open water swim

Weather watching
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Weather watching

We always stated that we would try to swim the first Sunday in August, and in our heads the date was set. However now we are approaching that date all I find myself doing is watching the various weather sites to check the winds and try and find the perfect day.
It’s not about the rain, that’s easy to cope with, it’s the winds that need to be favourable.
We discovered after several discussions with our own Merman – James that Loch Lomond flows North to south slightly therefore the ideal conditions are a slight wind in the same direction.
That would be perfect world scenario however northerly winds are rare in the summer therefore the choice seems to be;
A) pick a calm day and use the drift North to south or
B) choose a wind (usually) southerly and take the ride but fight the drift
So here we are weather watching hoping to find that day over the next 5 weeks to take the plunge!!
Off to bed for a 5.05am rise for a dip Before my working day starts

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Sporting Achievements

As a child i grew up addicted to sport, anything that i could try my hand at i gave a go. However i always had one annual event that always took my imagination; The FA Cup Final.

At the age of 2 and a half my first ever memory was of my dad and all his mates returning to the house head to toe in read and white stripes singing and dancing. They were celebrating, drinking plenty but the vibes that were between my wood chip walls and atrocious 70’s decor will live with me. In 1973 Sunderland (the underdogs) beat the mighty Leeds United at Wembley in an FA Cup Final. Through the years i always remember sitting down at 12 noon with my dad and brother Graeme and we watched every moment of the build up and every second of the match.

From a very early age it was my ambition to play in an FA Cup Final

Medals

In 1992 i was lucky enough to live my childhood ambition, to play for Sunderland in a FA Cup Final at the tender age of 21. A memory that i will take to my grave and surely the proudest moment of my life????

Do you see the other piece of metal sat to the right of the solid gold, royal mint FA Cup Final Medal?

Let me put this in perspective the FA Cup Final doesn’t even come close to the achievement of completing an IronMan. I get asked constantly about the final and i puzzle people when i describe the difference between the two.

In simple terms – Football is a team game, players can hide, I was a forward and i may have had a horrible week at training, had the odd day when i decide to go easier than normal and on the saturday i was in the right place at the right time and score the goals and get the headlines. Within the Ironman or any individual sport its about you and only you, if you fancy a lazy few days you only cheat yourself.

Don’t get me wrong i am very proud of the Cup Final medal, however the IronMan one dwarfs it more than 10 fold.

PS – It was put to me once – Am i the only person with both these medals?

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Stunning Country

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The plan has been simple so far, as many 1-2 miles swims as possible during the month of May.

Now we are at the start of June the distance increases and hopefully by the end of June we will churning our 10km swims weekly.

7am this morning and we were greeted at Castle Semple Loch with these stunning views. There are many days when the weather is rotten and you still pull on the wetsuit because you have committed, today was a pleasure. Big Shoulders and me didn’t want to get out, a stunning way to start the day – 3.54 miles, 0.54 more than expected or planned for but we couldn’t resist.

More of these days please!