SO, to follow up the miserable diatribe of the last blog…..

On the 29th Feb, I was back in the sea, wetsuit free, and was thoroughly amazed at how warm the water was- comparatively. I mean, it was still chilly- a minute of focussing solely on the out breath to combat hyperventilation and a touch of icecream brain, even with 2 hats on, but head down and off….And it felt SOOOOOOOOOo good to be back in the sea. Odd not to have Neil bobbing alongside in his kayak, but glorious to feel that buoyancy, the movement and even the taste! Felt like total freedom. I paced up Monmouth beach and back, feeling the lungs relax and the stroke lengthen, feeling my body kick into heat production (actually quite a nice feeling). The following week, in typical Brtish fashion, 7-9foot waves kept me dry. Am looking at rivers and lakes for rough sea days, but fresh water is still a touch the other side of crazy cold….. maybe.

Have ceased weight training as my joints were not liking it at all, and I have really dug into what it is that makes swimming easy and enjoyable for me. Had a couple of training sessions that I just stretched out and SWAM. and loved it.

I had my medical with my delightful GP- I am officially a bloater (for me anyway). I was 58kg at the start of training- am now 68kg- a whopping 10kg more! That’s HUUUUUUGE for me. I haven’t been this big since I was 6months pregnant! And I’m bursting out of everything I own at last. Had to go and buy trousers and am in one of Byron’s shirts. I know I needed to put on weight and am far from overly fussed about body image, but there are days when I feel mutant and not in my own skin. I’m keeping tabs on that, but can’t afford to eat less until after July. I have also realised I am sitting lower in the water which means I have probably put on more muscle than fat too, so I shall have to up the chocolate to lard me up even more so I float again! Yikes.

Have just got my email confirmation through that I am good to go- I am a paid up member of the Channel Swimming and Pilot Federation, I passed my medical and they accepted my 6hr qualifying swim! IT’S ON! My swim number is 2012/36S. BRING IT ON!