Sunshine at last

This is more like it - lots of lovely sunshine over the last few days, and especially today, when it was positive baking. The lakes have started to warm up a bit, and even though they're still not as warm as I would like, it's so wonderful to swim with the sun on your back. I went to Bosworth on Thursday evening, and it was so beautiful - the sun was setting, and the water was flat and quiet. I felt enormously happy, and like I could swim forever. Saturday and Sunday were similarly good (Bosworth and Swan Pool), and I finally managed to break 25km for the first time this week. I know a lot of people are doing much more than this, but for me, this is progress.

I'm sure that the weather is a huge part of this transformation into a happy swimmer, but I also think that the hypnosis has had quite an effect as well in some areas. I've been practising the visualisations, and trying to reproduce particular feelings of strength and confidence using "anchors". I can't hold on to it for very long and tend to drift in and out of it, but it definitely makes a difference - especially to actually getting in, which I have never found easy. I'm sure the hypnosis partly explains this really ecstatic feeling I've been getting while swimming. It's really enervating. I feel so excited about going open water swimming at the moment, and am already counting the days until I can go next.