The Glorious Second Mile

Last year I wrote about getting beyond the second mile. I forgot the wonder of actually doing the second mile.

This year I've been struggling to get beyond a single mile. Life has been a pattern of busy, sick, busy, sick, busy - you can see the cycle of destruction.  And then there's been the English 21st century weather. Swimming in the rain is not a problem, swimming in the open in thunderstorms is not so sensible. And thunder and lightning has been predicted almost every day of the "summer." When I have been in the water, it's been time squeezed into other things.

Last night changed all that.

Ten tips for outdoor swimming acclimatisation

If you plan to take up outdoor swimming, you need to think about acclimatisation. I mean, how you acclimatise your  friends and family to what you are doing.

This applies especially if you are of a certain age (anything over 30) when the words "mid-life crisis" may be frequently whispered in your ear-shot.

One: make a discreet start on holiday. Make it look as though you are swimming from one point to another for a purpose - for instance to explore a rocky island.

The leisurely laggard's guide to the Dart 10k

When I entered the Dart 10k in 2014 my aim was to finish last. That is to say I wanted to finish - and fully expected to be among the last to do so. I'd taken up open water swimming a couple of years ago for fitness, fun and relaxation after suddenly discovering I could do distance crawl - and I'd spent the previous winter learning how to breath on both sides. I'm a lot closer to my pension than my graduation so I'm not doing this to be a racer or an athlete.

The Dart 10k is the major event organised by the Outdoor Swimming Society and runs from Totnes in Devon half way to Dartmouth. Although on the maps the course appears to be up-stream of the river estuary that runs into the English Channel, in fact the tide sweeps all the way up to Totnes. So the swimmers embark at high tide and hope to get a little help from the ebb of the seawater. But this also means the water you swim in is salty nearly from the start.

The 15 tribes of outdoor swimming

You've taken the plunge, donned a wetsuit, fitted some goggles and you start to come across other people indulging in this strange sport. Here's a secret - they are not all the same and they are mostly faster than you.

Here' s a quick guide to the strange types who like to swim in cold water:

1/ The Novices. These have only just learnt to swim and, now they can, they want to get the most enjoyment out of it. They love paddling out into a lake or a sheltered bay.

How I lost 20 points from my blood pressure and ate loads of cake

...and also lost a stone over two years by eating more, not less.

View across Ullswater, Lake District

It all started about two years ago. I won't say three years ago as that was when I went for my NHS Health Check. I ignored the results, which said I was overweight and that my blood pressure was starting to get high. And I ignored the offer of a visit to the doctor to discuss them. I still don't know what the blood test found. If it was serious I'm sure the doctor would have called me.

It may have started about six years ago when I started going on snorkelling expeditions with my  teenaged children in our summer holidays - and began to realise I really wasn't fit enough.

Why casual swimmers may not be as safe as they think

 Every summer sees a spate of drownings - often in popular local swimming spots. Now a new study may help explain why some of those jumping into the water should not be doing it.

The alarming new survey results have found that, although four out of five of adults claim to be able to swim, most can't perform five critical water-safety skills.