It was a reasonable size book and started reading a few pages thinking I just let the first few pages whet my appetite, then put it down, go take a shower after a great night of playing table tennis, and then get to bed soon so I wasn't totally groggy at my Triathlon Clinic the next day. Problem was I was "hooked" from the beginning. I got a pen and started underlining phrases that shot out like a warning:
- "the odds of success [at swimming the English Channel] are now about 1 in 6"
- The average time for crossing is slightly less than 13 hours
- The most important component was acclimating to cold water. [I] can not emphasize this enough and it is one of the main keys to any successful swim.
- In retrospect, I think I could have swum the Channel as well or better if I had gained only five to eight pounds... I did not realize my acclimation would be such a major contributing factor.
- The intense training I did from September 1993 to July 1994 is what got me across the English Channel. (See Chapter 5 for what that training involved)
- It amazed me to see how my body adapted to this intense cold water training (referring to an intense three week pre-channel training near Brunswick, Maine)
I could go on and on about this book. I ended up reading the entire thing from cover to cover (just over 200 pages) in about 5 hours. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep at all. I was impressed with how well written the book was. It included feelings she had involving relationships that grew during her journey as well as critical tips and lessons she learned. Because of this approach it made the book read more like a novel. I'm not a big reader, but this is the first book I've read in less than one day. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is considering starting to train for the fantastic achievement of swimming the English Channel. Definitely a must read! I'm sure I'll be re-reading and referencing this book several times over the next few years.
2 comments:
I agree that Marcia is an incredible woman, athlete and author. If you near Winnetka, Illinois on May 7th, she will have a book signing and discussion on her book Dover Solo at The Book Stall at Chestnut Court.
I haven't read this book yet, but it is next on my list of swimming books.
If you haven't already read these books, I highly recommend them:
Swimming to Antarctica - Lynne Cox's book about her many incredible swims.
The Crossing - Story of Captain Webb, first to swim the English Channel
The Great Swim - About the first women to swim the English Channel
The Man Who Swam the Amazon - About a guy who actually swam the entire length of the Amazon River (over 3,000 miles)
So are you training to swim the Channel? That's awesome! I am nowhere near ready for something like that, but if you want someone to swim with this summer let me know. I want to try to get a group together for weekend swims once the water warms up a little. I will post the details on Utah Open Water and the Facebook Group.
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