I can't believe 5 months has passed since the 100ft Freedive Challenge! It's been a really busy 5 months for me.I've mostly been reading these...
Studying these...
All in the hope of becoming one of these...
My course of study doesn't finish until June and, if I'm doing things right, I should have at least a few interviews over the summer.
Meanwhile, the rest of Team ** (Harry, Tom D and our instructor Hannah) visited the Only One Apnea Centre in Egypt over New Year for some warm water freediving. I *wish* I could have gone with them - they said they had an amazing time! Here they are:
So...the question is: What now? The freediving season has started and Harry's already been down at Saltfree for depth training.
Well, I feel a bit like I'm back at square one. The kind of hours I spend studying means that I'm i) overeating (mainly Jaffa Cakes) and ii) totally sedentary. I haven't been to training at the pool for about 4 months and I haven't been depth training since the day after the challenge. The less said about my gym (non) attendance, the better.
My initial plan was to continue pool training over the winter and enter my first freediving competition next weekend. - the Great Northern pool competition. My lack of training and the pressure of exams means that I won't be competing. Harry will be competing and I'll be cheering him on!
Now, I have a sneaking suspicion that all these negative thoughts are actually a cunningly disguised Diving Demon. I'm going to have to check with Mark, who is the expert on such matters. Perhaps I could make some progress this season. I have to accept that I will have limited time to train and must therefore make the best use of the time available.
With that in mind, I'm heading down to Saltfree on 14 April for my first depth training session since the challenge.
I've really enjoyed writing this blog. It's even inspired me to start blogging in my 'other life' as a wannabe lawyer - here and here. I've connected with people all over the world, made some new friends, learnt a lot and received incredible support and encouragement. While the 100 ft Freedive Challenge is over, my freediving journey has just begun. I'm going to keep writing the blog but we might have to rename it - any suggestions gratefully received.
I'll sign off with a TED talk by Tanya Streeter on redefining limits in freediving - and in life.
