Finally got round to aqua jogging in the pool where we’re staying. Luckily the deep end is just deep enough to allow me to do it. I was quite surprise at how hard work it is. I was getting slightly out of breath. Manage 15 minutes the past two days but hopefully today  I’ll do a bit longer. I may try it in the sea if I catch Jamie when he goes down for a swim. Otherwise I’ll probably provide another laugh for Russ and Oli whilst they cool their legs after their brick. Yesterday they found it quite hilarious. I guess because I looked like a truly pathetic learner swimmer.

I’ve been ramping up the swimming pretty rapidly since thats the one activity that poses no risk to my toe. Been out swimming nearly every morning since I got here. This week it has been every morning and I don’t imagine I’ll be missing one for the next few weeks. Yesterday Jo and I swam round to the next big beach. It was further than expected taking about 40 minutes. I swim ahead and swim back to Jo and beyond and turn and repeat. The aim being to always keep her pretty close. The return swim was tough as it was against the current – it took us 50 minutes to return.

I’ve joined a gym here and have been ramping up that as well. Once I get in to gym work I really quite enjoy it. Managed 3 90 minute sessions this week. There is a lovely pool there which i have access to as part of the “Ironman Deal” – with luck swimming in there may help me arrive at Kona  without terrible tan lines for the first time. Considering making that my goal rather than some performance target !

On the biking front I am slowly building that up. I’ve changed my pedals to Shimano as they provide a bigger platform and it does seem to have made it more comfortable. Last week I alternated days of biking, this week I’ve done a couple of back to back days and increased the longest ride. Most rides are around the 2 hour mark but I’ve built up to 4h45 yesterday. This was a pretty hard ride with Jamie, Oli and Russ. I was dropping off the back a fair bit which illustrated that I’d lost a lot of my bike power however I must be feeling good as having been up Tabayesco and Mirador Del Rio I suggested we climb Tabayesco again ! I pushed reasonably hard and climbed it 8 minutes quicker than the week before. I was still a long way off the pace but boy oh boy was I wasted. The final 10 minutes were torture including a serious dizzy period – it’s been a while since I’ve felt that. Day off the bike today and it feels like the foot is really holding up to all this which is encouraging.

The last two night we’ve been in a bar watching the football. Last night was hilarious – in a bar full of Brits watching Chelsea v Barcelona. Jamie is spanish so his loyalties lay with Barcelona. For whatever reason I don’t particularly like Chelsea and with Jamie with us we all supported Barcelona. There was a big group of Liverpudlians in there who were very vocal with their support for Barcelona. So when that goal went in with 2 minutes to go this bar full of Brits absolutely erupted. Was still making me chuckle this morning when I recounted it to a rather disinterested audience in Jo !