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Watchfield (United Kingdom) - Stage 2 is done. It was a long day in the car, but at least we got to do some sightseeing along the way. Lots and lots of trucks. The Netherlands, Belgium, France and England. And of course I won’t forget the left hand  driving. All added to the experience we had today… Perhaps not as much as the EuroTunnel/channel swim decision….

Someone suggest a channel swim would be the perfect warm up for the Ironman this Sunday. And I guess it was… Along the way towards Calais I told my parents that they were lucky taking the train to England. Not just because of the wind, but because the waves created by the wind. They would have been really seasick if they had come with me by boat…

Nonetheless, I was determined to swim to England. With or without waves! We got to the coast and the waves were massive! Even in the car we could feel the force of the storm. That was going to be one tough cookie to get across… We parked the car behind one of the buildings at the beach and I got changed. Wetsuit, cap, goggles, some Vaseline in the neck for the rubbing, and two gels under my bathing cap. Just in case I would get hungry during the 35km swim warm up.

Boy, and girl, I was excited! Ready to go! On the beach I could feel the sand in between my toes. And the noise of the waves almost got deafening. I ran. I ran to the see and took one big dive through the first wave. But I could not get through and was thrown back onto the beach… BAM! The sand was hard, rock hard! And then I noticed that I just woke up and hit my head against the window entering the train to get through the EuroTunnel…