Water Drop

A window in to my swimming journey

Like many others in these times, I’ve been looking for new ways to keep myself amused and engaged. I have run (very slowly) for a few years, and have cycled (also slowly) for even more years. I did manage to keep this up to a certain degree during lockdown, but decided I also needed something else to keep me motivated.

Swimming is something I haven’t always had a great relationship with. I have occasionally tried to swim for exercise, but it never really captivated me. In the past I have loved what is now known as “wild swimming”. Rivers and to an extent the sea have appealed far more than a swimming pool (with the sea, not so much the sandy beaches – mre places with somewhere to explore). But more recently I have sat on the side and watched as my daughter splashed around. I do enjoy it when I have managed to get myself in, but struggled with the motivation to get there.

So recently I have started having some of my daily shower in cold water. This has helped enormously. When I first started, I stuggled with the normal cold reflex of gasping. But that has subsided, and it means that I can get into colder water without that reflex – most of the time!

Of course, so far during this iteration I have mostly been enjoying this in the summer months. Time will tell how it goes as the weather gets colder. And despite living in a fantastic part of the country, with countryside all around, we are not over-endulged with good places to swim.

So here is my log of swimming. At the time of writing this, there is not very much here. But I do hope it will continue to be added to as time goes on.