Rubber and Lube

I love the smell of neoprene in the morning... Don’t panic, you haven’t stumbled onto a David Carradine tribute site.

I couldn’t put it off any longer. Although I’ve had a 3 week enforced break from triathlon training, I knew that at some stage I was going to have to practice swimming in a wet suit.

The sea looked pretty calm on Saturday morning so I shoehorned myself into my wet suit and ventured into the water. My first thought was that the North Sea is cold at any time of the year. My second thought was that swimming in brine while wearing neoprene feels weird; the increased buoyancy makes you feel like you’re gliding across the surface of the water. Obviously you’re not, and that first mouthful of North Sea/Eau de Tyne tasted particularly unpleasant. 50 metres later I felt knackered.

Swimming in a wet suit is hard work on the lungs – I need a lot more practice.