Day 178 - 31st January 2011

Last week I could only swim Mon-Wed as I had to drive to Cardiff for a meeting on Wednesday and then stay over for another meeting on Thursday morning and then drive back ready for an office meeting in Hove Thursday afternoon. I think that was enough dashing about to justify a lack of training! I did manage to squeeze in a short 2½ hour pool swim on Thursday, so all was not lost!! As for Friday, I was in the office at 6.30am until 11.00am and then had to head back home as we moved house! My poor wife had to deal with the removal people all on her own on Thursday and then Friday morning, so the least I could do was get home late Friday morning and start unpacking. We farmed the kiddies off to our parents on Friday until Sunday night and then basically spent every second of the next two days unpacking and getting the house in order for their return. To say moving house is stressful is an understatement; what I would say though is that from an “exercise” point of view spending nearly 3 days and nights unpacking boxes over 4 floors is Olympian!

Back to today; Monday 31st January, last day of the first month already – madness! I certainly did not want to get up this morning as being in my new bed in my new room in my new house was just too comfortable! The fact that the three kids also slept all the way through was a fantastic bonus. However, up I got at 6.15am and was down the beach by 7.00am and ready (not) to swim. Usual suspects were there doing their thing, whilst Big Bob and I headed out to the cafe a third along the pier, then back to the groin and then back in. Not sure how long it took but I would guess at around 15 minutes. The air temperature had dropped to a silly 1 degrees and the sea was stupidly cold once again. My watch said it was only 3.4 degrees, and it certainly hurt a lot, but I would guess it would probably have been more like 5 degrees? But then one has to ask why my watch would lie about a thing like that!!

The swim, once I got into it, was fine and in fact enjoyable enough, but boy did it hurt. Once I was back in the shower my hands really ached from the severe cold followed by the hot water, it’s something I stil can’t get used to no matter how many times I do it. Will it stop me tomorrow?? Course not!

Apart from the swim I also had a very hard gym session with Ross; once again stepping up the weights and reps on every exercise. My arms , shoulders, back, legs; in fact everything, feels like it’s been given a bashing today. It has to be said though that aching from exercise is a great feeling; I challenge anyone to say otherwise!

On the fundraising front I have another piece of great news. One of my clients, a fantastic company called Execution Noble, have pledged £10,000 in sponsorship for my swim! What an amazing amazing thing to do. I feel blown away by their generosity, it’s a whopping 10% of our total goal! I am not sure exactly where we are with regards our target, but we are really forging ahead now. I’ll get the Trust to let me know how much we’ve raised so far and will blog it later this week. It has to be said though that our target is huge and despite amazing gifts like this we still have a long way to go; so please if anyone reading this feels like making a donation, no matter how big or small, it will all go towards us Helping Children Smile – think on and please dig deep!!!!

Day 177 - 26th January 2011

Miracle of miracles we only had one child visitation last night! Jesse came in at 1am and I took him back to him room at 1.20am and that was that! It was a real treat to wake up in my own bed and with just Sharon and I. I felt refreshed and ready for my morning fix of a little BSC & Saltwater.

7.00am at the Arch just as Shoichi and Paul were showering after their in the dark dip; they said it was fine out there and that they did almost 10 minutes. By 7.20am I was in the water with the two Bobs, David and the usual crew. Big Bob, Paul Smith (Swim club UK) and I swam out to the Helter Skelter near the head of the Pier. Just like Monday it was an easy swim out and a hard swim back. Unlike Monday, however, it was not low tide so there was no walking in or out and as such we had to swim from the shore and back to the shore without the aid of knowing you could pop your feet down if you needed to. This does make it a much harder physiological swim because once the cold starts to bite and your arms start to feel heavy and your breathing becomes laboured you look up and see that the shore is still some way off; your head and heart do start to react. I guess I was back to the silver ball when my heart started to really take notice of my thoughts and started to race much faster than I would have liked; it took me about a minute of slow and steady swimming & breathing to get my head back to a sensible place (basically understanding that I can get back no problem at all) and then my hear beat slowed back to its normal rhythm and I was able to swim back to shore and start to enjoy the experience. Sea swimming, particularly in cold water, is really so much to do with mind control rather than physical ability. This is what Fiona has said to me so many times and she is spot on. The see temperature was 4.6 degrees, so still extremely cold; apparently another cold front is on its way so we may see a dip in the temperature again.

When I was back in the Arch, David (our old warrior of the sea) remarked that someone had told him that I am still not eating before my swims; he was not pleased to hear this. Of course he is absolutely right and again it highlights to me that despite my best “intentions” I am still not stepping up to the mark with my eating. He went on to say that they are counting on me making this channel swim and I needed to start taking my eating seriously. For me to hear him say this was really nice as I am still a new boy to BSC and it is really nice to hear that they are rooting for me; it makes me feel I am becoming accepted as one of theirs at last. How nice to belong.

Day 176 - 25th January 2011

A most restless night followed by a challenging swim...

Mia came into our room at about 1am, bringing with her a handful of dolls and an endless raspinig cough. Soon followed by Asher joining us; it meant Sharon ended up on the floor on Ashers mattress and I ended up on Mia's bed next to Jesse. Basically only the kids got any sleep. A pattern is forming; not quite sure how we break it?

I was at the Beach and in the Arch by 7.10am, feeling somewhat subdued, then in the sea with Bob 5 minutes later. The air temp was around 5 degrees, but the sea had dropped a little down to just 4.4 degrees. Despite this Bob and I stayed out for a whopping 19 minutes 22 seconds. Bob is pushing me now on my training and therefore decided that we would do speed training! So in just 4.4 degrees we swam 8x25 metre dashes from his towel on the beach to the groin and back, with 15 second rests in between. If this had been in the pool it would have been relatively easy, but at 4.4 first thing in the morning and with a moving sea it was a decent challenge. Coming out I warmed up quickly enough apart from my hands, which really hurt for about half an hour. Despite the pain, hopefully we will do it again tomorrow; no pain no gain and all that!

Last night I did a fab gym session with Ross, but that is all I can fit in this week in the gym. It's a busy week for me; yesterday was sea, work, gym and physio. Today is sea, London meetings then packing tonight. Tomorrow is sea then meetings till 2pm then drive to Cardiff for meeting and stay over. Thursday is more Cardiff meetings, then 3 hr pool swim, then drive home for last minute packing and then Friday we are moving house. Buseeeeey.

Day 175 - 24th January 2011

After the adventure of Saturday it was good to be back in the discomfort of our own little Arch in Brighton.

The day started dry and the sea very calm. The tide was so low this morning that it took a few metres before we could get under, but once under it was a decent swim. Little Bob and Mike, firmly back from their success as International finalists, took their usual 30 second dip (I am sure they think it’s longer!!) whilst Big Bob and I swam all the way out to the helter skelter; the farthest out we have swum since the summer faded away. The water temperature was still a shocking 4.5 degrees, so going out that far is not to be scoffed at. Coming back from the helter skelter I did wonder how soon it would be before I could put my feet down! After about 10 minutes my arms were feeling very heavy indeed and my breathing was starting to labour and my chest starting to tighten, however, 4 minutes after that we were standing firmly on the sand and walking back in. A really decent swim in very cold water really does set me up for the day; doing it with my buddy Bob makes it all the more fun.

Back at the office at 8.05am, late for my 8.00am meeting, I ended up sitting in the meeting with my old jumper, woolly hat and gloves still on; luckily despite my feet and hands (and other bits) still shivering , my brain was warm and firing on all cylinders. I guess from a meeting point of view, it made my visitors think insurance broking is not such a dull thing after all!

One bit of great news on the fundraising front is the Brighton Sea Life centre is sponsoring me, as long as I swim in their pool with their sharks! Sounds like fun to me, as long as they’ve eaten first! To add a bit more sponsorship to this we are auctioning off my body parts! The swim is on 11th May 2011 (which happens to be my 42nd birthday) and people can pay whatever they want to secure a part of my body if the shark’s pull me apart. With this in mind a good friend of mine (and one of my biggest clients) has sponsored £5,000 ! He has not yet chosen which part he wants! I’m not sure any part of me is big enough to warrant such an incredible donation; I guess that’s a question only my wife is allowed to answer!!!!

After work this afternoon I’m back in the Gym with Ross and then the week starts all over!

And yes Katie, you can all come and watch me be fed to the sharks!!

Day 174 - Saturday 22nd January 2011

UK International Cold Water Championships at Tooting Bec Lido London

Today was the day I had been both dreading and looking forward to. The Cold Water Championships in London where some years they have had to break the ice to start the competition. The temperature over the years has ranged from under freezing to over 5 degrees so we had no idea what to expect. We left the Arch at 6.30am in a mini bus driven by Big Mike and after a couple of pick ups we were a solid team of 13. Big Mike, almost as tall Mike, Big Bob, Little Bob, Fiona, Lindy, Evo, Charlotte, Bella, Martina, Angus, Midgie and Myself. A fine bunch by any standard (except perhaps Olympic standard!).

We arrived at around 7.30am and signed in; collecting our passes, certificates, swim hats and instructions. Between us we were competing in Relays, Solo’s and Endurance and as it transpired we did OK! Little Bob and Mike were in the Finals very quickly (well deserved!) and Medals were one by some (Lindy even got a Gold in the Female breastroke) and Bob & Fiona received medals in the Endurance. As for the rest of us, we all did our bit and both swum well and supported well.

The London Swimming Club did extremely well on the day; I wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that we were numbered as 13 and they probably had over 130 there! I think next year we should hold it in the Sea at Brighton and find out how well they fair when you can’t put your feet down; gauntlet well and truly laid!

The day itself was very long as between races we literally were just standing around (the whole event being outside) and it was bloomin cold the whole time. In fact I felt warmer after my swim than I had all day standing around. With competitors from around the world, some sporting very interesting head dresses and bathing costumes (there was a best hat medal as well being awarded; Evo came third!!) it made a tiring day a lot of fun and a great experience. I always like the social side of BSC, we make up such an eclectic bunch that it always makes it enjoyable.

Tooting Bec Lido today, the Channel next and the Olympics after that; never say never!!!!

A couple of web sites to look at about the event:

http://www.demotix.com/news/564995/cold-water-swimming-championship-london

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2011/jan/23/cold-water-swimming-championships#/?picture=370938550&index=0

Day 173 - 21st January 2011

Yesterday I was out of town as I had to stay overnight in London due to an early meeting; as such no sea swim. I did manage to drop into Falmer on the way back and did a 90 minute pool swim, however it was not much fun as the pool was full of very slow people just wanting to win the “how slow can I go” competition that must have been advertised somewhere!

This morning I was back to the Arch for my usual 7.am and was joined soon after by Little & Big Bob, Mike, Paul Smith and the lovely Bella. The air temperature was still low at around 2 degrees and the sea itself was still startling low at just 4.8 degrees. However, there were hardly any waves in sight and the tide was mid way between out and in, so it was a “medium” walk to get to swimming distance. Big Bob and I swam the same route as Wednesday, although we extended the swim further along the next beach which resulted in us being out for just over 16 minutes. Considering the temperature a 16 minute swim is quite remarkable and I think both of us did really well to do that. I am not sure that we couldn’t have kept going and hit the 20 minute mark; maybe Monday?

Tomorrow I have a 6.30am pickup at the Arch for a trip to Tooting Beck Lido in London. There are about 14 of us going from Brighton to complete in the cold water challenge – ouch! Apparently the water is only 1 degree; the coldest ever for me and almost freezing – they had to break the ice to use it! I’m in just one relay race, whilst Big Bob, Fiona and some others are also doing some personal endurance races; one relay is plenty enough for me! I’ll report back Monday as to whether I lost any limbs in the cold.

Day 172 - 19th January 2011

Having exhausted itself from a week of storms the sea finally decided to give itself and us a rest this morning. The air temperature had plummeted overnight, which meant a thick frost on the ground and a temperature of around 2 degrees. The sea, whilst finally calm, had also dropped quite dramatically from a high at the beginning of the week of around 6.4 degrees to a much colder 4.9 degrees this morning. Despite this, and despite tough training sessions yesterday, I joined Big Bob for a 12 minute swim; this is the longest sea swim I’ve done in months. We swam to the West groin and on passed that to the next beach along, then turned and swam back to our beach and over to the groin by the Pier then turned and back to the middle of our beach and in. We kept a fairly constant speed throughout and it made it a fun and decent swim. Having spent 12 minutes in under 5 degrees it did take a lot longer than usual to get my hands and feet pain free, but a nice cappuccino in the Red Roaster after the swim certainly helped it along.

As for yesterday, apart from the gym session with Ross, which by the way was about 50% harder than usual as he has really upped what I’m doing, I also went back to Falmer at 9.00pm for my evening swim with Fiona and Big Bob. This was a first for us all and something we will now try to do every Tuesday. We did just over an hour on speed training; freestyle, breaststroke, legs, butterfly – back and forth back and forth, 100 metres, two hundred metres, three sets of 50 metres and repeat! It was a lot of hard work, especially after a long day and having almost fallen asleep in the lounge between 7.30pm-8.30pm. But somehow getting back to exercise at that time of night really does wake you up and make you feel like the day earlier didn’t even happen. After our session we headed to the outside pool and did a few lengths to just cool down; being outside in the pool at 10.30pm was fantastic, absolutely loved it. Then it was a quick drink in the bar and home for 11.15pm and in bed for a couple of hours before Jesse did his usual 2am visit to me! All that aside, getting up this morning for the sea was not a problem and really did the job.

In a moment I’m off to Watford for a late afternoon and evening meeting and then staying overnight for another early morning meeting, so no sea tomorrow unfortunately. However the Hotel I’m staying in has a pool complex next door to it; slightly uglier and less attractive than Falmer, however it is 25 metres so before my 4pm meeting I am going to aim for a 5 hour swim; however it is likely to be only 4 hours as I may run out of time (hopefully it won’t be just 3 hours due to laziness!).

Day 171 – 18th January 2011

With just under 2 hours sleep last night and my only dream in that time of a large wave chasing me I decided to skip this mornings sea swim!!

Asher came into us at about 1am with his mattress, which considering I only fell asleep at about midnight was challenging. He then proceeded to snore like a bear, so no sleep for us then! Mia & Jesse came in and jumped into our bed at about 4am ish and wiggled and turned constantly! At 5am I left the marital bed and headed to the Twins now empty room to grab what was left of the night and managed to sleep until about 6am dreaming of a large wave chasing me around the garden; mmmmm odd ! Typically the rain had stopped and there was no wind, so a sea swim would have been possible today, but feeling as I did it would not have been a very clever idea! I spoke to Big Bob a few moments ago and he said that they all got in and had a swim, but there were still some random waves left over from the week of storms, so it was still a bit hairy out there; apparently Damien badly got rolled by a rogue one.

Later today I am at the gym being trained at 3pm for an hour and then I’m back at Falmer at 9pm for a 90 minute swimming session; apparently doing speed swimming. So all is not lost in the days training; far far from it.

Tomorrow I’m having to drive to Watford for a late meeting and then stay over, so I’ll grab a sea swim first thing and then will head straight to Falmer for a 5 hour swim and then in the car and off to Watford for an evening meeting at 7pm. What a glamorous life I lead!

Day 170 - 17th January 2011

Bit of a busy day today; 7.00am sea, 8.00am Physio, 9.00am Pool, 11.00am Office for first meeting; then it’ll be work until 7.30pm meeting then home to just see kids go to bed then start packing up house for move in a couple if weeks. It’s enough to make one feel tired!

The Sea swim this morning was a little uncomfortable! I got to the Arch at 6.50am and Shoichi, Paul & Mark had just come out. They’d gone in on the girly beach rather than ours; a more sensible person than I would have listened to that. As I had to see Kim at 8am I decided to go straight in on my own and I went down to our beach as I thought the waves looked not too bad. It was very dark still and the rain was teeming down. Getting in was fine, but as Little Bob said to me when I saw him later “getting in is easy, it’s the getting out that worries me”!!

I swam out near the silver ball and then headed back. The temperature was 6.4 degrees, so it was easy to stay in; in fact staying in was way easier than getting out. The waves, whilst not massive, were still strong and they were turning just at the dip in the beach, which means that you really have to time it right not to be dumped in a dip and then sucked back out to sea. This is exactly why the earlier boys (and then the ones after me) all went to the girly beach as there is no dip there. What also compounded the situation was that it was too dark which made it hard to really see the waves or the beach, the rain which also made visibility less and the flipping goggles that kept steaming up. The only way I could do it was to be brave and just swim in, keeping a constant look over my shoulder for the waves. Nearer the shore I had to pull my goggles down as I just couldn’t see enough, which was fine, apart from my eyes stinging a little. I caught a wall of water as it was heading in and just went for it, but as expected I landed in the dip just as the wave withdrew and another one appeared. Within seconds I was upside down under the water and being swished round on the bottom. Luckily I was close enough to shore to be able to push up from the bottom and then stand, albeit on shaky legs. Once standing I quickly climbed out the dip and ran onto the beach. Walking up to the Arch I was a little light headed and also annoyed at myself for being so silly and not taking notice of what the others did. I strongly advised Bob and the gang to not swim on our beach and of course they sensibly did the right thing. Lessons lessons lessons!

After my swim I visited Kim for my physio; just half an hour on my hip flexer. As usual she was a star and the pain is now completely gone. Then after that I hit the pool at Falmer and did a quick hour of lengths.

Now I’m work, coffee in hand, and ready to face the day of meetings that now await me!

Day 169 - 14th January 2011

Another Pilchard day today unfortunately. The sea was once again crazy and strong, so we headed over to the girly beach to seek protection from the pier, but like the rest of the week there was little protection to be had.

The only people to actually get right in and swim out was Shoichi (spelt correctly at long last!) and Me!! We both basically watched the waves, then on a slim clearance just went for it. Once we were out passed the Pier sign it was an easy swim, just the odd high rise wave to climb over. Getting back in, of course, was another story! This took some serious concentration and planning as the waves were quite monster hitting the shore. Shoichi went in first and timed it well, followed a few seconds later by me who timed it almost well. I was OK, it was just a final wave that spun me a little, but nothing much and Big Bob and Mike were on hand to pull me out in case I needed it. Little Bob of course took lead Pilchard position again and the very few with us also had a lie down, with Big Bob looking like he was having the time of his life ; I almost had to convince him it was time to go back to the Arch and become an adult again.

Hopefully next week the sea will be a little more gentle with us and let us have a swim as the temperature, whilst still cold, hit 6.1 degrees which would let us stay in a lot longer than usual. At this temperature we could easily do a 15 minute swim I reckon.

Yesterday after my swim (or non swim) I went to Varndean School along with my brother-in-law Darren to present certificates to our first full CHOCS children (see http://www.starrtrust.com/chocs). Chocs is our schools project and is amazing!!! You really should go on our site and look at it, it’s an incredible project. Chocs stands for Children Helping Other Children Smile. Through the Chocs project Varndean school children raised over £2,500 for CCHF; one of our charities, and the Chocs children were just amazing. I am so very very proud of them all. The next Chocs year has now started at Varndean with the new Year 10 children and we are so proud to also have the Grand Hotel Brighton partnering us with it; they are being absolute stars. Keep watching the website or my blog for more info on this.

Last night we held our first Club 21 Networking event for the Starr Trust. It was at the Lansdowne Place Hotel in Brighton and was attended by over 40 people; a mix of the 21 charities we’re supporting and some of our business supporters. It was great to see so many people there and all getting to know each other and talking about their experiences; very exciting indeed. We officially launched the list of the 21 charities that will be supported by the Swim4Smiles campaign and played our promotional video, which is also now being put on our website; so have a look next week as it’s great. The next networking 21 Club event will be even better and is not to be missed – if you’re local to Brighton you should come along.

The total raised towards our £100,000 target is just hitting £20,000, which is a great start, but still a long way to go!

Another week over, another week closer and another week wetter!

Day 168 - 13th January 2011

So what did the 13th of January 2011 bring? Well for starters it brought back the Pilchards! This morning, driving to the beach, the fog, rain and mist were so thick that I could hardly see a foot in front of me. In the Arch I found Soweichi waiting patiently for someone else to come as it was simply too dark and dangerous to solo swim. Pretty soon there was also Little Bob, Big Bob, he who can’t be named (who stayed out of the water), Martina, Bella, Mike and the return of Angus, my fellow channel attempter. We headed straight to the other beach as Big Bob thought (against my advice!!) that this would be easier. For some reason my instinct told me that our beach would be easier today; it seems I was right. The other beach, instead of being calmed by the pier, was in a foul mood and kicking up a crazy storm. So off we headed to the unusual safety of our own beach. To be honest our beach was not much better! The waves were constant and full of water! I know that sounds silly, but sometimes the waves may be big but they can also be shallow in their strength. Today though they were big and very full, which meant huge walls of water crashing onto the beach. A few times we edged in and out, but ultimately we all wanted to come out alive, so it meant we stayed at the shore and just got pelted and pounded there instead.

Little Bob, being "Head Pilchard" at the Arch, was the first to lie down, however, he was soon followed by the others. Personally I didn’t feel pilchardy today, so I only joined them when the waves took my legs out! By the time we got back to the Arch I think that between us we were carrying about 3 tons of stones in our shoes and our swimming trunks and we were probably sporting about a thousand little bruises where the stones had simply been pummelled into us; it was probably the best overall exfoliating any of us has ever experienced.

On another note, last night at the gym I twisted oddly when I was doing some lunges and ended up with a strain in my hip flexer (who knew I even had one!). It’s a muscle near the hip that is connected to a rather large band. It meant that I could only walk on it after much stretching, and even then it was painful. Walking down the beach today it was really painful, but the pounding waves and cold temperature (5.7 degrees – so getting better) seemed to help a lot. It still hurts, but a lot less. Once again the sea, in all its glory, is a good curer of pains and aches. I think a trip to Kim, my physioterrorist is on the cards!

Fiona - sorry sorry sorry !!! I didn't realise you were waiting for me at the pool for a long swim; really I didn't!! Please don't be too angry with me; but if you are then I will let you get your whip out and beat me, but only if you wear the leather boots of course!

All in all though a safe, but bruising start to the day!

Day 167 - 12th January 2011

The healing power of the sea is an amazing thing; not just physically but mentally, in fact mentally more than anything.

Yesterday I had a 6 hour meeting as part of a due diligence for a large deal I am doing at work. The only thing I can liken it to is the interview stages in the Apprentice, but about 6 times longer, 5 times more intense and 4 times more intrusive. I came out of the meeting feeling somewhat battered, bruised and tired; although I was told that the meeting went well !! This morning I was planning on a long pool swim, but after yesterday there was no way I could endure a mental test like a long pool swim, I was simply too brain battered for that. So instead I headed to the beach for 7am; as usual it was pitch black and the rain was that annoying constant “get into your bones” rain that really soaks you through and through. Heading down to the sea with Big Bob, Little Bob, Mike, Martina and the crew we all basically stood on the shore wondering about the sanity of getting in. The waves were very strong and had come from way out on the ocean and were breaking onto the beach in all the wrong places. Big Bob and I ventured in up to our knees, but with a huge waving coming I backed away quickly and saw Bob get taken down and washed past me back onto the beach. At this point we all decided a big “I don’t think so”! However, hardened as we are and all desperate not to miss out on our morning swim we headed over to the other beach on the East side of the pier where the waves were not as big and in we all went. It was still very rough and the waves very tall, but the strength of the waves was dampened by the pier and we all felt it was safe enough. Bob and I stayed in for probably around 10 minutes before heading back to the Arch and by that time I was feeling back to my old self; the 6 hours of battering yesterday was a distant memory. The healing power of the sea on the mind in all its glory.

The temperature in the sea was 5.7 degree, the highest it’s been for ages, let’s hope it continues up. The forecast for the rest of the week is not great, so it is possible that at some point the sea might win its battle to keep us out, but we will certainly not go down without a fight!

Day 166 - 11th January 2011

And for breakfast I tried something new; it is called Beach Crunch. It consists of a mouthful of pebbles, mixed lightly with sand and topped off with water that is heavily laden with salt plus a sprinkle of brown god knows what over the top. Yummy yummy good for the tummy!

By the time I was at the Arch, 7.05am, it was still dark, however, the rain had stopped but the wind was blowing. Damien and Soweichi were already finished and Damien gave me the account of the wave that turned him face down as he was trying to come out. Little Bob and Mike had just been in for their couple of minutes and were heading back in just as Big Bob, Fiona, Martina and I were heading down. The sea temperature was 5.4 degrees and the air temperature, despite the wind, was a comfortable 7 degrees. The sea itself was busyeeee.

Lots and lots of waves in succession made actual swimming a challenge; it was more a case of constantly either diving under the waves, riding high on them or being splattered by them. We stayed in for about 10 minutes and then headed to shore. Coming out of the sea was the challenge today as the pull from the sea receding was very strong; it really wanted to drag you back. You had to almost let it pull you backwards and then ride the subsequent wave back in as much as you could; kind of like two steps back and three forward, until you hit the beach. Fiona and I did hit the beach, literally face down. The fact that it was warmer today in the sea and the air made it much more pleasurable and the waves actually made it a lot of fun.

Tomorrow I’m in the pool for a 3 or 4 hour swim and then in the Gym in the evening; so playing today was allowed!

Day 165 - 10th January 2011

An interesting and warmer sea this morning. The temperature in the air was around 5 degrees and the sea registered an average of 5.3 degrees, which is around 1 degree higher than last week. Whilst this is still ccccold, it is a lot warmer than it has been. The conditions themselves were that the waves were big enough and constant enough to let you play but still let you swim, and the tide, whilst pulling a little to the west, was not fierce enough to cause any problems. I stayed out for about 12 minutes I guess, which was a lot more than I have been able to. Whilst the sea was warmer, as I stayed in longer it meant I took longer to warm up afterwards; I’ve got to remember that. Really can’t wait until it gets to 15 degrees again, sooner the better!

Big Bob was back from his long holiday, which was great, as I’ve missed having my swimming buddy with me. This week I’m planning my usual morning sea swims, plus two pool swims and a couple a gyms (more if I can find the time).

Sad news over the weekend. A 52 year old man followed his dogs into the sea by the Pier (on our beach) after they ran away from him. One of the dogs made it back fine, but the other dog “and the man” never made it. The coastguard couldn’t get to him in time and the cold temperature and strong tide were too much for him. You hear this all the time how someone tries to rescue their pet and ends up losing their own lives; it’s crazy! The fact that it was on our beach brings back to me how dangerous the sea can be, especially on such a tidal and unpredictable beach as Brighton. As I now have so many hours in the sea in varying conditions and temperatures I feel that I have the experience to judge the safety levels and as such when we should and should not go in; other normal people just don;t have this and it can instantly become deadly. Incredibly sad for his family and for the whole town that this should happen.

Day 164 – 7th January 2011

Not the best ever start today, although a bad start always leaves the day open for improvement!

After a fairly restless night I woke with some crones pains, which is the first time for a few months. It was certainly uncomfortable and made my leaving the house a slower process, however, I was still at the Arch by 7.15am. When I got to the Arch it was dark but dry, 3 minutes later when I walked out of the Arch towards the sea is was dark but wet! The rain, which was simply like someone all of a sudden turning on the tap, came down heavy and cold. By the time I reached the sea I was already so cold and wet that it meant the usual long walk in (the tide was out) was somewhat less painful. Apart from the odd rogue wave (which were all small anyway) the sea was flat and calm. The temperature from my trusty watch was 5.4 degrees, a whole 0.1 degree higher than the rest of the week, so still extremely cold, but in the right direction. As usual a short sea swim totally took away my crones pains and by the time I came out 11 minutes later the only pain I had was the cold in my hands.

As for the rest of the day; it’s meeting after meeting after meeting, followed by an hour at the gym with my personal trainer.

So as I said, not a great start to the day, but already it’s improving minute by minute!!

Day 163 - 6th January 2011

One thing I forgot about pool swimming was the immediate cold, stuffed nose and bad throat I get! I have been sea swimming only for the last 6 weeks and even in 3.5 degree temperature & snow I have not had even the slightest of colds. I’ve done one 3 hour pool swim (yesterday) and here I am with a bad throat and a 100% blocked nose. I’ll have to get a nose clip for next week as that might help, but ultimately there must be some kind of supplement or homeopathic remedy that I can take that will lessen or stop the effects, otherwise I will be feeling like this all through the winter until the sea warms up enough for long swims! Any ideas more than welcome please?

Despite this problem, I hit the pool again this morning; silly I know, but silly I can be! I’ve got an 8am meeting today that will last the entire day, so I decided a morning pool swim for an hour from 6.30am – 7.30am was better than a pitch black solo sea swim in the pouring rain. This has certainly not helped my blocked nose, but at least it was safer and did mean an actual swim took place. The pool was empty apart from two other people, both of who stayed in the low lane, so for my hour I had the lane to myself. Of course it took me almost the whole hour to find my rhythm and then I had to get out, but at least I swam for an hour.

Tomorrow I am most definitely firmly back in the sea! I need the cold, the waves and the darkness as it seems so much better for me than the warm, light and friendly pool – now that is odd!!

Day 162 – 5th January 2011

Back to the pool after too long a break. It was actually really daunting this morning getting up and heading to the pool rather than the beach; it’s been so long since I did a long pool swim that I was seriously doubting if I could do it. Silly I know, but that was how I was feeling.

I got up at 6am, having had a restless night. Jesse popped in to see me at about 1am and I took him back to his room about 2 hours later, leaving me wide awake until 6am when I got up. After I was dressed (10 minutes is all it takes me these days as I shower later) I then hit the kitchen to make up my swimming feeds (water with maxim and a banana), jumped into the car and headed to the pool; I ate a banana on the way, which I was rather proud of myself for doing (it’s the little things that count!!). I got to Falmer dead on 6.30am just as they were turning on the lights and was in the pool and doing my first length at 6.40am. The first hour was really tough indeed, I just couldn’t get my rhythm right, however, I plodded on. The second hour was a little better, but still I swam like a crab rather than a fish, very annoying! The third hour however, saw the magic return and I swam really easily and smoothly. I had the lane to myself for virtually the whole 3 hours, with just the occasional person joining me for the odd 10 minutes; in fact the other lanes never had more than a couple of people in them at any time as well. It seems that peoples New Years resolution was not to include an early morning swim; suits me just fine! After my swim I headed straight up to London for a meeting (in fact I’m on the train right now typing this) and I have to say that I can really feel the tiredness now setting in; it’s been a good few weeks since I felt the “exercise tiredness”. It’s quite a nice feeling in all truth being tired from a lot of exercise. However, as soon as I’ve done a few more pool swims that will settle back to normal I would think. It’s probably a combination of yesterday and today, which was a morning sea swim, 10k run, a 45 minute gym and then a 3 hour pool swim today. The other annoyance is that my breathing is a little painful again today , which I always get after a long pool swim, but the sea will sort that out in the morning I’m sure.

Apart from that, all is good in the world!!

Day 161 - 4th January 2011

Back to work today for begining of the year after a nice morning swim. It was extremely dark still at 7.15am when I was walking down the beach; just Soweichi and Me this morning, the others just turning up after us. The air temp was around 4 degrees and it was very dark (even the Pier lights were still off!) and it was just starting to rain. The sea temperature was 5.3 degrees like last week, so still cold but doable. To welcome us back the sea put on a little show of waves! In fact the first wave I encountered simply hit me full on as I was pulling my goggles down over my eyes and it shot me right out of the sea and back onto the beach. A few seconds later the two of us were out past the Pier sign and onto the next building and ready to swim back. Total swimming time this morning only 6 minutes, but considering you really coudln't even sea the waves coming, and there were a fair few of them, 6 minutes was plenty enough.

Tomorrow I'm back in the pool, which is actually quite daunting as I haven't pool swum for about a month. As it's my first one for an age - I am going to be sensible and not go too mad. My aim is a 3 hour swim, 7am-10am. Meanwhile tonight I'm back to the gym on my own for an hour; quite looking forward to that actually.

Day 160 - 3rd January 2011

My first sea swim of the New Year and fine it was.
Today is the last bank holiday of the holidays (at last!!), so it was an 8am swim this morning rather than the usual early 7am start. The sky was clear, although at 8am it is still a little dark out there. The sea was very calm and the tide was just turning, so it was neither shallow or deep to get in, all very easy. The air temperature was 1 degree and the sea was 5.3 degrees - as confirmed by my fantastic Christmas watch from Sharon; loving my watch! This morning I swam with Little Bob, Mike, David, Soweichi and Bella and I did my standard out to the end of the sign and back. Nothing much to report on the swim apart from that.

Other news was that last night I watched Little Bob and Mike on BBC One countryfile celebrating the BSC 150 year anniversay back in March 2010 - so I officially swam with TV stars today, maybe their fame will rub off on me; who knows!!!

Yesterday my little Jesse was sick so I spent the day looking after him whilst Sharon took Asher and Mia out. I find it tough staying in the house all day as I am a "fresh air" person by nature , so at 7pm after all the kids were in bed I popped on my running shoes and did a 10 k run (actually it was 10.2k, but who's counting!). It took me exactly 48 minutes and 32 seconds. Considering it was 7pm, dark, cold, at least 40% up hills and I hadn't run for about 8 weeks, I thought that was a decent time.

As from my run last night and my swim this morning I am now officially back in "training" mode; the run up to my channel swim has now officially started. I am no longer swimming the channel "next year", I am officially swimming it "this year".