Well after an entire winter of mostly eating and struggling to get off the sofa, I have at last been spurred back into action. This is for a number of reasons:

1. Having gone for a couple of teeny runs over the winter, I am now struggling to finish 5K without needing a lie down (I am truly shocked how quickly my transient fitness has deserted me)
2. I genuinely did feel better when I was exercising regularly, but even fully acknowledging this, I can’t seem to motivate myself to do it without a goal
3. In a fit of euphoria after the Skye cycle (or possibly hysteria) I signed up for the Etape Caledonia which is now less than 3 months away. Except I didn’t get back on my lovely bike after Skye. At all.
4. People keep asking me what I’m doing next. “Having a rest thank you very much” is not sounding quite so justified any more I think.
5. I have taken the plunge and signed up for my first open water triathlon. This sounds impressive but it’s the smallest triathlon you could possibly find and I’m sure would be sniggered at by actual triathlon-doers but the problem is the swim bit. I don’t mind being the slowest in every race I enter, but with swimming there is the extra hazard of drowning if you go too slowly, or need to stop for that matter, and this is quite unsettling.

And so I find myself a new member of the Glasgow Triathlon Club. In fact this is the club that my children have been members of for ages now but I have been too afraid to join due to the fact that it would be full of triathletes sprinting off into the distance. But taken the plunge I have, and I went tonight for my first swimming session. There is a beginners’ session run by the Tri club every Sunday night 8.30-9.30 at the Western Baths, just off Byers Road. Despite living in Glasgow for nearly 25 years, I have never been in the Western Baths and they are great, in a marvellous, old fashioned, reminds-me-of-my-childhood kind of way. There are proper old wooden-doored cubicles at one end and a huge high ceiling with some rather worrying looking rings and trapezes suspended from it (I’m hoping we don’t ever have to use those).

And so, although there were many other things I’d have preferred to be doing on a Sunday night (mostly drinking wine and watching The Bridge box set) I found myself waiting nervously at the side of the pool, with my three other novice swimmer friends. One of these was loyal Lindsay who I always bully into coming to do these things with me, but I was also delighted to see Michelle, a fellow mum from Tri club and her sister Mel. We had a little laugh about the preparations we had made for our first swimming lesson, which revolved entirely around costume buying and leg shaving (it’s been a long winter) rather than any actual swimming. We then met lovely Duggie who ushered us into our very own remedial lane and we actually managed a whole hour’s lesson without anyone drowning, although probably rather too much giggling than was necessary.

And now I am feeling filled with a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm. I’ve managed a couple of runs and I’ve also joined the newly formed Beatson cycling club, tentatively named the Tour de Farce club – we had our inaugural cycle from Anniesland to Loch Lomond a couple of weekends ago which was great. And super to spend some time again with many of my cycling chums from the Skye cycle. We’re hoping this will be a regular get together too.

And here we are again with the blog! If you have made it this far – thank you for sticking with it. I’m feeling a bit rusty to be honest. But I’ve also quite missed doing this. (Apologies also for starting each paragraph with ‘and’ – this seems to be a bad habit of mine that I’ve just noticed). If you’d like to join me in my progress towards the Etape (more of that another time) and the triathlon, then you are most welcome, but please don’t feel obliged! As ever, these endeavours will be in aid of the Beatson – haven’t got a page set up yet but will do shortly and will shamelessly plug it in due course.