Water temp: 19 degrees
Bell's palsy: day 5
The Outdoor Swimming Society are allowing me to use a snorkel in the Dart10K this Sunday. All I need to do is attend an access and medical needs briefing beforehand. All I need is a snorkel...
I have a snorkel which the lovely lifeguards have turned a blind eye to, funny 'cos that's how I see everything at the moment. It's another beautiful afternoon in London. The snorkel is clipped to my goggles, here we go. There's quite a lot of drag against the snorkel in the water as I push off, best to clench your teeth and get on with it, that works. Wow, this is great, I don't have to turn my head from side to side. Uh-oh, my nose is full of water. I clamber out and borrow a nose clip, not flattering but we're way beyond image at this point. Now we're cooking, amazing, I swim and swim and swim, length after length, barely looking up. I forget to count lengths.
There's a whole new world down there on The Lido floor. A man swims widths underwater. Another gentleman swim lengths with his nose almost touching the stainless steel lining, his legs floating languidly behind him, he resurfaces every so often for air. What's his story?
I feel much happier and much more positive about life. I raise half a smile.