Day 125 - 5th November 2010

The last time I swam was exactly a week ago, in fact no exercise at all in this time. Whilst I've needed the time off to get better physically, I have found myself feeling mentally weak. Exercise for me seems to not only make me stronger physically but also mentally. Which in my life, with everything that I do, is vital. Therefore, whilst my cold and sore throat persist, I just had to get up early today and get in the sea. It was hard leaving the house this morning as Jessie is not very well and he was in bed with us and he really wanted me to stay; whenever he's unwell he just wants his Dad. The fact that I had to go to work anyway meant that I had to leave some time, but it was still hard hearing him crying for me to stay. I'm sure it only would have lasted a few minutes, but still pulls at your heart.

This week so far, as told to me by Handsome Bob every day by text [thanks Bob] has been very rough day by day. Some days so rough that it has been dangerous and not just not swimmable. Typical that I've missed all the fun! Anyway, back to my swim today.

I got to the Arches at 7am and pretty quickly was joined by about 9 others, a popular place this morning! Coming down the beach and seeing some very big waves meant that everyone, apart from Leo [of course] and Simon, went to the girly beach to have a play. I decided, against Bob's advice, to join Leo and Simon and do an around the pier swim. Jumping straight in without a pause we were faced with waves probably 6 feet and very angry. Swimming to the end of the pier through a very dangerous sea was not so bad, although it wasn't a walk in the park either. Getting around the pier added another dimension, simply trying to avoid being thrown into the pier. I tried as much as possible to follow Leo and Simon's line as they are way better at this than me. Having made it around the head safely I then saw mountains of water everywhere and only could just spot the shore, which looked miles away [only about half a mile in reality]. For a few minutes of swimming back through the crashing waves and the temperatures, it crossed my mind that maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew! But there I was and no way was I going to burden the boys with getting me back, so it was a case of simply putting my head down and fighting through it. It wasn't long before the shore was almost in reach and safety seemed assured.

Of course, in the sea one should take nothing for granted! A huge wave, and I mean really huge, literally swept me up, pulled me under, spun me around and threw me face first onto the shingle. First time that's ever happened to me and somewhat weird and shocking. Quickly getting myself on my feet, I ran up the beach a bit to avoid the following wave, just to see grab Leo and Simon and treat them to a spin! Walking back up the beach with them I was feeling tired and a little scratched up, but also quite full of life! At the Arches I emptied a bag of shingle out of my Speedos before showering, nice. Leo of course through all this still managed to take photos and movies; incredible bloke. Both Leo and Simon were real stars, staying near me the whole swim. I'm lucky to have such good friends so quickly in my time with BSC. All this and it was only just 8am on a Friday - funny old life.

In the afternoon I was at Esporta and chatting to Ross, one of their top trainers, and he said that he would like to get Esporta to support as well as putting up the Swim 4 Smiles display. Also our Barn Dance is almost sold out. Plus Southern Water and Shoreham Port have agreed to support Swim 4 Smiles. Another plus, Darren my brother in law, has just returned from the Middle East having visited two of our projects and he came back absolutely elated by what we are achieving there.

I think that's enough for today. Friday 5th November has truly been an explosive day of fireworks for The Starr Trust. Fabulous!