Swimming day 398 - Wednesday 4th January 2012

A 20th Century Pilchard Production of

Return of the Magnificent 7 (Pilchards that is) ; a stunning cast to behold:

* Lead Pilchard played by the arches own leading man Little Bob Pilchard

* Second Pilchard played by the 7 foot crazy dentist James

* Third Pilchard played by our own Brunel, engineer Pilchard Mike

* Lady Pilchards played by the gorgeous Bella, the health crazy Martina and the ever smiling Charlotte Pilchard

* Final Pilchard played by the new pilchard on the block, Robbie 5 Starrs Pilchard

A fine cast on a not so fine day!!

Another crazy day at sea saw just 7 of us braving it down to the shore.  No way would we even consider our beach, however the girly beach looked swimmable from the top.  Unfortunately the view from the top road is no reflection on the view from the shore.  There is something rather scary about standing right on top of a swirling sea and watching the waves build up just offshore and then come crashing in succession down at you; especially when they are turning right on the shelf and curling under.  We stood there watching for a good 10 minutes trying to decide whether or not to give it a go, but every time we thought the sea had settled we were confronted by at least three monster waves one after the other.  Therefore it was down to our leading man, Little Bob, to show us the way!!  One after the other we found ourselves as pilchards, lying in a row being washed over by a freezing cold sea.  The sensible mature James stood and watched in amazement whilst we lied down in the wash and questioned the sense in it; of course a minute later he was lying down with us and understanding that there is no sense in it and that is the whole point!

As for tomorrow being another pilchard day or a production of other sorts only the big Lady in the sky will know.

Yesterday afternoon was back to the pool for me; something I have put off since last august when my swim was postponed.  But I couldn’t put it off any longer and in I went.  I wanted to use the outside pool but the lashing winds and rain meant that the life guards refused to go outside and the club therefore shut the pool.  Utter nonsense as I don’t need a lifeguard in a pool that is only 5 feet deep!!  I shall bring this up with the management!!  So I was stuck in the inside pool instead; far too hot and chemically for me, but no choice in the matter. The other problem I now have (sorry to be so full of problems here) is that I am now far too fast for the slow lane but not really quick enough for the fast lane; I need my own inbetweeny lane! So I was in the fast lane for 2 hours and conscious the whole time of who was around me and trying not to slow them down.  I guess it does make you swim faster which is only a good thing.  I did an hour of just lengths and then an hour of speed interval lengths (stopping each 50 metres to rest and then starting again).  Afterwards, feeling a little waterlogged, I dried off and went straight into the gym for an hour with Ross on abs, shoulders and legs.  A tough 3 hours of training, but was a great feeling afterwards.