Day 207 - Friday 11th March 2011

To finish off from yesterdays blog; I never went for that afternoon swim. By the time I got back from London it was already 4.30pm and I was still shattered and my throat even worse from all the presenting in the day.

This morning when I surfaced at 6.00am (despite the kids doing their ususal) I felt refreshed and looking forward to the day ahead. It seems that just the one day off from no exercise was a good idea. Due to early meetings I couldn’t do the pool today, but I was down the beach at 7am and ready to swim. The sea was 90% calm, with waves (some largish) only near the shore. The temperature was up by around 1 degrees to 5.7, which whilst still extremely cold was much welcoming. Bob and I were joined by Damien for a swim and we left the others at the edge (numbering about 6 this morning which was a better turnout) and headed to the silver ball. At the ball we went under the pier, around the other side, back to our side and back to shore. Pretty much we all stayed together the whole way; in fact I was in front a lot of the way, with Bob only passing me coming back in. It was a nice change for me to be as quick as everyone else; the Tuesday nights are clearly starting to pay off now. Coming out of the sea and walking up the beach we bumped into Fiona who was just coming down for a swim; it’s always a treat to see her in the morning at the Arch.

All in all a strong and enjoyable swim to start the day; boy oh boy do I love the sea compared to the pool.

This morning I’m presenting Clickcover (my Affinity Insurance business) to two schools and then this afternoon I’m in a meeting from midday until around 5ish. After that though I shall be heading home to an empty house (kids all staying at my in-laws tonight. Can’t even explain how good that feels) and I shall have a swim in my endless pool which is now fixed and working. It’ll be great to swim in my pool as a “swimmer” as I’ve never yet done that. I’m not sure from a training perspective how good it will be for me, but I do know a number of swimming teachers who advocate them as well as a top channel swimmer (a record holder) who trained throughout on her one.

Next week I’ll make sure I also do a 6 or 7 hour pool swim again as I still need to rack a few of those up.

Weekend wishes to all.