On Saturday, I had my first open water swim in the Bay.
Wow. Cold.
The water was 53.2 degrees F / 11.8 degrees C. Or: Cold.
I'd splashed around some in the Pcific on my three ill-fated surfing adventures, and of course I've taken a quick dive in the water before. But there's a huge difference between doing that and continually sticking your face in the water to swim. Making myself do that, and then breathe normally while swimming, was one of the hardest things I've done so far during this training: Not physically, but mentally. It took me ten minutes or so to begin swimming normally, and even then I had trouble with sighting and swimming a straight line, and bumping into others. I also swallowed a ton of water. A ton. Of Water.
When they called time, I almost didn't want to come out. I was just coming up on 2/3 of a mile, and finally getting into a groove. Although the coaches said we had to warm up, I think the real key was to let my face get completely numb--as you can maybe tell from the rictus attempt at a smile I made as I emerged.
Finally, I'm a mere $54 dollars away from my Team in Training fundraising minimum. (Though I still have another $1200 to go before I hit my goal.) If you'd like to make a contribution, please check out my fundraising page. You can find a link there that shows how the money is spent.
Wow. Cold.
The water was 53.2 degrees F / 11.8 degrees C. Or: Cold.
I'd splashed around some in the Pcific on my three ill-fated surfing adventures, and of course I've taken a quick dive in the water before. But there's a huge difference between doing that and continually sticking your face in the water to swim. Making myself do that, and then breathe normally while swimming, was one of the hardest things I've done so far during this training: Not physically, but mentally. It took me ten minutes or so to begin swimming normally, and even then I had trouble with sighting and swimming a straight line, and bumping into others. I also swallowed a ton of water. A ton. Of Water.
When they called time, I almost didn't want to come out. I was just coming up on 2/3 of a mile, and finally getting into a groove. Although the coaches said we had to warm up, I think the real key was to let my face get completely numb--as you can maybe tell from the rictus attempt at a smile I made as I emerged.
Finally, I'm a mere $54 dollars away from my Team in Training fundraising minimum. (Though I still have another $1200 to go before I hit my goal.) If you'd like to make a contribution, please check out my fundraising page. You can find a link there that shows how the money is spent.