Breaking news from the MS Society!

It's been a brilliant 3 days, with news of a huge clinical trial into a potential treatment for MS (and two personal bests)!


Today, I left work and got on the Tube. It was quite late, so there were plenty of free seats and spare copies of the newspaper lying about. I put the 'Manual of Freediving' in my satchel and picked up the Evening Standard to see this story on the front page...





You can click on the picture for a link to the full article.


The MS Society and the UK Stem Cell Foundation are jointly funding a number of studies to investigate whether the use of stem cells can help to slow, stop, or even reverse the damage caused by MS to the brain and spinal cord.


My heart always skips a beat whenever a story like this appears. They appear surprisingly frequently but it's a long and difficult road from clinical trials to an effective and affordable treatment.

When someone you love has MS, you feel so helpless watching as they get progressively more disabled. They can get much worse almost overnight, as in a relapse or attack, or it can be a gradual process. Maybe one day out shopping you notice that their leg is dragging much more than usual, or you see their hands shaking while they try to hold a mug, or you start "hugging" by linking your little fingers, because proper hugs hurt too much. Mum doesn't really open up to me about her feelings about the future of her health (she's intensely private, and that's why I haven't mentioned her more on the blog). I imagine that for Mum, as for the poet Colette Waller who I featured in my last post, it ultimately comes down to being terrified of getting worse.


So the search for better treatments or a cure for MS feels like a race against time for my family. It's fantastic to see charities collaborating to fund international clinical trials into cutting-edge treatments for MS. If there is hope that by the end of these trials a treatment is in sight that might help my Mum, then I have all the motivation I need to get me to 100ft.

To learn more about this particular research, please see the video below:



Yesterday, I managed a PB in Static of 4mins 45sec!

The day before yesterday I managed a PB in Dynamic of 120m!

Mandy Mermaid and the Fluffy Contraction Bunnies...

Following my sports coaching session with Mark, I arrived at Saltfree eager to dive a few feet closer to the 100ft goal. However, on the boat over to the platform, I realised I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of no warm -up diving - I'd become rather attached to my usual routine of "fannying about at fifteen meters"!

In charge of the platform for the day was Mandy Mermaid. Mandy won the Mermaid Challenge, a competition run by Saltfree to discover new female freediving talent, and went on to set a UK record in dynamic! The most recent chapter of Mandy's freediving story is equally as inspiring. Last year Mandy developed Guillian-Barre Syndrome, a life threatening disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the nervous system, causing paralysis. After what she describes with characteristic understatement as "a bit of a struggle", her bravery (and her freedive training) helped her to beat Guillian-Barre. Back in her wetsuit, Mandy is not only excelling in competition, she also recently completed the Great North Swim to raise awareness of Guillian-Barre and fundraise for CLIC Sargent and the RNLI. To read more and donate, please click here :D.

I'd met Mandy once before and was really happy when she said that she liked the blog! I asked her for some advice. She summarised the theory behind no-warm up diving and explained that I might feel contractions earlier than usual with this approach. Seeing my grimace, she attempted to convince me that this was a good thing! "Contractions are actually helpful; it's your dive reflex kicking in!" she said. "Just imagine that they are happy fluffy contraction bunnies hopping around in your chest", she advised, before we both started giggling!

Fluffy bunny...



















Evil contraction bunny...

As planned, I did stretching and breathing exercises on the platform and then went straight for 30m. The dive was fantastic! The first ten meters (my least favourite part of the dive) passed quickly and felt foscussed, I enjoyed a long glide and was almost surprised when I reached the plate. There were a couple of light contractions on the way up but I knew to expect them and they didn't bother me. I did have to try and stop myself thinking of the contraction bunnies and grinning inanely though! So it's 98.43 feet and counting, everyone :D.

Photo of the 98.43 ft (or 30m) freedive below, courtesy of Harry:










With the 100ft almost in sight, I've had a little time to sit back and reflect. When I first set out on the challenge, diving to 100ft seemed an almost impossible goal. Now it's within reach I realise that I've been so concerned with actually being able to complete the challenge, I haven't been spending as much time as I should raising awareness of Multiple Sclerosis and the reasons why fundraising for the MS Society is so important.

I'd like to share the stories of two women with you; Genie and Collette. Genie is my aunt and godmother, and Collette is a poet, who I have never met. They have a lot in common; both have chosen to explore their experience of MS creatively, Collette through poetry and Genie through music. Both are positive and inspiring people. I hope that the story of each will go some way to explaining how deeply MS affects your life and how important it is that research continues to find a cure.

Genie
Genie is my aunt, who developed MS aged 24. She teaches jazz and classical piano, makes music and runs Stream Records, a label for disabled musicians.

It took 5 or 6 years before my MS was diagnosed, and I was quite relieved in the end. It was like having a golfball in the back of my head. I thought I was going insane! MS affects people in different ways. It affects my balance and my senses. I don't use a wheelchair, but it's obvious something is wrong with me. The doctors said things like, "well you're going to have to learn to live with this". It's not easy, but music helped. I started to write songs to express what I was feeling. I came across a disability magazine that was advertising for musicians and put together a band called 'Fish Out Of Water'. We got loads of gigs, became involved with Disability Arts, and I got funding. It was great. And I was a working musician! But the mainstream music industry doesn't want to know about disabled musicians. That's why I started to get their music out there. Some people suggested that I should register as a charity, but why does disability always have to be about 'charity'? I want to engage with the world on its own terms.Sadly disabled musicians don't break into the mainstream very often. But you can't give up. You have to make the world take notice.

Collette
Collette has a particularly aggressive form of MS. This article tells her story and in the accompanying video she reads from her collection of poems, 'Party Girl', before MS left her unable to speak or write. I've posted one of her poems below.

Scared
When I'm around
Others
Who have MS
It frightens the shit out of me
All these poems are saying just one thing
I'm scared of getting worse.

Please donate a few pounds (or more, if you like!) to the MS Society, to enable their amazing work to continue :).

Sports Coaching and Static :)

It struck me a couple of weeks ago that the 100ft Freedive Challenge is approaching alarmingly quickly! My head was spinning with questions; whether I was training enough, how best to structure my training, where to find information on new techniques, whether anyone was likely to sign up to a meet in October so that the challenge could go ahead, how to budget for some equipment I needed, what safety support would be required...

Fortunately, I received an extremely well-timed email from Mark, suggesting that we set up a few sports coaching sessions in the run-up to the 100ft Freedive Challenge. As you might imagine, I jumped at the chance to talk through some of my questions.

Mark explained to me at our first session that I would be leading the discussion, and emphasised that his role as coach was to help me explore the options open to me, rather than prescribing a particular course of action. At first I was slightly disappointed; a small part of me had hoped that I'd be handed a fail-safe training plan to follow, which would ensure success for the 100ft Freedive Challenge and lots of donations for the MS Society! However, I soon realised that part of what makes freediving so exciting is that it is, in many ways, an individual journey of discovery. I'm wary that I might be straying into "wanky" territory here, so I'll try and explain what I mean:

1. You're on your own at the plate, that's for sure;
2. I would imagine that in such a 'mental' sport, each person's unique psychology would have a significant effect; and
3. There's still lots of scope for experimenting with different approaches to training.

By the end of our first discussion, we'd assessed the current situation, explored the options available and created a plan of action. I left feeling really positive about the progress we'd made. Over the next couple of weeks I drew up a budget, investigated different training options, and eventually drafted a training plan. I then asked for Mark's suggestions, opinions and advice. Mark suggested a number of diffferent approaches for training, including setting up a yoga and meditation session with Mariette and organising the 'Dealing with Diving Demons in Constant Weight' seminar. We're still working on the logistics side of things but there are rumours of an exciting competition setting for the 100ft Freeedive Challenge...

In our second session, we focussed specifically on determining my limiting factor on depth. We discussed the progress I'd made a a result of the 'Dealing with Diving Demons' seminar, considered adjusting my weighting, and decided that I'd experiment with a "no warm-up" or "one warm-up" approach during my next CWT training session. This led to some interesting results...more on this to come.


At training with London Freedivers last week I was paired up for static with Georgina Miller (George). I have to admit to being a bit intimidated at first, since she holds a UK record in this discipline. However, she was really friendly and quickly put me at ease. We decided to do a CO2 table each and I discovered that they're even more relaxing when done in the pool :). Except when the blokes in the next lane are trying to make you laugh during a 30 second breathe-up, of course! George's expert eye was able to see that I held tension in the back of my neck and shoulders and she gently reminded me to relax these parts.

Toward the end of the session, George suggested we try an exercise she had come across on a course run by Umberto Pelizzari. I lay on the surface, breathing gently and tried to completely relax all my muscles. George occasionally asked my to hold my breath and moved me around in the water by applying pressure to different parts of my body. By doing so she was able to identify areas of tension. When she told me to relax my arms, my first thought was that they were already relaxed! By as soon as I turned my mind toward them, I realised that I had bunched up my shoulders and was holding my upper arms stiffly away from my body. She said that I would enjoy my statics more if I consciously relaxed each part of my body, particularly those parts where I tend to hold tension. I'll definitely be trying this next session. I just wish that someone would agree to drag me gently through the water by my arms and legs during static; it's the best relaxation method I've yet come across!

Next time, 'Mandy Mermaid and the Fluffy Contraction Bunnies'!

If only they were this cute!

Milestones and more...

"I'm a freediver, it's sunny. Why am I sat here scanning documents?..."

- Sam

Well, quite. The lack of updates recently is because I've been spending far too much time at the office, twitching my mermaid's tail irritably under the desk and gazing wistfully at my freediving computer background.

It's only been three weeks but I'm in withdrawal. Symptoms include: spending too much time on DeeperBlue during my lunch hour, trying to convince myself I can blow my scholarship money on a freediving holiday to Tenerife, sneaky 25m DNF's during swimming sessions and unexpected feelings of nostalgia at the smell of neoprene (no, really).

My last trip to Saltfree was a good one though! It was great to meet some of the Great Northern contingent, who were really friendly and supportive of the Challenge. Some have already made a donation to the MS Society - thank you very much guys, it's much appreciated :D. With so many people on the platform and the sun breaking through the clouds for the first time in weeks, there was a bit of a holiday atmosphere!




Harry and I were having a bit of a lazy day...lots of stretching on the platform, numerous shallower warm-up dives and lengthy breaks in between freedives to drink redbush tea, soak up some sun and have a natter. By contrast, the Great Northern contingent adopt the straight-in-and-straight-down-the-line-to-a-PB method! As a result, we were the source of much amusement. "Oh!" said Ben as I was putting on my monofin for my 25m attempt, his wide-eyed innocence belied by the barely-suppressed grin, "are you actually getting in now?!".



Luckily for us, by the end of the afternoon we both managed to add our own PB's to the brilliant results already achieved by our friends. Harry easily reached 27m FI, while I managed 25m CWT. It feels like a proper milestone along the way to completing the 100ft Freedive Challenge! Mark's seminar on "Dealing with Diving Demons in Constant Weight" helped in two important ways: 1. I was able to try and deal with any uncertainty and nerves during the warm-up dives; and 2. Using visualisaion during the dive meant I felt much more focused and in control.


Harry gave me the psychological boost I needed before the 25m dive using a bit of a cheeky trick. Knowing that I was more than capable of it, he set the line to 23m in order that I'd exceed my PB without knowing it. "How was it?", he asked as I surfaced. "Great!", I smiled in response, "but it was only 21m". "Oh no it wasn't!" he replied, "I set the line a bit deeper". He couldn't say anything after that because I was simultaneously trying to hug him and drown him.

Since then it's been pool training only. A friend's wedding last weekend meant that it was out of the wetsuit and into a floral dress and jewellery, which I must admit felt quite strange! By all accounts I missed a fantastic weekend at Saltfree, with Sam and Hannah teaching loads of students and some regular Saltfree-ers taking a dip. Particularly proud of my AIDA** course mate Tom D, who made a PB of...wait for it...39m! See below for a brilliant photo taken by Hugh last weekend; more are available on the Saltfree Facebook page, if anyone needs further convincing of how much fun Saltfree courses are!



Pool training is going swimmingly *cough*. No movement on the PB's, which stand at 105m DYN and 4min STA respectively. However, I've been trying out loads of new training exercises: dynamic tables, sideways and upside-down monofinning, lengths as fast or as slow as possible, lengths using as few kicks as possible, almost drowning laughing while attempting to blow bubble rings and, best of all, static dynamics. These involve a short static followed a length of dynamic, all on one breath. The statics are gradually increased; I think we were doing about 1 min static at 3m, 33m dynamic by the end, which felt very comfortable. I'm not sure how it works, but I feel like someone's put me in a sleepy trance.

Tim's training for a triathlon at the moment, so is usually speeding lengths on the surface. When he has a chance to freedive he's been using a heart-rate monitor to investigate the effect of various breathing techniques (you can take an IT geek out of the office...). I've been buddying and have been intrigued by the results, as described after he's done all his computery-analysis on the information. On Thursday of last week Tim kindly lent me his heart rate monitor and buddied me while I did 100m DYN wearing it. I'm really excited to see the results and will post them here soon.

I'm looking forward to meeting Mark on Thursday for some sports coaching (more on this to follow). It's also T - MINUS 4 DAYS AND COUNTING until the next Saltfree meet. Hope to see some of you there!