A lunchtime dip in the Baltic Sea

Another brush with hypothermia today, I've really got to realise how badly I feel the cold.

So from a boiling hot weekend we've plunged into the depths of winter again with he last 3 days of howling wind, driving rain and the coldest October days in 30 years. Yesterday the mercury climbed to a MAXIMUM of 13 degrees. In Sydney. In mid spring. What the?

So I got back from Melbourne on Monday arvo (I will write a brief report on my Round the Bay ride next) and haven't done much exercise since. Got up on Tuesday morning to ride - pouring rain and wind. Considered the turbo trainer but I don't enjoy it very much and it takes a great deal of mental strength and drive to get me about that thing. Back to bed. Wanted to swim at lunch... stuck in a meeting.

Wednesday did a great yoga session in the AM and wanted to swim at lunch - pouring rain (so didn't fancy riding to the pool).

Today was Thursday and I planned my morning ride, but again the rain sent me back to bed. I actually got my bike shorts on and walked towards the trainer... but somehow on the way I felt the urgent need to lie on the couch and catch up on the Good Weekend for an hour instead.

So by lunchtime today I was dying for some exercise and was going for a swim no matter what. It wasn't raining at that precise moment so off I went to the outdoor Boy Charlton pool and joined exactly two other die-hards, stripping in the biting wind and jumping in for 1.5km as the heavens opened and blew sideways rain across the pool. It got me to swim fast to stay warm, but by the last few laps my fingers and toes had gone numb.

By the time I got to the change room i was shivering and the lukewarm shower didn't really heat me up. The ride back to work was short, yet seemed to take an eternity through driving cold rain and arctic gusts of wind. Once back in the office I put on a thick jumper and couldn't actually pick up the phone for almost an hour to make the calls I had to make, because my teeth were chattering so badly.

Is it wrong that I'm now looking forward to another swim tomorrow?