Tuesday 10 June 2008

Birthday Weekend Swims

Last weekend was a good time for swim progress. Friday I was in Colemere with Ruth at the canoe helm, 5 circuits of the Mere and 2 hrs 15 min later, I was back out feeling warm, but with a very sore right shoulder, a little worrying to say the least.

After a soak and a massage on the shoulder, it felt a lot better, so Saturday saw me in Ellesmere for a 5 hour effort. Today Ben and John were duty paddlers and feeders. We started in sunny conditions, but it clouded over as the day progressed. Brother John was amazed at how the crowds gathered to watch the "Mad Bloke" swimming with the ducks and geese. He said he'd never had his photo taken so many times in one day! The shoulder held up and actually felt better towards the end of the swim, good news indeed.

Sunday we were up at lake Bala in North Wales for the Middle distance triathlon. For the first time in 5 years I was not racing and I felt a little left out, but it was good to gossip. I did a quick lap of the swim course for the triathletes, without a wetsuit of course, just to show off... a little! The race organisers claimed it was 17.4C in the lake, I would say it was a tid cooler than that (I've never known Bala to go above 16C in all the years I've swam in it!!). I was told later how the water temp was taken, but I won't divulge the details here!!

The weekend was a good end to a good week of training, with 35000m in the bank. I will be easing off during the coming week, ready for the Champion of Champions event in Dover next Saturday. More on that later.

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