The pool got mended on Tuesday. Not before the skimmer was delivered at 8.30am and proved to be the wrong skimmer and the liner was so tight it took three of us to get it pulled into place (Guy, me and Somerset Scott).
We began to add water from the outside tap and then there were more screws to be put in and, no, you can't put it in dry, there has to be about half a pool of water for it to be done. And it was f-f-f-f-f-f-freezing.
At this point the water is about mid-thigh deep, 14 degrees and we're trying to get the front bit fixed. You can see that my back is totally dry and my front was, er, wet - this was from reaching down to ground level to get screws in. Underwater. Under cold water...
Then finally about 7 o'clock at night we got done - so of course I swam to prove it worked. And it was STILL only 14 degrees. That's why I'm a bit pink...
I thawed out about half way through Wednesday...
It's been 5 weeks since I've been able to run. In my absence I would love to be able to say that Ice Cream Sian and Fit Mark have been training every weekend. Er, no. Ice Cream Sian said it would be mean to train while I couldn't, so she has run precisely once in the 5 weeks, and Fit Mark has been pursuing Other Avenues. Such as mountain biking and Gorge Scrambling. Yes, Gorge Scrambling. I have no idea what this is, but he sent Ice Cream Sian and me this email:
It was just as well we didn't arrange to run last weekend as I could barely move on Sunday morning after the Gorge Scrambling on Saturday. I was covered in bruises and my arms, shoulders and back were in bits. It would appear that repeatedly jumping 9 meters off a river bank into ice cold water is physically demanding. Who knew?
Quite clearly bonkers.
On Thursday I decided I'd had enough of knee twinges and that I'd try a gentle jog. I thought I'd just run up and down the lane a few times... but then that wasn't going to be much of a workout, so I ran to Ice Cream Sian's, then the forestry track looked inviting so I went up it, then the first way home looked overgrown so I went on a bit... about 3.5k in all.
On Friday I went out again and went even further because the first field had long grass which was difficult to run through, so I went a kilometre round (much more sensible) - total of 4.6k.
On Saturday morning Guy and I went out on the bikes because it was such a glorious day. It seemed to be uphill both ways but I'm guessing it probably wasn't? Must do more exercise bike practice!
And this morning, for the first time in 5 weeks, Ice Cream Sian and I went out together - hooray! And, yes, it was PIDDLING with rain. Really torrential... However, once we were wet (took about a minute) it was really fun, being thwacked in the face by wet leaves, slapped around the calves by wet bracken, and sploshing through puddles on the road. Boy, we were WET. We were so wet that when I got home I simply chucked myself in the pool, fully clothed, and swam a mile... As you do.
And the distance? Well, we said we'd 'only do 5k' but the last time we said that we got carried away and ended up at 12k. So this time I said I would drive to Ice Cream Sian's house and we'd run 'only 5k' from there. But as it was so wet I couldn't figure out how to get back into the car again afterwards without soaking the seats, so I ran up to Ice Cream Sian's. Then we hadn't really worked out a route and I didn't have my contacts in so when I thought my watch said 3k it was in fact 4k and it ended up being 6.1k back to her house. And I ran home which made it 7.2k. And of course I'd run up which makes it 8.3k.
Still rubbish at maths, then...
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