Day 201 - Thursday 3rd March 2011

This is how my day started before the swim; and this explains why getting in a freezing sea is actually easier than being a Daddy!!

I got home from London after a loooonnng day at about 8.30pm, by which time the Twins were asleep, but was Asher waiting for me to say good night, bless his heart. Within an hour Mia was up and coughing and crying. We settled her by 10pm ish, but had no doubt the night would not end there. True to form all 3 paid visits!! Asher came in about midnight and put mattress next to our bed and went straight to sleep, snoring like a gruffalo, but oblivious to the madness about to follow. Mia turned up at 12.30, went back to bed 12.40, Jesse turned up 12.41, went back to bed 12.45, Mia turned up 12.46 and so on between then until about 2.30am, when Mia, poor love, sat in the middle of our bed coughing until she was sick; right in the middle of our bed! At this point Jesse came back in and started crying because his sister was sick and Mia started crying because Jesse was crying; all the time Asher slept on through snoring his little head off.

The morning, however, cold and early, was a welcome release for me.

I was at the Arch by 7am, having had to spend 5 minutes at home scrapping thick ice off my windscreen. The air temperature was 0 degrees, but at least the wind wasn’t too bad; although even a little wind at that temperature is rather uncomfortable when you’re standing on the beach just in your trunks! Again only very few of us down there, Big & Little Bob, Mike, Bella, Charlotte and Doctor Mark. Bob and I swam to the cafe along the pier and then having spotted the sun rising we swam towards it through the pier to the other side; like flies to a lightbulb! If the sea had not been a staggering 4.9 degrees I swear we would have kept swimming until we were right under it! As it was we turned around and headed back under the pier to our own beach and tyo dry land as quickly as out very frozen feet and hands would let us. The 0 degrees air temperature really does bring the coldness of the sea right into you. After the swim we headed for the Red Roaster Cafe for a welcome Cappuccino, before heading off to work for yet another day of big business!! It took about 2 hours before I felt my toes returning to life, up to then I bet I was walking like a penguin; no one said so, but I was getting some odd looks!!