I set out with a rough plan knowing that getting to the start was all I needed to do, from there I could move forward bit by bit.
I had my first experience of hitting the wall around 40k, I applied the David Goggins 40% rule, when you’re at your limit, you’re only at 40%. I told myself to push forward positively and guarded against my mind’s negative feedback.
The last 15-10k was a totally different run, earlier in the day the phrase “Pain is power” came to me and I was able to now use this power and push forward hard with a lot less perceived effort. I updated my story and told myself that whilst it was tough, I was strong….and so I was.
This morning I got up early, put on my wet suit, called an Uber and went out to confront the unknown….in the cold.
I met a woman called Sylvia who took me out on her boat to just under the Golden Gate Bridge where I jumped out and started swimming towards Alcatraz with the aid of the flood current coming into the bay.
The sun was coming up over the city and I had an amazing unique view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the City of San Francisco and Alcatraz.
After just under an hour I’d swam around 4.5k (again with the big help of the current!). The hardest part of this swim was the lead up to it, I reminded myself to just go one step at a time and could hear Kurt’s mantra of “avoid paralysis by analysis” in my ear.
Life’s challenge can be daunting but it really does help to break it down and not let yourself over think unnecessarily, the reward of tackling them head on is not to be underestimated. I’m so happy I found a swimming family in Brighton that welcomed me to open water swimming this year and have been a source of friendship and encouragement.
After swimming right up to Alcatraz Captain Sylvia picked me up and we headed back to shoreJust starting the swim having been dropped off under the Golden Gate Bridge
