So, after running the Finsbury parkrun earlier in the day I had this idea of getting involved in “Winter Swim” - an idea founded by tomstraining (you can read more about it on his blog). The general idea is that every two weeks up until the end of February there’s a self-timed swimming time trial to be done, ranging between 100 and 1500 metres with all communication taking place on Twitter. For the nutters out there there’s some longer ‘Bonus Events for the Bonkers!’ distances in March, but I’ll think about those nearer the time.

This weekend marks the end of the first challenge - 400m - so I had to get down to the pool before Sunday night and clock my time. I went along to the local(ish) pool (its about 2.5 miles away) and after a gentle warmup swam 16 lengths as hard as I could and clocked a time of 6:48. I get to time myself over 400m again every few weeks so it will be interesting to (hopefully) see my times improve over the next four months.

Looking at my time, which I’m really happy with - I’m pleased to report that this was quicker than the last couple of times I’ve timed myself over 400m. The local Thames Turbo Triathlon events require you to put a 400m swim time down when you enter so I’ve got my times from the last couple of years - in June 2008 I clocked 7:16, and in May 2007 I swam the same distance in 8:18.

I’m not a huge fan of swimming, and something to keep me occupied during pool sessions (I much prefer open water lake swimming - but its far too cold for that right now) has to be a good thing.

More updates over the coming weeks and months…