Carolyn McIlvin

Thank you till next time

Thank you!                                   22 Feb 2015

My Can Too experience has sadly come to an end and I just wanted to thank everyone, particularly all my sponsors, for the support you have given me. Thanks to all of you, I well exceeded my fundraising goal and raised $3800.00 for Cure Cancer.

The Swim programme has raised $300 000.00 for Cancer Research! I have attached the list of the recipients of this years funding at the end of the letter!

I have had an amazing 3 months pushing my limits and feel I can now call myself a swimmer. There have been many tears and many more laughs and smiles along the way. I have met some great people who have become friends and we will most probably all be back in November to do it all again.

Our coaches, team captain, mentors, champions and head office staff, have all been part of the journey. It’s a real “family” effort! The Can Too Programme is wonderful at encouraging and supporting Can Tooers in their attempts to achieve their goal events.

Over the three months we have had 2 weekly training sessions, one in the pool and one in the ocean. In the last 5 weeks or so we were doing over a km in the pool each Thursday. I managed to participate in 3 events. The CanToo Manly Swim (800m), the Little Big Swim (1km) at Palm Beach and The Bondi Classic (1km).

Our final swim a week ago was wonderful. The conditions were perfect, no waves to contend with and a beautiful sunny day. Having completed the Palm Beach swim the pressure was off and I was quite happy to just have fun. Sean ended up entering too and we swam back of the pack. My time was much the same as the previous swim, although by all accounts it was a 1.2km swim according to a few Garmin measurements.  Kieron swam an excellent 2km swim after our swim. We ended the day by celebrating with a few delicious bubbles!

Along the way I have had so much encouragement and I wanted to say a special thank you to a few people who have helped my so much. Apart from the Can Too people who I have already thanked, I wanted to say a special thank you to my wonderful family. Sean and Kieron spent many hours swimming with me and I could not have done it without their help. In addition, my beautiful friends Lily, Deb, Lindsay and Jenny took me on various swims and gently coached and encouraged me. Personal training, Chiropractic care, massage and Kinesiology also were part of the process as I dealt with a sore neck and shoulders and major fear of deep water.

So all in all ,it has been wonderful. I no longer feel like a beached whale, am still fearful of the waves but much more comfortable in the deep water. I now have no qualms agreeing to a 1km swim…who would have thought??? After living on the beaches for 25 years I can swim from Manly to Shelly Beach! What a buzz! I have started a squad session once a week and hope to do it all again in November.

So thank you once again….it has been a great journey made all the more special by everyone’s support.

Carolyn (nearly a mermaid and loving it!) xxx

Last few weeks

The last week of my Can Too programme is here!

Last Sunday's Goal swim at Palm Beach was great. I know that most of you will have seen the plethora of photos on Facebook.It was such a buzz to complete the swim with all of my team mates.  We had a pre race chat with the coaches and Annie. Annie was busily painting everyones thumb nails bright orange. Her message still echoes in my head a week later. "When the going out there gets tough and you are struggling, look at your thumbs and remind yourself of how it must be for someone who is dealing with a cancer diagnosis or treatment and know that although what you are going through is tough, it is nothing compared to what that person is experiencing!"  

I was lucky enough to have the wonderful Susannah Miall swimming with me for the race as I still felt the need to have someone near me. Lindsay was doing the Big swim and Ted who has been my "go to man" was helping everyone as they entered and came out of the surf. As we tried to hang with Graeme, another team member for the swim, I waited and entered the surf with the men. Going out in the surf was pretty hard. The waves were deceptive in appearance as they were much stronger than they looked. Just when I started to think..."no more waves please", after ducking and fighting the waves,  I realised that we were beyond the break, so we started swimming towards the first bouy. Susannah asked whether I was having fun yet, to which I replied "not yet!". She made me stop, look back to shore and enjoy the moment. It was such a great feeling to look across the glistening water and see the crowds on the beach. We swam the course, caught up with Graeme at one point and then he shot off again. As we got closer to the breaking waves, a few Can Too swimmers were hanging around suggesting whether to try and catch or duck under the waves. I managed to swim with one wave and just swam like the clappers, the water was gushing around me ears and I could hear a few of the coaches cheering me on. Coming up for air I then struggled to catch my breath and was feeling a bit panicky but in true Can Too style, I had one of the coaches, Simon, helping me through the next few waves and there we were on land! I had to take my fins off( just couldnt face the swim without them) so that we could run up the finish line with Can Tooers cheering us all the way. 

Well needless to say I felt amazing. And the vibe was wonderful as we all compared notes and enjoyed our achievement. Photos, smiles, congratulations, jubilations, cheering and sheer joy! What a buzz!

The 2.7 km group then had their pre race chat and set off in waves. The swim around the point from Palm Beach to Whale Beach is not for the faint hearted in my opinion. The surf had picked up more too, so it was hard for everyone to get out. I kept thinking of the chat Jon, the coach, had had the previous Thursday, where he explained to everyone that as they round the point they will feel like they are in a washing machine, and that it requires a constant stroke and just to keep pushing ahead until you swim out of that churning water. And then...swim the last 700m to shore!

We caught a shuttle over the hill to Whale beach. What a sight as we rounded the point to look down onto the water and see a highway of swimmers making their way through the water accompanied by rubber duckies, jet skis and a few helicopters!  We congregated on the beach and a sea of orange welcomed in the swimmers. Some looked as fresh as a daisy and some absolutely exhausted. The bubbles flowed at the Can Too tent, as everyone enjoyed a well deserved drink and snack.  

It was an unbelieveably hot day-34 degress. We were so lucky as the next few days we had torrential non stop rain, our swim would have been so different. As Palm Beach is known to be pretty rough on race day it was great to have the conditions we had. We all made it. 

This last week we had a pretty relaxed session in the pool and we anticipated our beach session yesterday with trepidation as the tides had picked up and the swell was projected to be 6ft. Well arriving at the beach we were delighted to see that the swell was not quite as expected at our end of the beach. We did a 1km circuit in and out and then added another swim out through the rip and in with the waves to get more wave practice. Something I need more of. 

So we have one more session in the pool and most of us have decided to do the swim at the Bondi Classic this coming weekend. We are all feeling sad as we finish our training. The friendships we have made and the cameraderie is just wonderful, as well as the training and support from experienced swimmers and water safety helpers.

My fundraising has been amazing, and I am so grateful to everyone who has supported Can Too. The new group of researchers, recipients of the funds, has just been announced for this year. In addition an aliance with Cancer Council Australia and CanToo has been formed so there is more good to come from this wonderful programme. 

I will do one more post last week...watch this space. xx

Week 10 and 11

I have just spent the last 45 min typing up my blog...and my login had dropped out so I have lost it all!!!

So here is the short version. 

I am so happy with my achievements in the last few weeks and so grateful to the friends who are supporting and helping me. Lily my wonderful friend, used some of her neuro chiro knowledge on me, which helped my technique  and along with Sean she joined me on a number of ocean swims. Jenny and I did a Bower to Shelly return swim and I had my best ocean swim ever. Even sighted an Eagle Ray. She ommitted to point out the shark in case I freaked out!

Our official training resumed and at our first session in the pool we did 1km. Last Saturday we did a 800m swim from Manly out through the rip and across to Shelly. It was not a good swim for me and at one stage I resolved that "THAT WAS IT...NO MORE FOR ME!" Lindsay quietly encouraged me along and once at the beach I was happy to have done that swim for the first time ever!

The following day was a cool wet grey day. The CAN TOO Manly Ocean swim was on and we arrived at Manly surf club at 7.15 am amid much excitement. The club was buzzing with swimmers, supporters and volunteers. I did the 800m swim with Ted, Can Too champion, and Sean my wonderful husband! The first 500m went pretty well but the open water was a bit more choppy and the confulence of two rips as we headed to Manly, made the swim in hard. I needed a breather on a safety craft with 200m to go and found that I had to dig deep to do the last bit. Trying to catch waves in at the end was hard and getting a cramp just as we hit the shallow water was the last thing I needed. Ted and Sean were fantastic and helped me to the shore. 

I was the last in but happy and relieved and slightly amazed at how far I have come. Well the week only got better as last night's session in the pool started with the usual 6 lap warm up and then Mike  quietly informed us that we were doing a time trial. As many laps as possible in 30 min. I beat my previous trial by 10 laps....44 laps in 30 min. That is 1.1 km! I am stoked.. what progress from not managing 1 lap on week one!

To top it off Cherie and I got an Endurance award for last Sundays swim! What a great surpirse. A number of our group got their cossies so we are nearly all in Orange for the Big swim.

So assuming the conditions are reasonable we will be doing the 1km Swim on Sunday 25th. If not, there is the option to do Feb 8th at Bondi! SO let's hope for smooth waters at Palm Beach next week and a good few training sessions on Sat and Thursday...pub night!

Week 8 and 9 The Holiday season swims

The past two weeks have been full of wonderful celebrations with family and friends. I have been working, but managed to take off both Christmas eve and NY eve and swim with the CanToo crowd. Annie had organised unofficial training sessions from her house at the Bower in Manly throughout the past two weeks. Kieron has joined me on a few of the swims to Shelley and back from the Bower (he does it so easily) and Sean and I have done a number of swims too! After the swims we have had a coffee with the fellow CanToo swimmers at Annie and Simon's house.  I haven't been in the pool much as I am aiming to swim further distances in the ocean instead. Some days are better than others. The water has warmed up a few degrees and conditions have been mostly calm, although it was a bit choppy on Christmas eve. So I am now managing the roughtly 800/900 m on daily basis with a number of stops. I am longing to get that feeling that I can keep going but at the moment it elludes me. Is it my breathing, my legs dragging too much, swimming too fast? I have these moments where I manage a great relaxed swim for a good 100m or more and then I loose my stride and I have to keep pushing to keep going. However my anxiety in the deep water is not troubling me as much and I am certainly enjoying the progress I have made. The bonus is when I am relaxed enough to notice the fish and rays in the water. Tomorrow we have another unofficial swim... I took today off so here's hoping for a magnificent swim tomorrow! Thank you so much for the support... I hope that I inspire some of you to do something like this too. The fundraising is going gangbusters.. I appreciate alll your help for a good cause. So here's wishing you a wonderful 2015 filled with good health and happiness. 

Week 7the Week before Christmas

We are midway through the programme! I have had a reasonably good week of training. On Monday morning I tried out the Harbour pool at the Wharf in Manly. I chose it because I need to cover greater distances but am not yet  confident going out in the ocean on my own. The water was pretty yuk and I cant say I enjoyed my swim but at least I was going further than 25 m at a time without stopping for a breather. Tuesday I had another session at the Aquatic centre and did a few laps without my fins...it is so much harder. My breathing is getting better all the time but I am still not able to keep going for too long before needing to stop and recover. On Wednesday morning the gusting winds woke me at 4.15 am. I lay listening to the wind and eventually got up at 5.30 and headed to Fairlight pool where I met Jenny. The pool literally had waves rolling in and Jenny and I were being pushed to the end by the waves. Swimming against the waves was great practice for rough condition swimming and although we did fewer laps than the week before,  but I felt that we had a great session. Thursday in the pool we had a relatively easy session. Mike was getting us to swim quietly and slowly, something I find hard to do. We took a whole lot of photos to send the a Dick Smith Fundraiser. We are in the running for a big cash prize so any opportunity to take a photo with a Dick Smith product is grabbed. Annie, Can Too's founder swam with us and was there to congratulate 3 more Can Tooers who have raised their funds and been awarded a cossie! Friday I had a day off other than going a good session at the gym.  Christmas is looming and I am very behind with my plans. Saturday Morning arrived and we headed to Palm Beach for our last official training of the year. I was lucky enough to have the wonderful Ted and Merik, as well as Lindsay looking our for me. I again managed to keep up but I am still the last to finish as I need so many breaks! Sean joined me and we managed to sell a whole lot of shortbread and Christmas Cakes as part of my fundraising. There are a few unofficial swims planned for the next week, so I was adamant that I had to have a go swimming the 400m from The Bower to Shelley Beach. Sean tagged along with a body board, but I managed not to hold on at all and although I had to stop, I did manage the swim. Woo Hoo! Who would have thought I'd be able to do this! Still using my fins though and am now not certain I can use them in the goal swim. SHOCK HORROR! So this coming week I will have to try and swim more without my fins. My fundraising is going gang busters...Thank you everyone! Have a Merry Christmas...will catch up on the weekend. xx

Week 6

This has been a great week! Monday morning plans of a Fairlight pool swim were thwarted when the heavens opened and we had a big thunder storm at 6am. I swam at the Aquatic centre, where we do our Thursday evening training, on Monday after work. As I watched the adult "learn to swim" class I found myself thinking how far I have come in the 6 weeks since starting the programme. I managed to sneak in about 20 laps before joining Sean at Tilly's puppy class. Tuesday after a good gym session I met Kieron at Shelley beach for a swim. It was a beautiful sunny day and we did a  number of swims across the length of the beach. I felt a bit more comfortable in the water...we swam out to the point and spotted the odd school of fish. Kieron's encouragement is lovely, pushing me along when he sees me flagging a bit. It's handy have a swim coach as a son! Wednesday morning my friend Jenny joined me at Fairlight pool at 6am and we did about 20 laps. Lots of chatting at the end of the pool but probably just what I needed. The focus was not just on making it to the end of the pool but also on the chat! Instead of thinking about taking a big deep breath at the beginning of the lap, I was still finishing a sentence... so my focus was less intense which was good. I had never noticed how many big crabs were in the ocean pool. Jen had just done the swim leg of an adventure race down in Lorne...she's a great swimmer and loves a chat! My kinda training partner! Thursday is pool training day... the group seemed smaller.. Christmas party season is taking it's toll! We did a warm up and then did a few drills interspersed with  8 min, 6 min and 4 min continuous swims. We are all improving so much. A few more team members in the pod have made their fundraising targets! Happy days!  Friday I had a great session with Adam my PT at the gym...abs, core and arms/shoulders...all the bits that count when swimming!  I had a session with a practitioner. At the risk of not giving credit where credit is due... more about that in the weeks to come! Sean's work party on Friday night was wonderful...a Cuban theme at the Kings street wharf. I have to behave myself on Friday nights...too much to loose on Sat if I'm not in good shape.  Saturday morning and as usual I have butterflies in my stomach. The surf report is for dangerous surf conditions. When we arrive at Manly beach, which is closed due to the conditions, Jon the coach sends us off to Shelley beach. At Shelley we do a few drills, out to the point, across the beach and back in to the shore. I have my wonderful team captain and friend Lindsay on my right along the way CanToo stalwarts Merrick and Ted on my left. I made it all the way round without hanging on to a board!!! Major achievement!!! As I round the last board and head back to shore, my coach Mike, and I think a few others are alongside me.. encouraging me! This is a game changing swim for me, I am feeling so much more comfortable, I am not panicking, I am breathing... such a good feeling! We make it to shore and head out to do the same loop. Lindsay and Ted are on either side of me, Ted reminding me to use my hips to kick and Lindsay just doing the gentle encouragement she does so well. I am getting a bit more tired but make it in to shore after a rest on the surf boards along the way! As the rest of the group head out into the choppy waters off the Bower I need a few minutes to catch my breath and then we head out after them, I do a slightly shorter route and catch up with the whole group. We then had to swim into the waves I and didn't find it as hard as I thought I would. Then a final swim back into shore. I made it and managed to do everything the rest of the group did. This is a first for me...tears again.. but tears of joy! i am getting there. I feel as though I have turned the corner. This is my first Sat training day where I have not panicked. I kept up and felt more comfortabe in the water than I ever have.   I dashed off to work after my swim , and Sean in his orange, sold cakes and shortbread for me. I am pretty much sold out now!

Today I have had a rest day. Had breakfast with Kieron, Em and Taylor before Taylor heads home for Christmas, then this afternoon my Gym christmas party and a street drinks evening!

My fundraising is over the $2100 mark! Overwhelming! I am feeling so supported in this challenge. If you are thinking of taking on a new challenge, just do it!! To all of my friends supporting me, Thank you! It helps to know that I am surrounded by people who want me to succeed! On to week 7! It can only get easier and better. xxx

My training ground today

Had a good swim this afternoon at Shelley, even enjoyed seeing some fish. Kieron was my buddy and we did about 400m. :-) 

Week 5

This week has had it's ups and downs. I decided that I needed to train every day so have dropped 2 of my morning walks in favour of a pool session. Monday morning I headed to Farilight pool, what a stunning spot it is. The sun was just up and it gradually became sunny. I practised what Deb has shown me the day before and tried to work on my breathing. Tuesday after a gym session,  I headed to Manly pool and managed to do 20 laps in the 25m pool. I had a few good laps and a few ordinary laps. I was struggling to keep going and getting puffed. I had watched a whole lot of You Tube videos on various drills about breathing and tried a few out. It wasn't really coming together too well. The storms Tue evening made me choose to go back to Manly pool rather than the ocean. I can't afford to get sick again! I had a disastrous session. Had to swim in the 50m poo and I just could not get my breating happening. I felt like i was panicking in the deep end and after a few attempts I gave up...frustrated! 

Lindsay, my team captain called to find out how I was going and I gave her a run down. Needless to say there were a few tears. I am such a sook!. She suggested I try swimming in fins, so on Thurs I arrived at the pool with my fins and asked coach Mike if I could try swimming with them.  I also had a great chat to Mike and told him about my concerns in the ocean. We had our time trials that evening and I managed 30 laps in 30 minutes! Joy! Things felt so much better and I felt so excited that I had managed to swim 750m.

The evening was even more exciting as I had hit my minimum fundraising target that morning and the mentors made a big fuss as they presented me with my Can Too cossie with much frivolity and feathers! Woo Hoo! Thursday was a good day. We ended the evening with dinner and a catchup at the pub...we have a lovely pod of swimmers. 

Friday, after a good session in the gym,  I spent the day baking and packaging, for my fundraising. I have now made 6 large Christmas cakes, 7 medium cakes and 2 small. I think I have made 10 batches of shortbread....yum! Most have been sold so I will ease off on the baking...and look after my family a bit more. :-)

Saturday morning arrived and I had butterflies in my stomach. The pre training chat was mostly about the apprehension of going out in the surf, as the waves were bigger than we had been out in to date. We figured we would head around to the calmer Shelley Beach waters, however we did infact head out into the waves. Mike my coach and Robbie our mentor, were by my side with another swimmer M who als needed some extra help. We headed out in the waves and had to swim about 50m out into the calmer water behind the waves. My breathing was shallow and I was struggling once again. Mike and Robbie and the wonderful Em with her safety craft stuck by us, and once we were out in the calm we treaded water  and worked on settling our breath. We spent the entire time out in the water, swimming short distances towards Em's board, settling our breath and then swimming again. I guess we were out in the water for 40 minutes...the longest I have been out there. I had some great swims...loving my fins. I'm happy with my stroke and now that I am starting to get a handle on the breathing, things are looking up. I came out of the surf smiling...no tears this time. Graeme my team mate commented on this! The support from everyone is wonderful. 

Sean sold some of my baked goodies for me as the 1km group fininshed  training and the 2.5km group arrived.

The week ended with another swim at Shelley Beach this morning with the ever patient and kind Lindsay. I am starting to have longer swims, and managing to work on my anxiety and breath...hoping for a good week 6!

To all my friends who have donated to Can Too. I can't thank you enough. your support has been wonderful. THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Week 4

Well this week has been tough. My sore shoulder and neck has kept me out of the pool and not doing my training so I am feeling behind schedule. My group swam over 1km on Thursday evening and i missed out on that training. Yesterday we swam from Manly to Fairy Bower. Getting through the rip was not to bad and I had both my wonderful friend and group captain Lindsay  and the patient Simon swimming with me.However once I got into the deep water my breathing struggled and I limped all the way to the Bower. My Coach Mike swam with me and pushed me along with encouragement.  So between suggesting i break up the swim up into 8 strokes and 3 breath intervals, and me hanging on the lovely Em's safelty craft every 24 strokes I managed to get to the Bower. (well after the rest of the group) So although i made it, it was not pretty and not fun!. Walking back from the Bower I was however amazed at the distance I had covered. Somewhere around 400m. Well, needless to say there were more tears along the ways and then some tears of relief at the end!. THIS IS THE HARDEST THING I HAVE DONE IN A LONG TIME!

I started my fundraising yesterday, baking and selling Christmas cakes and shortbread. I have got a few orders already and have made $40.00 towards my $1250.00 target.

Today my lovely friend Deb, a wonderful swimmer, took for for a lesson at the Queenscliff pool. We worked on my breathing and I made some good progress. Now I just need to build up on swimming greater distances without feeling the need to stop!. I am a bit more positive about my progress today. 

More baking today... Sean is going to take some stuff to work to sell.

So I start the week with the intention to get in the water every day. My shoulder is feeling much better and hopefully I manage to keep it like that. Just need to keep going!!

Week 3

Training in the pool this week I found my breathing improving somewhat, however as I got tired my style defaulted back to my old inefficient ways. My coach Mike taught us a new technique which helped immensely when I got puffed. In two weeks we need to do a 30 min swim. Can't imagine how I will do that. I literally feel like a fish out of water! Saturdays's session at Shelley Beach started off ok, but my anxiety got the better of me and I struggled quite a bit. I did have moments where I got in the groove. Somehow I need to make that happen more. I finished training with a sore neck, which has become worse today. I have had 2 massages and am nursing it with hot packs but no joy. Back to Anthony, my Chiro for the 3rd adjustment in a week. Who would have imagined swimming was so stressful. A few days later and another massage and I am starting to feel slightly more comfortable. No training for me today as i need to settle my shoulder and neck. 

First two weeks

I arrived at the pool on night one with a massive knot in my stomach! I am not a swimmer. Lap swimming has always been so hard for me and something I have never mastered! I have decided to do this, to try and become a better swimmer, and also to put my self outside my comfort zone! The coaches and Can Too mentors were amazing and so supportive!  By the end of the session we has swum about 450m! I was the slowest in the slow lane! No surprises there! I certainly did not have a positive feeling after the session. I know I am going to have to put in lots of extra training!

Saturday in the ocean we had very calm conditions! No rips so we learnt how to run into the waves, porpoise dive and did some swimming drills! I was all over the place! We did some swimming out to positioned safety craft and I pretty much had a panic attack in the water and was paralysed with fear/exhaustion. I had my friend and team leader Lindsay on one side of me and my coach Mike on the other, willing me to keep going! Finally made it into the beach. Lindsay took me for a few short swims out just beyond my depth and I swam back in! Enough for one day!

I knew I had to get in a traning session on my own, so I asked Kieron to take me for a swim on Tuesday. He was wonderful and gave me a few pointers. I felt pretty good. I had done a 40 min session and swum 10 lteghts(25m) without needing to put my feet down! Progress! I also stepped updf my cardio training at the gym, added a few runs during my morning walks and set up some PT sessions. 

So arriving at the pool on Week 2 I was feeling a bit better but still nervous! Well the session was hard, there's certainly no easing one in gently. I had snippets-a few strokes- where i felt I was getting into the groove but they were few and far between. Mike has me trying to work on my arms and I am concentrating so much on that that I forget to breathe, run out of puff, and then my feet have to find the ground! Same old problem I have always had. More skills to practice on my next session with Kieron.

Friday I have a massive headache and have a long nap. As the evening progresses I start to go downhill sneezing and coughing! Sat morning dawns and I am not feeling great. Blocked sinuses, upset stomach, headhache and dizzy! So I head down to the beach but just listen to the coaching. Rips are the main topic and the session looks like fun. The swimmers drift out on the rip and then walk across and come back into shore. They then went back out and bobbed in the water beyond the rip zone before swiming back in. Most of the gang are smiling... an easier session than last week. I'm sorry I missed it. I head home and into bed for the next 2 days. Not a good start to my training. 

I'm training with Can Too for the 1km Ocean Swim!

I am training for an event with Can Too, a health promotion organisation that engages and inspires individuals and the community to achieve personal health, wellbeing and altruistic goals.
 
Beginners and experienced athletes alike are given professional coaching as part of a team to run or swim in endurance events- including 10km, half-marathon and marathon runs; as well as ocean swims and triathlons.
 
In return, I am raising valuable funds that go towards innovation in the prevention, care and control of cancer. In 2014, our Can Too community has supported 19 early career researchers through Cure Cancer Australia.

Thank you for supporting me!
 
‘It’s so much fun and I can’t believe I’m going to achieve this goal that I never thought possible. A great program and team support is making it possible. You Can Too!’