I read somewhere words to the effect of: 'the only way to successfully swim the Channel is to start by leaving your doubts on the beach in England.'

I thought this was good idea, so I've gone as far as to collect a stone (from Bournemouth incidentally, where I've done all of my sea swimming practice) and have the word DOUBTS inscribed onto it.   I intend to take the stone with me when I get off the boat and make my way to my starting point:  I have to be above the sea line in England before I can commence my actual swim.  I then plan to leave my DOUBTS on the beach, literally, before striking out for France.

Many thanks to E.B. Memorials of Worcester for the complimentary engraving they did for me.


It's almost a shame to leave it behind!

Not so much to do with the swim, but certainly Acorns related....

Shortly after Harry died in 2007, Lewis found some acorns in the local woods and planted them into pots.  Two of them grew into oak trees.   One of these trees was given to Acorns Hospice, and now resides in the front garden/parking area.

The second tree was kept by us in a pot, pending us moving house.  Once we had moved, and once Ali and I had sorted out the front garden, I planted Harry's tree.

Today I noticed that it is now bearing its own acorns.

So in the Year of the Swim, Harry's tree has come of age.

On Saturday 26th July one of my sons, Connagh, helped support my fundraising by volunteering to have his chest waxed in public on the Isle of Wight.

I'm reliably told that it was a painful experience, and I do have to seriously wonder if I will actually prefer swimming the Channel to voluntarily being stripped of my chest hair.

Regardless, Connagh managed to raise £150 towards my goal of £10,000 for Acorns, whilst at the same time raising a matching amount for a close friend of his who is awaiting a private medical appointment.

Connagh: I'm still trying to decide whether you are a masochist, or a hero.  Either way, many thanks indeed, son. x

For those who missed it, here is the interview Ali and I did with the BBC on Friday.

Assuming I get to swim on the 18th August - the first day of my swim 'window' - I have only 28 days to go now until my Channel swim.

Donations and contributions are going well, and I'm currently standing at £6240 collected for Acorns, towards my goal of £10,000.

It's not too late to donate!  Please click here to pledge to Acorns.  And don't forget, we still need some more names for the 12 hour swimathon at David Lloyd's, Worcester this Friday.  Please go along to the club to pick your 30 minute slot.

In their continued support of my Channel swim, and showing their commitment to help Acorns, David Lloyd's in Worcester have agreed to host a 12 hour swimathon to raise money towards my goal of £10,000.

The event takes place on Friday 25th July 2014, starting at 07:00 (for 12 hours, obviously).

A fantastic display board has been created by Michelle at the club, and after all the effort they have go to in order to host this event, I want to make sure we have sufficient swimmers for it to go ahead.

Slots are just 30 minutes each, and there are sponsor forms available for you to take away.  There is no minimum amount to raise - just do what you can.

Please pass this on to anyone interested, or go along and sign up for a slot.

Many thanks,

Al Gale

Today I took on the Worcester Classic 100 mile bike ride.  It was only my third outing on my bike - the other two distances being 17 and 25 miles respectively.

Needless to say, jumping to 100 miles was an extreme challenge.  By 40 miles my back was killing me, and I was beginning to tire.  To make matters worse, my Garmin bike computer not only showed me the remaining distance (which was fine), it also insisted on calculating the remaining time.  Being told there is another 6 hours and 30 minutes to go can be disheartening.

As luck would have it, I met an ex army guy named Tom at the beginning of the ride.  We'd never met before, but he had seen me training at David Lloyd's and knew I was training for the Channel.  We ended up sticking together, on and off, for the last 60 or so miles, and really kept each other going.

I completed the ride in a cycle time of 7 hours 42 minutes and 16 seconds (rest times were additional to that).

All in all, a real endurance test, and one I'm proud to have successfully completed.  Thanks again to Tom for helping me round!

Swimming the Channel is not a cheap sport.  Thus far, it has cost me £3000 in registration fees and pilot hire (achieved via generous donations from my sponsors*), and around another £3000 personally paid out for professional advice, travel, accommodation, equipment and supplements.

Now that I am into the final weeks of training, and the toll on my body is really beginning to mount up, I have been lucky enough to take delivery of not just one, but two consignments of goodies, courtesy of Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK).  

My brother, Phil, who works in their IT department, kindly arranged for the delivery of some Maxi protein powders and shakers.  In addition to that, Matt Rowberry personally delivered a consignement of Lucozade and energy gels.

Needless to say, the savings such a generous offer provide me are extremely well received.  Huge thanks to GSK for their generosity, and to Phil and Matt for arranging it all.  Cheers guys!!

A short while ago I took delivery of a fabulous promotional box of Forever Living products, generously donated by Marina Annese.

The box contains a fantastic selection of supplements including gels, protein shakes, tablets and Argi+ powder.  The latter is particularly delicious, and goes down extremely well after a hard gym workout.

Many thanks to Marina.  The box full will last me perfectly up until the swim, with some products ideally suited for use after an extreme event like a cross Channel swim. 

Having now been out on my bike TWICE (not counting cycling to David Lloyd's and back to swim) I decided I'd have a bash at a longer cycle.  

So I've just signed up for the Worcester Classic Bike ride, taking place a week on Sunday - namely the 13th July.

100 miles seemed like a nice round figure, so I decided against the more sensible 55 or 85 miles, and signed up for the big one.  After all, I did achieve 25 miles today!

Obviously this is going to be a big endurance event for me, but Acorns is the chosen charity, so I thought I'd just go for it.  Seven or eight hours worth of physical activity can only help, albeit totally unrelated to swimming.

It may not be the most sensible decision I've ever made.... but then I also decided swimming the Channel was a good idea!