I have never understood physical endurance tests. One of our good friends once did the Marathon de Sables; five and a half marathons in five or six days, set in the Sahara Desert. I am currently writing with a guy who has swam the English Channel. Why? Was my first question. Surely life is difficult enough without giving yourself more challenges. However I have realised that giving yourself these bigger challenges makes very easy work of everything else. Isn’t it true, that through struggle we grow?
Feeling physically fit is mentally empowering. Being a Pom in Melbourne can sometimes feel like a fish out of water. Aussies are a beautiful race and generally seem a lot more active than us Brits. Beach Road is more of a cycle track than a road. Swimmers don’t just go to the beach to muck about, they go to swim five kilometres, ten kilometres. Even around the bay!