A First

Well I did it. I conquered my demons and went swimming in the local river.

I had a lazy morning in bed, skyping with C in Perth, reading, listening to the Archers, surfing. I finally emerged at 11.30am for some pottering in the garden and taking photos of some lovely yellow roses and the ripening plums. The sky was surprisingly quiet given that it was the Silverstone Grand Prix. I found that L had kindly installed my new rotary washing line and mown the grass, kind man. His son emerged shortly after I did.

I decided to go to the Woburn outdoor pool, feeling a little nervous about trying the river even though I really wanted to. There were surprisingly few people there despite it being a glorious day but I suspect that's down to the tennis, cycling and motor racing. Fine by me. My blip is of the bottom of the pool.

I didn't get changed but drove home in my wet cossie and towel and it was so warm and I was so exhilarated from my swim that I got the courage to swing by the river.

There were a dozen or so boys happily playing in the shallows so I went up the bank a little and under the gaze of a couple of sheep high on the opposite bank, I slipped in where N had showed me. The muddy bottom was soft but not too alarming (!) and the reeds were not bad either, so I quickly pushed off and swam out to the centre. It was a little colder than the pool, which had been 22C, so I'm guessing around 17C on the surface but actually rather lovely and refreshing I must say.

I swam breaststroke, keeping my head and mouth above the water just in case, though when I did get a bit of water it seemed fine. The current was not strong. Some swallows dived and caught flies close around me, a seagull swooped overhead to check me out and there were some pretty yellow lilies on the surface but I didn't encounter any ducks, swans, fish or indeed crayfish, which I know are found in this river!

I decided not to push it and simply went upstream for about 400 yards and back for about 15 minutes then scrambled out in a rather undignified manner feeling most positive and confident that, once again, I have conquered some of my limiting internal voices and actually followed a dream. One happy camper. My brother in law has agreed to kayak with me on a longer swim one day and I'm looking forward to that now.

I'm now listening to the tennis having heard that Lewis Hamilton won the GP.