I finally got a phone call to say I'd been successful (and it turns out my swimming isn't too bad, with my 400m time placing me in the top 10 on the day) and was placed in the Aspire Sea Eagles Relay Team. With a boat date of 30th June we will encounter long hours of daylight, but will be swimming the channel at its coldest during the swim season and will be swimming before the 3rd and final training weekend in Dover, meaning we must pass our 2 hour swim test on the 2nd (and our final) training weekend in May. For me, over the winter its been a lot of cross-training, improving my fitness levels and strength whilst lapping in the pool. However, acclimatization to cold water is crucial for us to succeed so from this month open water swimming shall commence. There's something I'm not looking forward too...!!

Please help support me on this challenge by sponsoring me at www.justgiving.com/CazzLander

The average public swimming pool in the UK has a water temperature of between 25-28 degrees celsius. To abide by the official rules we will have to swim in water temperatures of around 14 degrees celsius wearing just one standard swim costume and hat. The use of wetsuits is forbidden. We must also stick to a strict rotation of swimmers, who must each swim for a full hour before the next swimmer takes over. Any change to the rotation order or discrepancy in time will result in the swim being halted and deemed unsuccessful. Add to that that we will be attempting to swim across the busiest swimming lane in the world with between 500-600 tankers and boats passing through a day, fighting changing tides that are likely to drag us miles off course and dodging jellyfish, waves and uncertain weather, it probably won't surprise you to know that more people have successfully climbed Everest than have swum the English Channel. The video below follows the team from 2016. 

Why am I doing this? Not only is this a big personal challenge of mine, it is also giving me the opportunity to raise money for Aspire - a UK charity who provide practical help to those who have been paralysed by a Spinal Cord Injury, supporting them from injury to independance. In the UK alone, every 8 hours someone is paralysed by a spinal cord injury, it can happen to anyone and any time, and no one is prepared for how it will dramatically change their life. Historically, the majority of spinal cord injuries each year occur in my age group - those aged between 21 and 30. ​

One of my good friends messaged me and said she wanted to do it with me. Firstly, I'd spent 12 months attempting to convince people to undertake a challenge with me and despite some initial interest, their entry forms never materilised and I found myself on the startlines alone with a list of excuses as to why they couldn't take part. Finally I was going to turn up to an event and have someone to talk to! Secondly, above friend was not a runner. Infact she was in a similar place to me twelve months previously and had never entered a running event. Twelve months ago, I pulled on my new running trainers and left my front door to go for a run, entered my first 5k and finished the year with a half marathon and three ultra marathons under my belt. Just by doing that I had inspired someone else to jump into their unknown, leave their comfort zone and take up running to get fitter and stronger.  ​Pretty cool :)

The only way I can describe the Inflateable 5k is a family friendly tough mudder, without the mud and 100% certaincy that you will complete all obstacles. Every 500m there was a giant bouncy castle style inflateable with walls to climb, slides to slide down and a number of other obstacles to master. Most of the inflateables had multiple channels meaning you could race your friends through the inflateable obstacle adding a competitive edge to the fun and it finished with a trust jump onto a giant inflateable mattress that really tested my dislike of heights! It was such a good event to finish with, filled with laughter,rain, puddles, wet bums and I was rather dissapointed when I got to the end which is a first in the history of my 5ks! 

I'm yet to decide if I'm elated or devastaed that this challenge is over. What I am sure of though is that this is just the beginning to a happier, fitter and more fulfilling life :)  Big thanks to everyone who has sponsored me, supported me, provided words of encouragement and bought a smile to my face over the last twelve months. In the words of Summer Sanders:

''It's not about winning and losing; it's about every day hard work and about thriving on a challenge. It's about embracing the pain that you'll experience at the end of a race and not being afraid'.

'Having got advice from some seasoned triathletes, i placed myself at the back of the wave, to avoid the washing machine affect in the water of lots of people starting together from a small area, jostling to get positions. This proved to be a winner as I just swam up the inside and overtook a load of people resulting in me only getting kicked in the face twice. Winning! A mile long course, it followed a similar route to that taken by the London 2012 Triathletes, and with it being a circle it made it quite easy to spot the infalatable bouys and swim in a resonably straight line between them. The wave sizes were relatively small and mixed ability, meaning they spread out pretty quickly leaving plenty of clean water to swim in (I'm not talking about the colour of the water here, the serpentine is anything but clean!) and it was marshalled by plenty of kayakers who were quick to let swimmers know if they were heading off in the wrong direction around the course. 

Given it was the first year it was run, it was very well organised and thought out, with a nice goody bag at the end of the race and one of the best looking medals I've picked up this year. Hopefully next year they will open up a few different length course options. 2016 has been a year of a lot of firsts, and glad ive finally popped my open water swim cherry. Now where is that coke to sterilise my stomach...!!

The route itself was great. A mixture of tow paths, fields and pretty little villages (If you want to see it then head over to http://www.london2cambridgechallenge.com/the-challenge/the-route) and with few hills it was alot easier to complete than the Isle of Wight!! Completing my second 100km Ultra in 2 months, here's my top 10 tips for making it through an Action Challenge ultra event; 

1) Come prepared. Whether its 50km or 100km make sure you have done the training. You don't need to have covered all that distance in one go before the event, but try and do a good few longs walks or runs in the weeks leading upto it. This will help you identify if your shoes are likely to cause you problems, if you will struggle on hills and roughly how long it will take you to get between check points - always useful for supporters to know who may be with you if like me you are trying to save phone battery to play music and therefore have it on aeroplane mode! .

2) 60% of the challenge is mental. Be aware that you will hit 'the wall' at some point on the challenge. For me this has happened on both Ultras between 60-70km but push through the pain and those km's will continue to dissapear! Try and have some of your favorites songs to play when this happens to give you a boost or get your supporters to come and walk/run with you. Friendly faces and a bit of encouragment works wonders!

3) Don't fill your bag with large quantities of food or drink. Trust me, this will only add unwanted weight to your bag. Approximately every 10km Action Challenge have a large marquee filled with tables of food - crisps, chocolate, fruit, energy bars, energy gels, flapjacks... You want it... they probably have it. You can take as much as you like to last you to the next tent and every 25km there's hot food. 

4) Take spare socks and plasters. If it's raining, your socks will soon get wet walking through fields, puddles or wet grass. Even if it's dry, the likelihood is your feet will sweat and your socks will be damp. This is when blisters like to come and play, so I would recommend changing socks at every major rest stop. Likewise, carry some plasters with you and stop to sort out any rubbing as soon as you feel it. If you leave it until the blister is visible you are likely to have issues later on in the challenge! I always wrap the areas of my feet that tend to blister in tape before I start and this seems to work.

5) The rest stop areas are great, free massage, free food, plenty of chairs to sit down on... just try not to spend too long here! For starters, the time spent at rest stops counts towards your finish time. Secondly, its very easy to sit down to rest your feet, queue for a massage, get some hot food and then realise 2 hours has passed. When you try to set back off again your body will have seized and it will take a good few km's to get back into it. 

6) Carry a pair of comfy flip flops with you. They dont weight much and dont take up much space but could prove to be a lifesaver. They can be used if you want to air your feet at rest stops to stop you having to walk in bare feet but most importantly, they might get you to the end of the challenge if your shoes are rubbing and causing blisters.  I walked the last 15km of this Ultra in mine after getting a horribly painful blister on my little toe (I've never had one there before and I've not had one there since). I was literally hobbling along in my shoes but could walk fine in flip flops and passed many people in the last 10km who were hobbling along and envious of my flip flops!

7) Don't worry about the overnight sections. As someone who loves to sleep at any opportunity, I can promise you the adrenaline will carry you through the night. The route itself gets marked with glow sticks (sometimes it's actually easier to follow the route at night than it is at day) and if you are alone the marshalls will group you up once it gets dark at the next rest stop you reach, ensuring that you have a group of people to walk with. They also have 'Trek Masters' who walk the overnight sections with small groups who will happily walk at your pace and provide conversatation for a good few hours!

8) Do make sure you put new batteries in your head torch before you start! I can confirm that there is nothing worse than walking through fields with a head torch that is giving out less light than the moon and then having to try find spare batteries in your bag to resolve this issue in the dark!

9) Carry some clothes for different weather conditions (or have supporters who can come and meet you with extra layers/jackets etc if needed). It might be blue sky and sun when you set off at 8am in the morning but 50km north or 8 hours later in the day theres a strong chance it could be raining and cold! However, as all the events are held in spring/summer I found that even overnight temperatures didnt get too cold so try not to carry around too many un-needed layers that will just add weight to your bag.

10) Be prepared that this might be the beginning of a love affair with Ultras. After 106km round the Isle of Wight I swore I was never going to do anything like that again. 8 weeks later, I've just completed number 2, and in 8 weeks I will complete number 3. They are addictive, push through the pain and the acomplishment you feel at the end will stay with you forever. 

Edinburgh is one of those places that I never get bored of. Having never been for the first 18 years of my life (Having been born in cornwall and living south west of London I thought taking my sister to University in Nottingham was really far north for the majority of my teens), when i got to uni I joined the ski club and went to Edimburgh every year for a big student ski competition. Limited to visiting only the dry ski slope, a chinese all you can buffet and local clubs every year it wasn't until I left uni and went back up to Edinburgh that I truely appriciated what a great city it is, and it certainly offers up a great half marathon course.  

Standing on the start line over looking Arthurs Seat I was a bag of nerves. Genuinely unsure if I was going to make it round, the prospect of failing was my biggest fear. I wasn't bothered about what time I finished it in, I knew my training for it had been far from ideal but I desperately wanted to finish. With no pacers to stick with I gathered my best bet was to just run as far as I could at a comfortable pace and then start a mixture of walking and running towards the end. As crowds of people lined the street cheering as we set off, it quickly dawned on me that I usually run in kms. The signs here were in miles. With no idea what the conversion of miles to kms was I was blissfully unaware of how far I was running and instead was able to enjoy the route as it snaked through Edinburgh and then headed out towards the coast, following the sea down to Musselburgh. 

I do really love running, but i wish I was so much better at it, esecially when I passed a feed station at 10 miles to see the floor littered with fresh orange slices only to get to the table and realise they had all gone. No more motivation needed than that to ensure I run much faster next time!! Kudos to the little kids who had buckets of jelly babies outside their houses and ran along side you to give you some in return for a few high fives along the more residential parts of the route. 

After a quick pause at a barrier to yell support to a friend who was also running (and smashed her pb time), I was delighted to not get over taken by the elite male marathon runners who had set off after the half marathon runners, and was even more delighted to cross the finish line with a resonable number of people still behind me.  This wasn't quite what I had imagined my first half marathon to be like, but I had proved to myself that i could do it. Plans are already being made to enter one in 2017 with a good block of training before hand! 

I should give the rest stops a mention here as a short walk from the top of this long hill was the first major rest stop where I was greeted by table upon table of free snacks, drinks and massage. Action Challenge really have thought of everything and I soon found myself counting down the km's as I walked until the next rest point. Interspersed between the 4 major rest stops around the island were smaller minor rest stops, equipped with toilets, snacks, gels and friendly volunteers meaning you only ever had to walk a max of 16km before you stumbled upon one. It is at these points that your chip is scanned and your position updated on the live tracker for anyone who may be following your progress. 

I spent the next few hours walking making copious amounts of holiday and adventure plans to come back and explore the Isle of Wight, as it is truly just stunning. The coastal path follows the coast for the majority of the first half of the challenge looking out over the sea, however for about 10km on the west coast it veers inland slightly away from the sea, taking you through fields and woodland, before rejoining the coast toward the north west of the island. I hit the half way point just as the sun was starting to set and joined a group of other lone walkers setting off for the overnight section so I wouldn't be walking alone.  Walking in the dark just following arrows means I paid little attention to where I was for the most of the night, and it all kind of blends into one, but this section was initially spent mainly walking through the more populated areas of the Isle of wight, on tarmac paths and past houses and then onto the east side of the island where the paths turned back into grass and we walked through a fair few fields. I hit a massive wall at around 75km and probably would have called it quits if it hadn't been for a stunning sunrise that occurred exactly at that moment whilst I was in a particularly beautiful area, a personal trait of extreme stubbornness to never give up and Gareth arriving in the car to check if I was OK. 

The last quarter of the island was back to being very hilly, but the hills gave way to more beautiful views of the island and the coast and each hill conquered took me one hill closer to the finish. Billed as a 100k challenge, the Isle of Wight is actually 106km, and those last 6km's seemed to drag on for ages, often leaving me thinking I must have missed the previous km marker only to walk past it a few hundred meters later. I don't think I have ever been so happy to walk round a corner and be greeted with the field I had left over a day ago. By far the hardest physical and mental challenge I have ever done (probably in my life) but I absolutely loved it. The camaraderie of everyone taking on the challenge was amazing and I couldn't have asked to have explored the Isle of Wight in a better way. 

The three 5km's I completed were:

1) RunThrough Olympic Park Velodrome Run - Another in the RunThrough series, this event took place on the mile long outdoor cycling track that is next to the Olympic Velodrome. I think the track was designed as a short cycling track, so there is plenty of small hills and bends. 3 laps for the 5k it did get a bit repetitive (especially running at the pace I was!) but it was fun to run round such an iconic venue.

2) RunThrough Olympic Park Run - Another RunThrough race in the Olympic Park but on a different route. Starting at the iconic Orbit tower this 5k snaked through the Olympic Park past the Olympic Aquatic Centre and Olympic Stadium and was a much more interesting route. This race was a bit of a milestone in my running career as it was the first one I completed alone without Gareth there to help pace me or provide moral support. Turns out it isn't as bad as I thought running alone!