Flowers Sea Swim – Grand Cayman

Every year I make the same vow, this will be the year I get fit, signing up to events so that I get the fear.  An event I love in Cayman is the Flowers Sea Swim (see Flowers Sea Swim – Grand Cayman), which I try and do if I am on Island.  This year is its 25th year and we’re having an enforced period on Island because of the happy birth of our beautiful daughter (I don’t intend to blog about her, because that’s private, but she is perfect and has taken control of our lives in a wonderful way) so I signed up again, adamant that I would get in a few training swims to start the season…

Well, two swims is not bad I suppose, although I got very bad sunburn on the second, as I was out longer than I had planned – it all seemed to be going great so I thought I would try doing the whole mile, which was fine I ntil I turned round and realised that I had been swimming with the current…

So I was a little anxious, lining up with almost a thousand others, conscious that the birth of my daughter had not only led to a dearth of swimming, but of any exercise at all…

But, they say that fortune favours the bold and they had changed the course this year to go with the current, so I actually managed to shave over five minutes off last year’s time.  Maybe next year I’ll train and get into Grant Hackett’s slipsteam (he was less than 17 minutes faster than me this year…).

So, the season’s fitness has started, I’ve had a little set back this week with a recurring back injury but have some sessions with a chiro scheduled. Next up is a few five k’s, training for the Stroke and Stride (Stroke and Stride – Cayman) and building towards the triathlon (Cayman Islands Triathlon) for which I have a little bet against a friend training for an Ironman 70.3 (see Ironmen and triathlons), and then the half marathon and marathon relay in December. 

You have to swim past the Ritz to the finish line, lovely place to stay…