Polenta cake

Another grey morning with light drizzle as I made my way up to the lido but it's still warm and the water is hovering about 17ºC which is good. A good turn out with about a dozen in the water when I arrived, I found a spot between Tom and Vince and set off in the leafy water. Sue and Chris started swimming a little bit later and I got this synchronised picture of them, I love the reflection of Sue's pink watch.

As I was getting dried and changed Chris was talking about baking with Wendy and Gail. Their conversation was making me hungry so I told them so. It started because Chris had a hazelnut and grapefruit polenta cake, he gave me a slice which was delicious, I never tasted a cake quite like it, nutty, moist but witha citrus kick at the end. Chris was telling us he's going to be in panto this Christmas - we must all go and see him!

Autumn falls

A grey morning but still warm. The winter entrance was open today and the lido was surprisingly full, more than a dozen in the water when I arrived. It had been a bit blustery over night and the leaves have begun to fall.

Super quick Nick was pounding up and down the pool, you can see the bubbles left in his wake with each kick. The water was still 17ºC, a large patch of leaves had gathered at the shallow end, it's nice to swim through them and feel them scratch and tickle you as you pass.

Alfonso joined me after eight length and we swam together, when I got a little bit ahead I turned to take this picture, more leaf than Alfonso but I like it. Elizabeth was doing breaststroke still, I'll have to get a picture of her glide. Only twenty two today.

Summer stayed on

Summer stayed a little later this year, and it's been most welcome. This last week-end was wall to wall sunshine with the air temperature reaching 30ºC. They decided to keep the lido open to the public for an extra two days, probably the busiest week-end of the whole summer. On Sunday I did a twenty two length swim dodging paddlers, plodders, lilos and children. It was fun to have the place so full of life, on recent weeks there's been many the time I was the only person in the water.

The winter season started today, but with more sunshine and the water at 17ºC it was hard to believe it was the 3rd October. I got to the Lido at 8am, despite yesterdays crowds it was just the usual faces swimming. My first sub-aquatic image is of Elizabeth doing breaststroke, not a classic but I like how she's flying through the water. I was hoping to get her with her face underwater as she glided but I missed and then wanted to carry on swimming. Elizabeth cracked a rib a few weeks ago and isn't up to freestyle yet as it's still too painful. She's started running widths across the pool which has started a bit of a new craze but I don't think I'll be joining in. The water is slightly milky, I guess from all the week-ends sun block that has washed into it. I saw David, Jonathan, Vince, Sue, Chris, Pip, Carl and Kate among others. I expect I'll see a lot more of them as the mercury falls. The sauna isn't back on until the water falls below 10ºC or the first of December, whichever comes first. Carl asked about Sardinia and told me he was going to up his distance as the water got colder, I think I'll go the other way. Thirty six lengths was easy without a shiver.

Octopussy

Just come back from a wonderful week in Sardinia with Swimtrek. Good company, good food and great to have a bit of hot sun and some good long sea swims. The highlight for me was meeting this octopus, apparently they come into shallow water at this time of year to find a mate.

What a beautiful creature, you might notice that it has a leg missing, I wonder how it was lost? It looks amazing when it swims, transforming into a jet propelled streamlined dart, they can move quite quickly if they want to.
The sea temperature was about 23ºC, lovely.
Back up to the lido as soon as possible, it's probably about 16ºC and will take a bit of getting used to.

The bait

A cool wet week but I swam everyday, twelve kilometres in total (138 lengths).  The water temperature is 17ºC and feels just that bit nippy around the toes after a thirty six length swim. The pool itself has been quite empty, a mixture of the rain and people being on holiday. On friday I was swimming along at a gentle pace when I saw Nick, Chris and Vince set off about fifteen yards before I turned. I'm sure Nick had calculated this, he knew I wouldn't be able to resist the bait.
I picked up my pace as I came back down the pool closing in on the small group. By about halfway I was neck and neck with Chris and Vince but Nick was a little way ahead. I had already swam a mile and was tired but put in the effort to catch up with him, He was going very fast and I really had to kick to get close to him. We reached the far end and touched almost simultaneously.
Nick couldn't stop crowing about how he had 'beaten' me. He also claimed that earlier on he had swam a length in the opposite direction to me and finished it before I had completed mine. Nick does have a very fast sprint but I'm happy to race him anytime he likes as long as we start in the same place at the same time, then we'll see who's fastest!

A ray of sunshine

I am still swimming just not posting. I've done 138 length this week which is pretty good going. Despite all the cloud and rain the water temperature isn't too bad even if it has dipped a bit. This morning saw the first sunny swim in ages but really I don't mind the grey weather keeps the crowds away. I will try and go swimming somewhere more exciting over the summer otherwise roll on autumn and I'll get snapping away again.

Twenty one today!

Special post for the temperature, 21ºC today (70ºF) a new high for the year. That explains why I had such a wonderful swim this morning, thirty six lengths of bliss. Added to by the fact I didn't make it over on the week-end, too many vegetables to attend to.
In Betty's Newsletter (50p see Tricky) there's a short piece on the June temperature by official 'temperature taker' David. It turns out we had the lowest average June temperature this century at 17.58ºC (63.66ºF). Global warming eh?
I find once the water is over about 16ºC (60ºF) I stop thinking about it too much because I can do a two mile swim without getting cold but 21ºC is nice.