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!

Half mile at 43 degrees

Today the water is down to 43 degrees, which is significantly colder than 50! A group of us met at the beach for a swim at 1. It was cold and a little windy, with enough cloud cover that you couldn't really see the sun. It wasn't a bad weather day precisely, but it wasn't a good one either. We all procrastinated for a little bit before getting into the water before finally agreeing it was time to get in.

Once in, we decided to shoot for 200 meters - the longest winter swim festival distance. I really want to do the 200 this year! I put my face in and repeated my mantra "breathe through it" over and over as I did the first lap. By the end of the first lap, my breathing was in fact fine, and my face didn't feel that cold. I did my 200, and thought that I could do a quarter mile, which isn't that much further. At the quarter mile point I decided that a third of a mile was doable, and then at that point, I decided to go for a half mile, which is what I wound up doing. By the end, my hands and feet felt like they were incased in blocks of ice. I got out and was so stumbly, and it took me a couple minutes to realize that I couldn't get my swim suit off because my bouy was still belted around my waist. So, the brain wasn't working that well.

On thanksgiving we also did a half mile - that one was actually much easier for me. The water was about 45-46 I think, but there was sun and no wind.

Getting into hot water and out of my swimsuit fast is so key. In addition, I bought a new heated fleece for myself for black friday, and that is massively helpful. I put it on next to my skin, and then cover it with a zip up fleece. Still, the after drop today was brutal! We stayed on the beach for a good half hour dancing to warm up. 

One thing that I started doing that I think helps (or maybe it doesn't, but I'm going to continue doing it) is I pulled my swim cap down to just above my eyebrows. I think that keeps my neanderthal ridge a tiny bit warmer. I also got a new swim suit because my current one is starting to look a little sad, and because I need 2 for the winter festival. I think the new one is a tiny bit thicker, not like neoprene, but maybe just a little compression to it. Which might also give me a little boost.

The L street visit was a lot of fun. We got into the ocean, bobbed around for like 10 minutes, sat in the sauna, and then went back in for 5 minutes, and just alternated swim, sauna/steam room for 5 dips, ending with the cold. I don't think the sauna was that hot, but it could just be the cold in between... 

Slush Mile #2

This whole cold water thing is such an addiction! I had some free time this afternoon and the sun was out and weather was supposed to be around 60 (which it was), so I met some friends at the lake. The guy who I swam the last slush mile with was like "want to try it again?" and weirdly I did. And, so we swam a second slush mile. The temp again was around 50, but the air was definitely warmer. It took me 55 minutes, which is pretty much the same as the time it took for the charles river swim.

We got to the lake around 1:10, unpacked our gear and got ready for post swim. The water didn't seem that cold when I headed in, and I appreciated how much the air temperature makes a difference - I went for a dip last night and could barely get myself to put my face in the water. But, with the sun out and the warm (ish) air I was actually able to get fully in with little problem.

I spent a lot of my swim time focusing on my stroke - trying to reach out longer and be solid with the pull phase. I also worked on trying not to drop my arms. It's funny how fast the time goes when I'm doing these swims. For the first bit it seemed like time was going slowly. And, a little over half way through my left pinky started to get a little claw handed, and I was worried I was going to have to get out. I decided to keep an eye on it, and if it progressed past the pinky I would get out. But it never did. 

At about the 3/4 point a bunch of other swimmers had assembled, and they all came in - it was fun to see everyone joining us in the water in a big group and for all of us to swim together. 

As I finished they all congratulated me and the friend who I swam with said that we'd been in the water for 57 minutes, and he was going to shoot for a full hour. I decided I could stay in the water for 3 more minutes, though I kept my face and hands out - maybe that's a little cheating?

When I got out I was definitely a little stumbly and it wasn't easy to walk in a straight line on the beach. I ended up doing my best penguin imitation, bobbing up the beach to my stuff. It was a little difficult to get changed and my water was too hot to stand in - when I finally got my swim suit off I threw it in the bucket to cool the water off. Now that I'm swimming without booties and have a new, expensive water jug, I have to figure out the temperatures better (for reference, I filled the water jug with boiling water on Tuesday night and left it in the car overnight and the next day, and it was still a little warm when I went swimming Wednesday night! And, it was in the low 30's over night). It took a little doing to dry off and get dressed, and then I had to run because I had a zoom meeting with my boss. (My swim buddy is in tech and he wrote himself a little program so that his computer looks like he's still working - awesome!)

I made it home with about 3 minutes to spare. The after drop hit me in the car and I had a good shiver, and I was so cold through my entire meeting! Nonetheless, another success! I'm pretty tired now and really want to snack, but I'm trying to hold off. I think it's a big energy expenditure. 

Tomorrow a group of us are going to L Street where the Brownies swim. I'm really excited about it because they have a new bathhouse with a sauna and steam room so we can alternate between dipping and heating.

Slush Mile

One of the merfolk decided he wanted to swim a mile in cold water - there's an official swim that's called an Ice Mile, which is done in water at or below 5 c (41 f) wearing just a swim suit, cap and goggles. That's hard core! He decided that trying it in a little bit warmer weather would be a better idea, and he dubbed it the "slush mile". Today was the day! The water was about 50 f, the sun was out, and there was pretty much no wind - perfect weather. He had a bunch of safety features set up including someone in a wetsuit swimming along with him, a warm emergency car, tea, cookies, a cheering section, music, etc. And, a bunch of us came to cheer him on and swim a little bit with him.

He was going to do a longer swim across the lake with a kayaker, but then decided it was better to stay close to shore. There are two signs that are 75 yards apart, which worked well because he just needed to do 24 laps between them. I joined the swimmers to do a little jaunt too. The cold was hard on my hands and feet, but the worst was my face at the start. Once I had gone about 3 or 4 laps, though, my face numbed up nicely, and I was fine to swim. I spent some time doing mental math - I hit 6 laps and that was 1/4 of the way, and then 8 laps was 1/3 and then at 10 I was like "just two more laps and I'll be half way."

As I was swimming, I felt really good! My arms were cold, but in this kind of interesting power-numb way. I've been going swimming after work in the dark, which is extra dark, so the sun made everything feel so nice. By 10 I knew that I could do the mile too, and so that's what I did! It took me about 55 minutes. The last lap or two I was starting to get a little bit of a claw hand on my left hand, which I knew wasn't a good thing. But, it was still functioning and I was so close I just finished it up. When I got out of the water everyone was cheering for me, and helped me with my dryrobe and water for my feet. Which was a good thing because I was a little stumbly. 

I would definitely do more long swims like that - probably on the weekend so I can go during daylight. I liked the longer duration because I could get really into the zone. It didn't feel like it took an hour - more like 20 minutes or so! Obviously the time/distance would need to get shorter as the water gets colder... And it would be nice if I learned to swim faster so I could do the distance in less time...

All and all, a nice accomplishment!

51.4 degrees

The water this evening was down to 51.4 degrees. It's definitely colder, but I was still able to swim to the slide and back without gloves or booties. The hardest part is putting my face in the water - it takes a little longer for it to get numb because you have to take it out. A few days ago I noticed how many bruises I have from climbing onto the dock, and yet I just keep adding more :)

One of the guys from the Merfolk has gotten pretty hard core, and it's inspiring me. He's planning to swim a mile tomorrow in just a little speedo and goggles. I'm starting to think about if I could do the 200 meter swim at the Winter Swim Festival. I timed myself on Tuesday at the end of swim class and it took me about 5 minutes. Of course, that's with walls to push off of, but there kind of are at the swim fest. And, I was a little tired from class. I'm going to keep trying not to use gloves and booties, and see if it might be possible.

I found a new pair of goggles on ebay that fit! Horray! I will have to keep scouring the interwebs for them - I hate leaky goggles.

54

Winter is coming - we were at the lake yesterday and the water was down to 54.7, which is still warm enough to swim to the slide and be able to climb onto the dock and slide down it, but just barely - my fingers were a little numb and it was hard to climb out (it's often hard to climb out since I have no upper body strength, but even harder, I mean). After the swim I was really glad I had some tea!

I lost my favorite goggles going down the slide a few weeks ago, which is sad - I keep buying new ones, but they all leak. I did 23 and me recently and it said I am more Neanderthal than 51% of the population that has done the test, so maybe it's my Neanderthal brow??  Anyhow, I had to stop a couple times because my goggles were leaking. Sigh.