December 27th - A Day To Think

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I have had such a good few days, it started on Christmas eve with a double swim, first with my wonderful friend Ann in Hayling and then with the lovely swimmers at Eastney, I really love swimming with both Ann and the Eastney swimmers, they are all such wonderful people and they make me so happy. 


On Christmas day I completed the Southsea Parkrun with no shirt on, I finished that run on such a high, I drove home elated with what I had achieved and I have been on a high ever since. since then I have heard some wonderful feedback, no one seems to mind, there were no bad comments, a few fellow swimmers said they were proud of me, all these comments really boost my confidence.

On Boxing day I got to introduce two friends to the delights of the cold sea, my running mate Matt and his 13 year old daughter Ava were incredible, they didn't complain about the cold, they were strong throughout  and I am so impressed with how long they managed to stay in the water. I am so proud of both of them and I am looking forward to taking them again soon.


Finally this morning I met Ann for yet another swim in Hayling, it was nice to catch up with her after the Christmas holidays and get back into a regular routine of swims and the sea was quite rough so it was very fun. 


These last few days have made me so happy, I have been on a natural high since Christmas eve, all these experiences have left me spending the day thinking about the future, what is next? how do I continue? Obviously the swims will continue on a regular basis, I have one booked in tomorrow with my friend Frank which will be good. 

And then there is the regular Saturday Parkrun, This Saturday it is taking place on New Years day, another rather special occasion, I have spent my day wondering if I can do this parkrun shirt free? I did Christmas day so why not New years day? I feel more confident about it now than I did a week ago so why not? It will be more of a challenge as it is not fancy dress so there will be no blending in with bits of tinsel and a Santa hat. 

I was chatting to a lady today about running and swimming, she said to me "if it makes you happy then do it". These things DO indeed make me happy and so I have made the decision to run this Saturdays New Years day Parkrun shirt free, this led me on to thinking that if I can do Christmas day and New Years day shirt free then why not all of them?

Hang on a minute? what am I saying here, lets back right up before I say something I regret? Am I really thinking this? running shirtless at Parkruns, not just one or two Parkruns but every parkrun that I do? I have always said that I like a challenge and I do love new adventures and this is going to be one BIG challenge and a crazy adventure. 

Oh what the heck, lets do this.

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