My heart is bleeding

I have had my last swim at the Lido this past Saturday .. seems an eternity ago! What can I do..? A nasty cold got the better of me ... and I am by now most certainly suffering signs of splash withdrawal :)

Swimming, I fear would sadly not be the best cure for it ... my head is pounding, my nose running and my chest has accumulated stuff too :) taking all of this into account I reluctantly decided to skip my daily plunge ... am not even cycling...

What bugs me (excuse the pun) most about it is that since Monday London (at least SW London) is basking in wonderful Autumn sun. Crisp mornings, wonderful light and I'm sure the atmosphere at the Lido must be amazing!

The good news is that I am nurturing my cold and the additional side effects of "a bleeding heart" with all I've got!

Head plunged in an inhalator as opposed to being submerged in the Lido ... lovely and warm! Also, adding herbs to the boiling water works miracles. It helps shift whatever it is that decided to disturb my breathing.

As for my bleeding heart, I had a hot lemon Whisky toddy two nights in a row now before going to bed - Knocked me out! I may very well have another one this eve :) Please don't get the wrong impression here ... it's purely for medicinal reasons!

I reckon, give it another day or two and I'll be as good as new. I so hope that the weather will remain kind to us until the end of October. You wouldn't wish for the water temperature to drop below 10 Celsius for us ... yet!

My trusted friend

Slight change of routine: back exercises, swimming, chanting ... my friend Paula (not an early bird!) and I usually chant together on a Friday morning around 9.30am which meant that I left the chanting to later.

All the better for getting to the Lido as early as 7.40am - mind you, I wasn't the first one! There was already lots of activity. One can always count on "The early brigade" - also known as "the 7am lot" to be getting their fix way before me!

The weather looked promising and I decided get my swimming, sauna, swimming as well as taking photos to a T today. I really got too cold yesterday!

I got a good 6 length swimming in before grabbing my camera. The water felt surprisingly "warm" although still at 13 degrees Celsius ... throwing arms and legs around in the water does make a difference, I guess :)

Also, what I had decided to do was to reacquaint myself with my Canon IXUS 70. I bought a water proof housing for it last year and had such fun with it. The results were superb!

It felt really good to be holding my trusted friend again! And off I went. It immediately felt so much easier to use than the mask - I could actually point at something and know that it's in frame! Time delay is still something to consider when catching an action shot... but with a bit of anticipation I am quite used to getting the shots I'm after.

Not many leaves in the pool today and not many swimmers either :)

Just caught Vince on his last lap! He's of to the Sauna while I prolonged gratification by having a play with the only leaves I could find.

We meet again in the Sauna and had are customary natter. All part of the schedule! However, the feel good formula would be incomplete if I didn't have another splish after the sauna.

Wow! that really is the best! Swimming another 2 lengths after sitting in 40+ degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes! Now the rest of the day just simply flows

Keep checking your local paper

It's Albert! The name of the lovely gentleman who greets me every morning with a smile followed by an update on how the water feels is Albert!
I'm glad I have it written down ... cause I'm not the best remembering names. Nor is Albert for that matter :)
"What's your name ?"
"Elizabeth."
"I'll have to try and remember that!"
"That's easy, I said, we are both regal :)"
"It's easier for me to remember names if I think of some else I know with the same name..."

I can't wait for tomorrow morning to arrive! We'll see who is better at it..

Funnily enough, there was an even greater sense of joy and camaraderie at the pool this morning. I put it down to having all the children's paintings displayed. It was lovely to see that each person, in their own time went to take a closer look at the exhibits.

With regards to the press release for the Free Art Event at the Lido, it will hopefully be in the South London Press as opposed to being in the Wandsworth Guardian. The Guardian found my photos "too arty" :) I'll take that as compliment then :) Specially as the South London Press liked them! Bottom line is that it would be good to have something about it in the press.

So keep checking in your local paper! And keep coming to the pool for your daily fix ... of coffee :) but only after your revitalising splish!

I did it again ... sneaked a pic from out of my cubical ... sorry, it was just too tempting not to :)

This is a bold title isn't it?

"An Unusual Love Affair in London".

But, hey, over the next few months you will get to understand and hopefully also feel that what I am about to share with you is absolutely that : a love affair and an unusual one at that! Well, it is perhaps not as unusual as I may think it is because I am not the only person who is "madly in love" with this unusual "thing" ... let me keep the suspense going for a while :)

I know for sure that I am not the only person who has the good fortune to feel this tremendous emotional, yes, even physical pull towards "this". Maybe there are people out there who are feeling such a seductive jerk right now?! and fulfilling the need to satisfy it! In fact know there are at least a hand full of them! There must be! Well I know there are. And yet, I will confess. We are a minority.

What is she on about?

Well, at this stage I can tell you as much as that it is a physical, emotional and spiritual activity. Yes, that much I can give away...

so what is it?

Ok, it's probably a sporting as much as a deeply energising and exhilarating, pleasurable and, for some, calming activity. It could paradoxically also be a meditative activity.

Could it be rock climbing?mountaineering? skiing?... mountain biking? People who love those activities certainly feel a tremendous pull even a distinct calling to engage in the duality of thriving on the physical as well as satisfying an emotional and spiritual need. The peak of a mountain is said "to be calling for his conquerer to triumph over it".

But, hang on. The love affair takes place in london. Remember!

Oh, I know. Bungie jumping! No, it's not bungie jumping! In fact I couldn't think of anything worse than bungie jumping :)

Free running. Yes, I got it. No sorry. Close. interesting new sport that gives amazing athletes a hell of a buzz. But, no.

Tightrope walking. Yes, you have discovered the thrills of walking on a tight rope. Inspired by the film "Man on Wire" - A must see film by the way - go rent it in case you haven't seen it- You have gone totally bonkers and are planning to tie a wire between St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern!

Great idea. Daring. But, no.

Ok, enough guessing. I'll fill you in with my Love Affair. The best way of doing that is to show you a little video.

You see! You get the idea?! The Championship drew quite a bit of attention. Even Reuters covered the event and as I am fluent in German I was asked whether I'd be willing to be interviewed. Of course I was willing! I love talking about cold water swimming and I love the Tooting Bec Lido! By the way, the swimmer with the funny looking contraption on the head is me! I entered 3 races. One of them was "the head up breaststroke with the fancy hat" race. Seeing that I am a freelance photographer and film maker - Bridget, a friend from the pool designed the hat for me!

As if by magic I live no more than a 7 min. bike ride away from the pool!

You saw on the clip the Lido is an open air, unheated pool. What you couldn't see, is that it is 100yards long. However, at temperatures below 10 degrees celsius we usually "regress" to swimming widths (which are still 33meters long!). The Lido is open to the public from the end of May to the end of September and, hurray, open to members all year round.

I swim daily. Come snow, hail, rain, wind and even sunshine! One could say I get my daily fix of love, exhilarating energy, emotional and spiritual enjoyment there, at that very place.

Believe it or not the Lido is 103 years old! I invite you to read up on Lido's history.

So I invite you to stay tuned because during the next few months I will attempt to convey to you what that experience feels like.

Although we have had a fairly good summer and the water temperature had risen to a high of 20 degrees centigrade during July and early August, the temperature has gradually fallen. For the past few days it has fluctuated between 16 and 14 . This morning, around 8am - which is when I usually swim it was a positively refreshing 14. I swam 10 lengths - just short of one Kilometer- and felt amazing.

Now that the secret is out, stay tuned and check in for regular updates on activities at the Tooting Bec Lido. Photographs, interviews with other crazy cold water fanatics and much more to come.