Morning Fun Run

The morning was warm, but rainy, seriously tipping down, puddles everywhere. Just the kind of day to go for a fun run and swim session.

We were asked to show up in jogging suits or tracksuits, with proper running shoes. No rainwear because we would overheat in the moist warm weather as the dew point was close to the air temperature.

I wore my jogging suit over T-shirt and shorts, knee high socks and comfy old running shoes. That's my favourite kit for outdoor action.

The plan was to go for a 600m run around the lake, back into the showers to clean up, and into the pool for a 300m swim.

Oh yes, we had to keep our clothes on for the whole event, even the swimming, except for the muddy shoes which were not allowed in the pool.

Start Wet Or Dry?

The instructor said we could start the run in dry clothes, which is easier initially until we got wet in the rain anyway, or we start in wet clothes, which is harder and more challenging.

The group decided to start wet. Obvious choice, we're a swimmig team and we're at Swim Camp to get fit and strong. He said we should keep our hoods up, so they don't slop around.

We headed for the showers by the pool to get our clothes soaking wet and heavy, shoes, socks and all.

I put my hood up and stepped into the shower. Wow, this felt good as the warm water soaked my jogging suit.

Then we headed towards the lake. Running in wet clothes was more challenging than I expected. My somewhat baggy jogging suit was slopping about as I ran to the lake.

Shortcut

Halfway around the lake the instructor stopped us at a sandy beach. The rain got heavier and the lake looked so inviting.

"You've got two choices," he said, "run around the rest of the lake, or take the shortcut by swimming across the lake at this narrow bit."

Easy choice, we're swimmers after all. One by one we ran along the wooden jetty and jumped into the lake.

Swimming in jogging clothes with socks and shoes was hard, but great fun. The distance was about 200 meters to the other side.

We all made it safely across, walked out on another sandy beach and ran back to the base whih took another 10 minutes through the pouring rain. I was so looking forward to the warm pool.

Into the Pool

After we got back to base we slopped into showers to rinse our clothes, took the shoes off and jumped into the warm pool for the 300m swim. This was easier than crossing the lake because we had no shoes on, only socks.

After all that I was totally exhausted, but felt great. We splashed around for a good while until the breakfast buffet was opened on poolside.

Too hungry to change into dry kit, we sat down for breakfast by the poolside in our dripping wet jogging suits. What a lifestyle!