I love to swim.
Always have done, probably always will do.
There is such a feeling of freedom and gracefulness when in the water, regardless of size, height or weight. I feel as if I could conquer the world, as long as it is done from a swimming pool.
Glamorous Swimming
I learnt to swim as a small child; around 3 years old whilst on holiday. I always WAS a precocious child.
Anyway, I learnt to swim and took to it like a duck to water, literally. Since then I have relished every single holiday where there was a large pool. If not a pool, then the sea.
Of course, swimming in the sea off a Greek island is a lot nicer and warmer than the North Sea!
I have plunged into outside pools at Centreparcs in November. I have thrown myself down waterslides in Florida, Flumes in Spain and Lazy Rivers in St Lucia.
Centreparcs Chic
One of my favourite water-based adventures was spending time with Boo in a rooftop Jacuzzi overlooking the Danube in Budapest. The Rudas Baths on Gellert Hill is truly spectacular at night.
Anyway, I digress.
It is my love for swimming that leads me onto my next adventure…
Bathing In Budapest
If you read my most recent blog, you will have heard all about how damaged my leg is. Multiple injuries have left me with constant pain and mobility issues.
A recent visit to a Doctor diagnosed more problems than I thought, however a plan was set to get my leg stronger, repair some of the damage and also improve my situation with some weight loss.
The easiest (and only) exercise that I am allowed to do is…. SWIMMING.
This leads me onto the adventure. A sponsored swim.
Now, before you click off, thinking I am going to be asking for money, I am not.
A Gorgeous Place to Swim
Of course, if you want to send anything my way, that is brilliant.
Basically, there is a young mum who works at the same place that I do. She has a wonderful, loving fiancé and an 8yr old, 2yr old and a 1yr old child.
She has been diagnosed with terminal bone cancer and is now receiving palliative care at home.
Her one wish is to have a holiday with her family.
A small thing to ask.
Ready For The Off?
So, Monday the 27th September I will be starting my swim. This has a dual purpose; one is obviously to raise money for the family and the other is to strengthen my knee and help me lose some weight.
Exactly what am I going to do?
Well, following on from that Doctors appointment, diagnosis and the agreement that I could start swimming, I went back to the gym near my home. It has a 20 metre pool that has really good availability and is literally just around the corner from my house.
Now a 20 metre pool isn’t the biggest, but it is certainly big enough.
Off We Go!
My first day of swimming was Monday 13th September and I managed 10 lengths.
To say I was disappointed was an understatement. Before my knee injury I was swimming 100 lengths.
But then I realised that I hadn’t been swimming properly for a couple of years and that I have to do this slowly in order to build up my strength and not injure myself more than I already am.
However I don’t have forever to achieve my goal.
So, what exactly is my goal?
I am going to swim 10 miles in the next 4 weeks.
Aiming for the Target
In order to do so, I will need to swim a total of 805 lengths of my pool. That means if I swim 7 days a week, I need to do 30 lengths every day, which will give me a total of 840 lengths.
Now I know I will have done 35 lengths more than I need, but will allow me to miss a day or finish earlier. I am also planning on building up my lengths every day, so I could complete it earlier than planned.
But I have to be sensible and listen to my body. The first swim was 10 lengths and I increased every other day so by the end of the first week I was doing 16 lengths. There is still a long way to go, but I am absolutely determined to do this and in the shortest time possible.
Getting There!
After all, this is something that needs to be completed sooner rather than later.
Till next time,
SPSG xxx
PS. If you would like to contribute to this very worthy cause, you can find my just giving page at –
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/secretgoddessswims?utm_term=dMxvjgXNE