jgalswims

I have started thinking about my most favourite foods when I am training. As I have gained more than enough weight to successfully not freeze in the Channel, I have started looking into 'healthier' options which are still packed full of protein and nutrients. Below are three of my faves for each meal...feel free to give them a try, especially if you're trying to get fit!

Breakfast:

-Porridge with honey. It's simple and it keeps you warm whilst swimming! I have to eat it on long swim days.

-2 boiled eggs, roasted tomatoes and toast. This is one of my favourite breakfasts to keep me going until the next refuel at lunch! I simply boil the eggs in water, roast tomatoes (plum and cherry are my fave) in the oven for 20-25 mins, and fresh, seeded whole-wheat bread with half-fat butter. Of course, I have to top it off with a nice cold glass of Innocent orange juice.

-Fat free strawberry yogurt, fresh raspberries, muesli, a splash of honey and a spoonful of flaxseed. Also good for weight-loss, I am told!


Lunch:

-Tuna salad on fresh whole-wheat bread: tuna, lite mayonnaise, sliced cherry tomatoes and a hard-boiled egg. Very filling and full of protein! I eat cherry tomatoes (do you see my obsession?) with them, as well as some sesame breadstick crackers in lieu of chips (or crisps for the Europeans). ;)

-Soup! It's a simple lunch but totally great and gets the veggies in the tummy. My favourite is at a local cafe...carrot, coriander, lime and coconut! It is gorgeous! Eat with fresh bread and butter.

-Cheese plate. I usually make this myself...I love manchego, taleggio, aged gouda and gruyere. I put apple slices, grapes and chutney on the plate and eat with salted and plain crackers of all assortments. It's great for the summer!


Dinner:

-Fresh fish, rice and a veggie (plus bread!). This sounds uber-healthy, but it's not if you do your portions like me! I made this earlier in the week and got a big thing of fresh cod, coated it in lite mayonnaise, and put lots of bread crumbs and almonds on top, as well as some herbs. I baked it for about 30 minutes. I left the rice plain, but I am sure there's lots of ways to spruce it up! For a veggie I steamed fresh green beans (the skinny ones) while sauteing garlic, olive oil and (surprise!) halved cherry tomatoes. (Tip: Put the tomatoes in last, otherwise they get too soggy and lose their fresh taste). Then combine the beans with the tomatoes. To make this 'not as healthy', eat a very large portion of cod...at least 8 ounces, which provides loads of protein! I also use a lot of rice...way more than a recommended serving size. The extra carbs are needed, after all. Best of all, the fish can be reheated easily in the oven, so it's a great leftover food item.

-I call it 'tomato pasta' and is great when I am feeling vegetarian. This is a perfect recipe when I am home from training and utterly exhausted, but still need to eat. It is simple and ready in 15 minutes start-to-finish. All you do is cut LOADS of cherry tomatoes in half. We're talking wayyyy more than you'd usually eat. I heat up some high-quality olive oil in a pan, put a couple cloves of chopped garlic into the mix, then all the cherry tomatoes. While doing this, boil water for pasta. My favourite is fresh tagliatelli. Once the cherry tomatoes are kind of sticking together, add a splash of balsamic vinegar, some herbs and fresh sea salt. I don't use a lot of pasta for this, as the tomatoes are the 'main course', so do what you wish.

-Beef and mushroom bake. This is a great meal which also lasts a long time in the leftovers department. I start by cutting up a fresh round steak (room temp for at least 2 hours) into strips. Add flour and brown in a splash of oil. Then I put a can of mushroom soup, a few whole peppercorns and 2 beef bouillon cubes into a saucepan and bring to a simmering boil. While that's heating up, slice about 10-15 mushrooms. When the sauce is mixed, add the mushrooms, keeping them fresh. Do this for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. After that, combine the beef and sauce into a dish and cover. I bake it for about 2 hours on a lower heat and serve it with fresh steamed broccoli and rice. Full of protein and nutrients (mushrooms improve your immune system and are full of antioxidants).


Snacks:

I eat loads of snacks! Yes, in between all these meals! Welcome to the world of swimming!

-Apple and peanut butter. I've eaten this snack since I was about 12, and it is brilliant! Combined, the 2 make a complete protein. I also eat bananas and peanut butter, but this is quite savoury so it's usually more like a dessert.

-Purple grapes. High in fiber and great on a warm day! Can mix with natural fat free yogurt for a yummy treat.

-Home-made trail mix. I mix together almonds, raisins, dark chocolate chips, peanuts and dried cranberries. Anything will do though!


Easy ways to add calories/protein/nutrients:

-Chocolate milk. I believe this was my greatest way to gain weight without really trying. Simply mix in some Nesquik powder into a large glass of low-fat milk. Easy to drink with meals or with snacks. I usually drink Lactose-Free milk as it doesn't seem to upset my stomach so much. Of course, you can just drink milk on its own, but I hate the taste so chocolate is the only way to go!

-Seed mix topping. I buy bags of sesame, linseed and sunflower seeds, mix them together and use as salad toppers. Simply pour them into a little pan, put them in the oven for about 5 minutes, allow them to cool and voila! You have toasted seeds! They add great flavour and nutrients, as well as calories!

-Boost/Ensure. If you live in the States, these nutritional supplements can be purchased at any drug store or online. While they may seem like 'old people's drinks', they are actually very good for you regarding vitamins and nutrients, and full of calories! A regular 8-ounce bottle of Boost has 240 calories, and a Boost-Plus has 360 calories. If you're in Europe, Ensure can be purchased at the drug store with a prescription. I drank Ensure here with snacks and it totally helps easily pack in calories.


I hope these easy ideas help some of you wondering what to eat during training while still being generally healthy. Enjoy!

jgal

If you heard me on the Ryan Tubridy show, welcome!

I am really hoping to raise at least €10,000 for Headway Ireland, and you can help! Please visit my charity page where you can make a secure online donation.

I am asking everybody to sponsor me €1 Euro for each mile of my swim, so €22 Euros total. This will definitely help to keep me motivated when the going gets tough on the way to France!

Thank you for all your support,

jgal

I simply had the best weekend EVER! Saturday, after a little pool session, I headed out to Galway with Gerry Dunne. As one can imagine, that was very entertaining! And it was July 4th, so I was in a festive and happy mood. We arrived soon enough and the weather looked okay...a bit cloudy but fine all around. I was totally pumped for the swim, as the back marker won it last year...so I knew I had a chance! I was hoping to get a handicap below 10 minutes (starting 10 minutes after the go group), and ended up with 9:30, with worsening conditions. I was pumped! Worsening conditions = better chance for me. So I got myself ready. We all got absolutely SOAKED waiting for the men to finish. Unfortunately, there was no shelter, and I only had a measly little jumper to keep myself 'warm.' Whatever, right?

The water was amazing. If the Channel is anything like that, I could swim in it for days! It was clear, not too deep and toasty warm! I headed off and it was very, very rough. Every time I would lift my head to spot the buoys, I would either eat a lot of water, or get tossed back down, barely spotting the orange. I figured we were all in the same water, so I could still catch up. I was going as fast as I could, which is funny because I don't really get out of breath like I do in pool-swimming. I sometimes think I'm not trying hard enough, but then I can't find a way to speed up. Hmm...

Anyway, I didn't see a lot of people in the race, mostly because of the waves. By the time I got to the last buoy, I couldn't see anybody, but figured there were still girls ahead of me, so I kept swimming as fast as I could. It seemed to calm down once I got past the last buoy. I kept my eyes peeled for swimmers, but still saw nothing. At this point I wondered if I was in the lead, but thought no way because I didn't pass a lot of the people I knew were swimming. But once I got close I didn't see anybody, and heard the cheers, and a big grin erupted on my face. I finished, had a quick look-around, and saw the '1' tag being handed to me. I was really excited, because I kind of knew if I did win, it'd likely be my last win of my handicapped open water career, which is fine with me!

The afters were brilliant as well. I'd really recommend people to go to the swim next year...it was very well-organized and fun! I celebrated Independence Day with gusto, haha. On Sunday we headed over to Mullingar on the way home for a lake swim. It was windy, making the water choppy. I ended up getting 5th, and now realize that my handicap is utterly screwed. Oh well, doesn't bother me!

Training has otherwise gone really well. With weekly visits to my physio, I've had basically no shoulder pain. I'm very lucky to have a flexible schedule, so I can basically train whenever the tide is in. It's great! I'm literally 5 weeks out...and I can't help but get a stir in my stomach when I say that. I am excited and ready, but still quite nervous. I know I have to be on my A-game from hereto forward. I can't wait to jump off the boat and start my swim already!

--jgal--

jgal

Just a quick update to let you know that BlueSeventy, the best open water goggles EVER, (and I'm sure wetsuits as well but har har who needs that?) just launched a new line which includes PINK GOGGLES!



My Channel swim just got better!

jgal

This week was pretty much the peak of my training. After Cork, I took it pretty easy as my shoulder was bothering me. I went to my Dublin physiotherapist, Dan Smyth, and he gave me some acupuncture with a tens machine on my shoulder. It wasn't the nicest feeling, but it definitely helped the pain lessen. I then flew to London Wednesday afternoon. My original plan was to do training daily in the Serpentine, but this was simply not going to happen with my very sore shoulder. On Thursday I did an easy hour swim in the Serps, and there was some shoulder pain, but I definitely noticed a difference from the day before. So, instead of pushing through the pain and swimming poorly, I took a nice break and enjoyed London instead. I was going to swim on Friday in a pool, but frankly I was so tired that basically sat around all day watching Sky News with the family where I was staying. It was fun and I enjoyed the break.

On Saturday, bright and early, we headed down to Dover. The day was looking good, and it was once again really nice to see all the familiar faces down there. After much contemplation on the trip down, I decided on 6 hours, with 7 hours looming in the back of my head. I chose six because I knew it was doable, but it would be the first 6 hours I had attempted since Malta in April. I started off in the harbour, and I'm not going to lie, it was really cold! It took me a good 90 minutes to warm up. The one thing I don't particularly 'love' about Dover training is that we don't feed until two hours, and we're only given a tiny cup of Maxim. By 11 a.m. in my real life, I've had a full breakfast and am working on my 'elevenses.' On long swim days, I can barely stomach some porridge and bananas, so I'm usually practically starving by 10 a.m. So, needless to say, I was starving and hungry on hours 2-3!

This swim was really different for me. My first 6-hour attempt was a bit of madness; I seemed to be operating on some manic stupor during the entire thing. It's not that I was having a bad swim, it was just different. That said, the sun started to really shine, and I became pretty pumped by the fact that my tan was going to be deepened. (As if that's possible at this stage!) I swam along, kind of annoyingly singing Michael Jackson songs (I blame the Friday Sky News binge session for this.) But the hours were ticking, and after my 4th hour feed, I thought I may just do 7 hours, which would be the longest I have swam to-date. I kept it in the back of my mind, and made sure to 'check in' with how I felt.

I had some nice chats with the mates on the harbour walls, including eating out of the pants of Nick Adams and Mark...long story short but the new trend is to stuff Milky Ways, flapjacks, Penguins and Hairbos down your, em, arse, and eat them whenever you fancy. Well, Nick and Mark were offering them to me, so I wasn't about to say no. Trust me, I also find it really disgusting to eat out of the swimsuit of a male swimmer whose been in the water for 4+ hours, but ya right, it's so easily justified when you're practically eating the arm off yourself in hunger. So, while Nick's Hairbos were gorgeous, Mark's soggy Snickers flapjack was bordering on vomit mixed with saltwater and more vomit. Did I finish it? Heck yes.

At five hours I knew I was doing seven. I felt that once I announced it to somebody, then it would be official, so I told Nick. He called me a hero, as he does, and I headed off for my second-to-last hour. It was going really well, and I was quite excited to break my longest-ever record. The feed at six hours was great; everybody was supportive and I had no problems entertaining myself with 'In The Zone' by Britney. Actually, I blame Britney for this whole fiasco, as in hour 4 her song came into my head which stoked me to add an hour in the first place. Once again, Britney is my hero.

I was really happy with myself when I finished, and felt I could do 3+ more hours easily, especially if I was swimming toward France and not in circles! I know seven hours seems horrifying on paper, but once you get into it, it's really not too bad. I worked on visualization during it...imagining myself swimming toward France, swimming alongside the boat. It is a huge comfort to know that you're training toward the biggest accomplishment your life has seen. Afterward I hardly shivered at all, and I kept thinking how happy I was to be, well, fat.

When we got to our hotel, I felt as if I could not even thumb-type to people on my Blackberry. It seemed like too much effort. I was utterly exhausted, and I wanted nothing more than a 3-day sleep! We had a nice Italian meal in the town, and headed off to bed quite early. I slept like a brick. :)

On Sunday I thought 4 hours would be plenty, as I kind of expect my Channel swim to be around 10 hours. But I also knew that I would ask Freda what she thought I should do. I simply said 'four or five' and she immediately said five. Ok, five it is.

I was in a lot of physical pain waiting there on the beach. We're talking head-to-toe aching. Five seemed quite miserable, but I knew Freda wanted me to suffer because afterward, that's exactly what she told me! I was excited because Mark Ransom, one of my Channel crew, came all the way down to Dover to do a training swim with me. Mark will be my support swimmer, so it was really nice to finally meet him after a year of emailing back and forth. We headed off together, and it was nice to swim with somebody. As usual, the first 2 hours were hell, but I came prepared this day with 2 Milky Ways, a flapjack and a Penguin stuffed down the arse of my swimsuit. (Lovely.) I spaced out my feeds so I would have a little food on the 30 minute mark between feeds. It made the swim so much easier.

After 2 hours I headed out on my own, and spent an hour trying to find ways to block the pain. Basically, the only thing that helped was me saying 'This pain will get you closer to France.' It wasn't 'bad' pain; I was simply aching and exhausted and mentally fried. It was kind of frustrating when the 4-hour mark got closer, because I could have easily finished then and there and been happy as a lark. It was brutal, in hindsight. But, once again, I had a lot of support and 'well dones' coming from the feeding crew. I thought, 'well I've done 11 hours at this stage, let's make it 12!' and headed off again. Plus, the Penguin was in my pants (haha), and I was saving it for the final feed. I'm telling you, food is the religion of open sea swimming. So I swam, and swam, and swam, begging the swimming gods to get my clock to the 50-minute mark asap. Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was time to head in for good. I was all smiles then. I finished and sludged onto the beach. Once recovered, I felt pretty okay. I completed 2 hours more than I planned for this weekend, and with minimal shoulder pain, so I really feel like the Channel was 100% doable now. I don't need to, in my opinion, do much more long, arduous training. If I could do 12 hours with no serious mental/physical issues, then swimming toward France shouldn't be the physical nightmare I've imagined it to be. I am ready.

So what's it like to swim 12 hours? It's not really 12 hours. It's 2 hours of hell, then an hour of swimming repeated 10 times between feeds. And, in the Channel, that will go down to one hour of swimming repeated 3 times, then a lovely 30 minutes of swimming repeated who knows how many times until my paws touch France. If you break it down, it's not so horrific. It's also nice when you're over halfway there because if you could swim to the halfway point, then the next half is easy.

What do I think about? Anything and everything. I've found that when I have 2 or 3 hours left, I think of me in my younger years doing a 2 or 3 hour swimming practice. If I could do it at 14, I can do it at 23. This really helps me mentally. I also think about the next feed, and how excited I am to get half a banana and a warm cup of Maxim. I sing songs, I rehash funny moments from television and movies, I think of great memories in my life. I focus on my stroke, I plan my future, I fixate on the blue water. I laugh at myself, I think of the past, I think of the sun. Other than that, I just swim.

So I'm back in Dublin now, really sore and in need of about 30 physio treatments and massages. :) It's good to be home after about 2 weeks of traveling off and on. I'm not leaving Ireland now until the big swim, so I've a nice 5 weeks to relax and enjoy this glorious Irish summer. I really won't be pushing it in the sea any longer. I'll do some of the Leinster swims, as well as my own training, but I probably won't go more than 2-3 hours. To-date I've done 7, 6, 5 and multiple 3, 2.5, 2 and 1 hour swims in the sea with no problem. That's enough for me! I'll keep doing good pool swims, as I really think the pool helps brilliantly with endurance, technique and active recovery. Other than that, I simply have to swim to France now!

Thanks for the support,

jgal

I am back from Cork and really, really tired. I did a couple swims down there before gearing up for the Champ of Champs. (5 miles, break, 3 miles, break, one mile). It was really fun. I can't remember my times, but it was somewhere around 2:10 for the 5-mile, 1:05 for the 3-mile, and 23 or so minutes for the 1-mile. Not bad, but it was quite painful. For the first time in forever, my left shoulder really hurts with every arm pull. I am 100% sure I will be fine, as I have already seen a physio in Cork, and will see one in Dublin this week. Ozzie, the Cork physio, said it's just deep tendon inflammation, and that rest and treatments should clear it up. Not a problem for me! We were scheduled to do a 6-hour swim on Sunday, and I asked Freda how much I should do. She asked if I wanted her honest opinion, and I geared up for 4+ hours, but she shocked me and said she thought I should not swim at all on Sunday. (Holla!) So I took the day off and enjoyed watching and helping out the people who did the swim. It was very cold, apparently, so I am glad I wasn't in it to be honest!

This week I will rest today to Wednesday, then I will be in London, where I want to do morning swims at the Serpentine. Hopefully I'll be all clear to do a long weekend in Dover. I am ready!

More soon,

jgal