My pool swimming has taken a serious turn – what used to be a leisurely plod up and down the pool, interspersed with vaguely remembered toning routines from aqua aerobics is now a body testing non-stop 1900 metres of brain freezing laps.

I’m still spending the same amount of time in the water as I have always done – about and hour and a half – but it’s ninety minutes of stress.  I am counting every length I complete and monitoring every stroke and leg kick for stretch, conformation and maximum propulsion.  There is no headspace left for wondering where the planes flying overhead have been, or watching the birds disappear and appear again as they make their ways through the drifting clouds. I used to make up little poems as I swam,  the Japanese Haiku format of 17 syllables in 5, 7, 5  was just enough for me to compose and remember by the end of a swim.  I used  swimming as an antidote to my hectic life but it’s becoming more like a job than a recreation.

I can let my mind wander a little bit more when I swim in open water as I don’t have laps to count but I still have to maintain an awareness of how my body is reacting to the cold water.   I do not swim in a wetsuit  so I am using my wild water dips to acclimatize.  With the mercury rising I have now been able to last twenty five minutes before my hands and feet start to lose feeling and I need to get out.

I still make time for poetry though.   Little snippets filter through in the post-training quiet time as I stand under the shower at the lido or sit refreshed and buzzing on a bench amidst the beauty of Hampstead Heath.  Of course, they are all swimming related………

Lido wreathed in mist

Air is cold but water warm

Cramp free, I swim on