Coyote in the fells

It's now officially winter swimming! I did 1/4 mile yesterday and 1/4 mile today. I've really set my sites on doing the 200 meter at the winter swim festival, and am working hard at the acclimatizing.  I do the practice swims race style with just a swim suit, cap, goggles and ear plugs. I go into the water to my waist (which I have to walk into at the Mystic, but will just be a few steps on race day) and then I just go for it and swim! The first lap is really hard because the water is so cold on my face, but after about a lap it's just my hands that are cold. Then, the next few laps feel great - my whole body feels like it's burning, and I think I could do a half mile. But soon my hands start feeling icy, and my pulse point shoot off almost electric current. Zingy! And then I decide that 1/4 mile is just fine. Today it took about 13 minutes and the water was about 41-42. Last weekend I also did swims on Friday and Saturday, and dipping during the week. Of course, on race day it's going to be about 10 degrees colder in the water - wonder how that will go?

I'm officially on staycation for 10 days! Today was day 1, and I did parkour, went for brunch, went for my swim, and hung out on the couch. I did some cleaning at home as well - trying to go through things and throw/give away things I don't need.

Last week I went for a walk in the fells - I did a little bit different route because I wanted to check out Writes pond, which is another place we've talked about swimming. While walking over there I saw a coyote! My first big wildlife sighting in the fells - it was a good one. The coyote was pretty big and beautiful. It was trotting along - it looked at me and I looked at it and we were like 'sup? And then it trotted off, unfortunately in the direction I was going. I made some noise as I was walking, and I didn't see it again, though I did hear some noises coming from that area later on.

(Too) Long Swims

I swam two days in a row at the lake - both about 43 degrees in the water, and it was a little much. Yesterday I swam a whole kilometer! According to my fitbit I was in the water for about 35 minutes, which I can say for sure is too long. Today I went a half mile in about 26 minutes, and that was much better. I went with different friends for the two days, and they had very different experiences.

Yesterday I definitely pushed it to the max. I really wanted to see if I could do a full kilometer, and I did. But it was a Bad Idea. After I got out of the water I felt a little bit sick, and was just way too cold. It was really hard to get changed, and I was shivering so hard on the drive home I had to pull over for a bit. Then I drove saying "brrr brrr" and couldn't stop vocalizing. I got home and got in a warm shower for about 20 minutes before I felt warm again. When I got home I took my temperature and it was 96.3, which is above hypothermia, but below a normal temp for me. The crazy thing was I felt good when I was swimming! I knew it was going to be cold when I got out, but while I was going I felt tingly and warm, and I was even able to focus on my stroke for a bunch of the swim. 

I was there with my crazy beast of a swim friend who did 3/4 of a mile and barely had an after drop. He ran around on the beach a little, and was done shivering before he got home. He's going to do an ice mile this year for sure. And, the 200 at the winter swim fest.

Today I decided that I was not doing a kilometer again, and I would shoot for a half mile. I was feeling cold and choking on water a little more than I usually do, and was thinking about getting out at 8 laps instead of 12, but the friend I went with hadn't been swimming a lot and she was doing 12 (which is a half mile), so I decided to stick it out and do the half mile as well. I felt good in the water again, and the sun even came out from behind clouds towards the end which was nice. And the afterdrop was again pretty brutal. 

When I got out of the water my friend was looking a little funky, and she said she was feeling funny. There wasn't much I could do to help until I got my swimsuit off, put on my new heated vest (thanks black Friday - love the new vest!) and some pants. I tried to put on my heated socks, but I couldn't get them on, so I threw them in my bag for when I was a little dryer. I went up to the parking lot and my friends car, where she told me she would be, and she was feeling really sick. She opened her window and was like "I think I need to call 911", which was not good. I called and told them we were swimming and an ambulance (and a fire truck and a police car) came. Fortunately by that time she was feeling a little better. I was shivering uncontrollably, and once they arrived got all my layers on, including my zip up sweatshirt and socks. She decided she didn't need to go in to the hospital, thankfully. The paramedic was really nice, fortunately, and was like "I'll give you my work schedule, if you all could keep your swimming to days I'm off, that would be great." We sat in her car with the heat blasting on full for about 45 minutes, by which time she was totally better, and I had stopped shivering. We were soon laughing about it. It is her birthday today, and I joked that I got her a paramedic with a big mustache for a present. But I sure am relieved to have had that outcome.

Lessons learned:

1. Don't try to keep up with anyone but you. It's not worth the after drop effects. They can be scary.
2. The hardest part is after the swim. Stop before you think you have to.
3. Make sure to do longer swims with a buddy. No exceptions. 
4. Bring my phone to the beach for longer swims and leave it in my dryrobe pocket. I had my phone today and was so glad I did because I didn't have to go fishing around in my car for it.
5. If I could swim faster it would be easier to swim a half mile.
6. Winter swimming really is hard core!