Two walks and a swim

I woke up several times during the night and did not sleep well, at half past seven I gave up, got out of bed and made breakfast. I didn't really feel like anything cooked so just mad some rye toast with honey and black coffee. At least the weather is better today, the sun is shining and there are patches of blue between the clouds. Around quarter past nine I drive to Cherry and take Dolly and Teddy for their walk on the Westwood. The common is saturated and boggy in the bottoms and around the woods, so we skirt the edge of Newbegin Pits to avoid the worst of the mud. Dolly comes back to the lead at Black Mill and so we complete the walk without incident. After I drop them off, I drive to the leisure centre for half past eleven and find the pool quiet and manage to get a lane for myself. After the bad night I don't feel much like exercising but decide to wait and see how I feel once I'm warmed up, and swim an easy 400m backstroke. By the time I have finished, I am feeling fine. It just goes to show, so I swim 8 x 50m fly next, just focussing on staying smooth and low and swimming without making a splash. If this works for the next few days, I will progress through 75m repeats, to 100m and eventually all the way to 200m fly. But that's for the future not today, so I follow the fly with 400m breastroke and 400m freestyle and then 9 x 100m IM, the last four swum very easily, as a warm down. If you do the maths that's 2,500m in medleys or 100 lengths, 25 lengths in each stroke. Afterwards I have a pot of tea and a slice of coconut cake in the cafe before driving home for 2:30. When I get in I meditate for an hour and the eat a late lunch. Lamb curry and chapattis, with a can of lager, which I take into the garden. The sun is shining and I finish my book of short stories by AS Byatt after eating and am just about to start a spot of gardening when the sky turns black and it starts to rain. Beverley Ramblers have a four mile walk starting at Hull Bridge this evening and as Allan seems to have given up on our walks, I decide to make my way down to the river for seven o'clock to see how I get on with them. It is less than a twenty minute stroll from my house to the footbridge and so I arrive ten minutes before the appointed time on their website. At first I can't see any walkers, but from the top of the bridge I see a group of half a dozen congregating on the other side of the river and make my way towards them. I introduce myself and find that the walk is up the river to the Eske Nature Reserve, a route I know well. Another three walkers arrive and we end up with a party of ten, three men, including myself and the rest women. Our ages range from mid thirties to seventy plus and the pace is a comfortable 2-3 miles an hour. Despite the forecast of more heavy showers, the weather holds and we have a pleasant summer evenings walk. I chat to different people along the way and mostly they seem fine, we arrive back at the Ferry Bridge Inn, next to the river and adjourn to the bar for a drink. We just have the one, and I leave about nine to stroll home as dusk starts to fall. When I get in I toast the half of French stick left over from yesterday and then sprinkle some grated mozarella on it and top it off with roasted peppers. Two minutes under the grill and supper is ready, there is just enough wine left from yesterday to fill a glass to accompany my meal, and after the walk, I am ready for it. After supper I read the Guardian on my iPad, write this and then turn in about eleven thirty. I hope I sleep better, if I don't it won't be for lack of exercise!