'So how's the training going?' is the frequent question. 'Don't ask!' is the frequent response, not because I am not grateful for the interest, but because I am finding it hard to be as up-beat as I'd like to be!

There's not a lot of similarity between my local 25 metre super-heated pool at Barnet Copthall, North London, and the big blue yonder. The main difference is not the salt or the waves, but the cold. So I have been champing at the bit to swap the pool for the sea since the New Year so that I can acclimatize to it.

Frustratingly the sea in Cornwall at Easter struggled to a lame 7 degrees and at Dover harbour, as it nears the end of May, it has only now crept up to 10/11 degrees. This limits hugely how long endurance sessions can last - still only 2 hours. Yet I know that at my speed I can't expect to complete the swim in much under 15 hours - that's assuming everything goes to plan.

I decided I would throw myself in to the Dover harbour training sessions run by Freda Streeter a.k.a. "The Channel General" and her team of "shingle stompers". The Dover experience is a humbling experience and a daunting one; I can't find enough praise or thanks for Freda and team who volunteer their time and expertese for free to help channel swimmer aspirants to achieve their dream.

If you were to have walked along the promenade at Dover harbour at noon after the 2 hour morning session, you would have been bemused to see a group of bobble-hatted swimmers, sitting on the beach in layer-upon-layer of clothing, shivering violently and trying desperately to warm up with thermos flasks of hot drinks, whilst other non-swimmers lay nearby gently roasting in the hot sun. And before you say 'so wear a wet suit', let me tell you that they're not allowed!

Getting the time to train is the hardest thing and it's with some envy that I hear from a number of the Channel aspirants also doing the training at Dover , that they've given up jobs to dedicate the time to training. If only!

For now I'll persevere swimming with the ducks in Hampstead Heath lido during the week and hoping that I can keep up with Freda's directions at the Dover weekends.

I know that now the sea has finally started thawing the duration of the swims will start climbing frighteningly quick. And the next job is to try to get my head round the training requirements, never mind the Channel attempt itself!