My training efforts throughout May have been a bit of a mixed bag. The awful weather we had meant that for the most part I was confined to my local pools once they opened. This has allowed me a glimpse into the fascinating world of leisure centre pool swim lane politics, my main takeaway being that it seems to be men of a certain age who would rather be the fastest in the medium lane than the slowest in the fast lane… make of that what you will.

The time I have spent in the pool has been dominated by a yearning to be swimming wild and chlorine free, despite unseasonable conditions outside. I visited a friend in Bristol who gamely agreed to come for a swim at nearby Clevedon marine lake, we gingerly entered, first in our wetsuits then bravely decided to eschew them for our second dip. The post swim buzz confirmed we had made the right choice even if it did seem a bit mad standing in the wind and drizzle with the Bristol Channel the colour of chocolate milk angrily surging beside us.

One of the things that had been weighing on my mind was my lack of technique when it comes to swimming freestyle, so biting the bullet I booked a coaching session at the endless pool in a local triathlon gym. Jamie, surely the most patient man in south Wales, led my session and supplied some invaluable advice and tips. Putting these into practice on my own has been challenging but I’m hoping some slow improvement is being made.

Another highlight of this month has been swimming with Cath Pendleton at Keeper’s Pond, we’ve managed a few evening dips including one on the night of May’s full flower moon. Cath’s warmth and infectious enthusiasm for all things swimming has been a real boost and I feel so lucky that she’s alongside us on this journey.

Although we didn’t catch a glimpse of the moon the setting of the pond is breath-taking especially when finding yourself swimming through a shaft of golden hour light as the sun slowly sinks behind the distant mountains. In these sorts of moments, the noisy, busy, chlorinated pools I’ve been frequenting seem thankfully very far away.

My focus for the next few weeks is to continue (reluctantly) with my pool sessions as well as working on continuing to tackle my anxiousness around freestyle in open water on top of my anxiousness around sharing photos of myself in swimwear online. Don’t make me pick which is scarier…