A new love

Many of you know that I've been training for an ocean swim event and that I've been shitting bricks about it for a while.  It's been a mental battle rather than a physical.  But I need to qualify that because I am a dreadful swimmer.  Still, I have been training, I knew I was cool with the distance, and as long as I didn't swim through a school of blue bottles, then I'd get there.
And I did.
And will be doing it again next year.
But I had a revelation through the process of getting to the start line.
I love swimming (even though I'm bad at it - I will actually stop qualifying myself soon because it must be getting dull).
Actually let me clarify that a little more - I love swimming in ocean pools.

In Sydney we have a string of ocean pools that are glorious in their rusticness.  They're emptied and refilled daily with salt water from the neighbouring sea, and it really depends on the time of day as to the water quality, but I don't analyse that too much.  These pools have been around for years, they're free and you can almost feel the ghosts of swimmers past who have swam here.  What I love most about them is that they are right beside the sea, so often there are waves crashing over the sides, with a washing machine effect helping or hindering your stroke.  I love that if you want a breather (often), you can look out to the sea and watch surfers or waves, or best yet, inclement weather rolling in.  This is especially perfect if it is early in the morning.
You feel a teeny bit intrepid.  And staunch.

So with my swimming event done and dusted, (did I mention I saw a shark, but was too focused on hitting dry land again that I wasn't in the least bit fazed), I thought I'd hung up my goggles for a bit.  But with the old, plan-the-next-event-while-still-on-the-high-from-the-last, strategy, a triathlon is being lined up.  It has a swim in murky, fresh, eel infested waters.  I know this because the first time I did this event, I was staggered there were no blue lines to follow.  Only yellowy green weedy, eely water.
So my training buddy and I agreed to do a regular swim until then (so I don't have to start from scratch again). My friend Mia suggested the pool, we had a quick think then agreed, we'll head back to our ocean pools until the water gets too cold.

It's always nice to stumble upon a new passion.