Monday, June 02, 2008

I survived.

First open water swim of the season was tonight. As the day progressed today I began to experience more and more anxiety over the swim as it was cloudy and cold outside and the water temperature was a chilly 14C.

After some words of encouragement from Trent (and a bit of an a@$ kicking) I pulled on my new wet suit and waddled down to the beach. Just as we were about to hit the water the sun peaked out from behind the clouds long enough to provide a little warmth. The warmth was not long to last for the cold water quickly took my breath away and froze my feet. Drawing on what I learned from last season I took my time getting my body used to the cold before starting to swim too hard.

It was tough spotting the first bouy and more than a few of us found ourselves a good couple of 100m's off and needing to swim back. The main stretch didn't seem as far as I remember but the final leg into the beach was a challenge as the tide was definitely pulling us all off of our lines. I swear each time I looked up I was facing a different direction.

I felt great coming out of the water. A little dizzy, some cold feet but all things considered great.

All that and home in time to watch the game. And I thought the swim was stressful!

1 comment:

Trent said...

Sacrifice! thats what it's all about baby! Maybe a little compromise too...? Are we still talking about swimming?