Funds Raised So Far

Cold, but not wet yet

Training isn't going well this week - I'm full of a cold, so haven't done anything since Monday :-(

The fundraising is going well though - I'm almost a third of the way to my target, with £1150 raised so far - so a massive "Thank You" to everyone who's contributed so far.

I've also had many lovely messages of support - and I've been surprised at how many other people have been affected by Alzheimer's and dementia in their family. It's touched me greatly that so many people have shared their stories with me.

It's also been very heartening that I've had support from people I haven't seen for years, or only met once or twice - clearly, having the brass neck to ask is paying off.

I've also been very impressed with lots of the fundraising tips from JustGiving - I get emails with suggestions on - many of which I've taken up, including ordering some mini-moo cards - see http://uk.moo.com/en/ideas/justgiving - now, if only the post office could find them and deliver them!

Swim, Swim, Walk

Training is going well - I swam 1/2 a mile on Thursday (32 lengths) and over 1/2 mile on Friday (40 lengths). My arms felt like lead on Sunday morning though, so instead of swimming I went for a walk. It was such a lovely day, and I thought my legs could do with a bit more of a workout.

When I swim I do breast-stoke, but I have a terrible screw kick - it looks as though my right leg knows what's going on, and does a nice frog-like kick, but my left leg thinks we're doing crawl, and refuses to go out - it just goes up and down! I'm sure this slows me down, but even if I concentrate really hard, I can't make it do the right kick! It must look really bizare - like swimming with a limp.

I would like to put this down to an old injury - I dislocated my left knee when I was 17, spent 8 weeks on crutches and it's never been the same since. I say I'd like to put it down to this, but I have such strong memories of one particular swimming lesson at school.

The gym mistress (yes, it was that kind of school) asked everyone else to get out of the pool and then asked me to swim 1 length breast-stroke. Feeling proud to be singled out, I did my finest length - going as fast and as elegantly as I could. Imagine my horror when she then turned to the rest of the class and said "and that's how you don't do it - what a terrible screw kick!" She never did help me fix it, and so here I am, decades later, still limping through the water like a half-frog/half-fish creature.

I must see if I can find her and get her to sponsor me - it must be worth £1 at least!

Here we go

So, I've set myself a challenge, set up a "JustGiving" page and now I'm ready to blog. So this is for all the kind people who've sponsored me so far, all the people who will and all the people who just like to read about other people's lives. You are all welcome!

I've entered the Great North Swim, and I'll be swimming on Sept 5th, at 3pm, in a cold and murky Windermere. I've never done anything like this before, and it's quite daunting. Although I love swimming, I'd never swum this far until a month after I'd signed up for the event.

If you're reading this and haven't sponsored me but would like to, then visit www.justgiving.com/dawn-holmes - it's really easy!

Thanks
Dawn