The big festival is less than three weeks away. Time to get training again, even though the ice shelf is still there and calls to me a bit. I went to the lake both Saturday and Sunday and swam a 200 each day. It was hard!! Especially on Saturday because it was windy (like 20 out with windchill) and the water was a little choppy.
The water is around 36 now - I wore booties and gloves, though in fact my feet were fine and I think I could have done it without them. Both times, getting in and getting started was the hardest. The first 10-15 strokes are OK, then the next 30-40 strokes are so hard, and then it's fine. Yesterday I pushed through it, today I had to take a short break in my swimming to catch my breath, but just for a few seconds. After about 40-50 strokes I could feel myself acclimatizing and swimming felt hard but fine. When I got out after the first day I was actually not even that cold, except for my hands. Today was a little harder. But, both times I was there with some guys who were shivering and looked pretty after droppy. So, I felt good about the cold prep.
My swim technique does still need a lot of work. Every now and then when I'm swimming at MIT I can feel that I'm getting the stroke right, and I find myself catching up to the person in front of me. But it's not consistent. At the lake with the cold it's really not that consistent, but once I get through the really cold part I'm getting a little better at trying to use good form. I have one more swim lesson this week, and then a couple weeks of practice. I could try swimming at work when I'm on campus - I've never been to the pool there, but I hear that there is open swim. But probably I'm just going to keep going to the lake...
No comments:
Post a Comment