I did it!!!!!!!!

Tatty hair, knackered, no make up.....but grinning like a Cheshire cat because I finished the Great Manchester Swim. There were about three thousand swimmers there today and we went off in a wave every thirty minutes. I was the yellow hat swim at 11am, which meant I had to register at ten thirty and then enter the water in the acclimatisation section. I had started chatting to a woman when I arrived and we decided to swim together as we were both there on our own. 

The water was a lovely 18 degrees and it felt good when we went for the practise dip. We then all joined in with the warm up routine and then Olympic Open Water swimmer, Keri Anne Payne gave us a motivational good luck speech...she was there to cheer on some of her family who were swimming in our wave. Then the countdown and....yikes, it was time to go! Keri high fived us as we edged forward, there were about two hundred of us all in yellow hats .... we were off.

I have to say that I haven't been in water since New Year's Day and it showed as I started. Lorraine, my swim buddy, soon pulled away as I struggled a bit to get my breathing right....it served me right for not preparing. But, thankfully, I got into my rhythm eventually and I entered the zone. I hope I managed to get under sixty minutes, but I doubt it after my dodgy start, but I am thrilled I finished. 

As I wobbled out of the water my legs were jelly, but I was on an adrenalin rush and riding high. My super friend, Sian had walked all round the course following me and shouting words of encouragement and as soon as I had scraped myself out of the wetsuit we went for a 'warm up' cuppa and a 'sugar rush' cake. 

Oh...I could bore you all with more, but now I'm showered and clean I need to eat and then it will be an early night as I have an early start for work in the morning. 

I will be back in a bit to comment on the entries for Film Star Friday, though (when I've eaten as I'm starving now). Thank you for the lovely comment for my Bruce Willis yesterday....thankfully I have recovered from the piano stool falling on my head!!

I've just seen the results of the race and I took 58 minutes and 36 seconds...YAHOO I was under the hour!!!!!