Start of my swim (…week!)

Saturday

I arranged a dinner on Friday night for my (broadly defined) support crew in the hope that it would have to be cancelled due to fine weather and a resulting solo swim! It wasn’t cancelled…but a great evening was had listening to everyone’s swim stories.

It did mean an early rise on Saturday morning for the drive down to Dover…which went absolutely to plan until the last mile that took 45 minutes and made me late for the first time this season! A quick change and a limbo under this week’s Hawaiian theme pole and I was in…for a single circuit of the harbour. Motivation wasn’t there…I want to be swimming in a line, however curved, towards France not around in a circle.

Which was fortunate because on returning to my phone, I received a text from my son Daniel reminding me that I was due to go to the Emirates Cup with him – again I had booked this to tempt the Wind Gods to let me swim…they are pretty darn stubborn this year! 5-2 thrashing of Benfica helped take my mind off the wind…for a little while

Sunday

Not fancying the “drive-to-swim” ratio of Saturday, I decided on a Sunday lie-in and a long walk to the pub with the Critchlow women (the boys being at the Emirates again!).

Then I finished packing and labelling my crates and bags with pure OCD impatience. Given the continuing high winds, my mind has naturally turned to the North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test. Thankfully we are fully prepared for a 4 day sugar high should the nuclear armageddon come