2 months in, 114.45km done and kicked out of the pool

Good month of swimming, 114.45km of swimming. That's a satisfying average of just over 4km a day this month. This morning's session was the big one - a solid 8km straight. I have swum more than this in a day in 2 sessions but this was to be the longest single session to date. I headed down to the pool, stocked up with electrolytes and energy fuel. Started with a 2500m warm up and then ploughed through the next 3.6km in decreasing sets to bring up 6km in just over 1.5hrs. I finished with sets of 500m and felt suprisingly strong. As I pushed off for the final 500m I felt a warm glow of satisfaction that I was about to complete my longest ever session and round out the 8km. At this point I noted that the pool seemed remarkably quiet with the few remaining swimmers heading for the exits. I then spotted the lifeguard poised over the edge of my lane. As I pulled up he pointed to the change rooms and said "Time to get out mate, pool's shut", I paused momentarily and thought I would appeal to his better nature, "Do you mind if I finish my set, I've only 6 more laps to bring up 8km?" There seemed to be a flicker of sympathy and recognition of my achievement as he paused before he said "Nah, pool's shut". So that was it, kicked out 6 laps short of my goal. Still as annoying as that was I had a moment of smugness that I felt strong after nearly 8km in the pool, if it wasn't for the fact that that is not even a quarter of the distance across the channel I could feel genuinely pleased. In relative terms it is like running 10km in the preparation for running a marathon. Or more realistically it is like running 10km on a flat track in preparation for a marathon up a very steep mountain, in the snow...........with no clothes on.