Day 217 - Friday 25th March 2011

At last back in the sea!! Wey hey.

7.10am in the sea with my boys and girls from the Arch, fantastic. Little Bob and Mike on usual jovial good form and Big Bob, lovely Bella and I heading out to sea. We went out as far as the Helter Skelter and then back. Temperature in the air about 10 degrees and a beautiful sky, temperature in the sea 6.1 degrees – at last broken the 6 degree barrier! It was still cold at 6 degrees, particularly my head which felt really cold, but that aside it did feel warmer generally and the coldness wore off really quickly afterwards. Going forward maybe 10 days from now but last year (early April basically) was when I started my swimming and the temperatures allowed us to swim around the pier. Therefore hopefully if the sea is kind it’ll allow us to stay in longer, maybe 25 minutes, and that is enough to get around the pier, which would be fantastic again. A couple of the Arch boys (Damien, Shoichi & Paul) and of course Fiona (naturally!) have already swum around the pier, however all have suffered colds and worse and certainly the pain physically and the worry about being caught out there actually leaves me to think that Bob and I are right in waiting for it to hit mid 6 degrees and higher before we attempt it. For me I still feel I am too slow to get caught at the end of the pier feeling hyperthermia and then trying to swim back; for once in my crazy life I feel I am doing the right thing!

After work, 4.30pm, I hit the gym with Ross and did a decent hour on weights, then went for a nice 20 minute hill run in the woods around Falmer. Now back at the office (7.00pm) finishing the weeks work and writing my blog I am all ready for a nice warm weekend ahead.

So top of the morning to you all and see you next week!!