tldr

I haven’t been feeling particularly confident about the status of my swim fitness with the NEK Week Swims looming on the horizon. After my 10,000 yard swim back in early April, I messed up my shoulder and never quite got back in the groove again. My trip to the San Juans included zero swimming, and my planned 10km qualifier swim keeps getting pushed and pushed because of events or temps or this or that.

However, it just so happened that a few weeks ago I quit my job and find myself with 2.5 weeks of unplanned vacation. What to do….

Continue reading →

I’m not sure exactly why I decided that water above 49 degrees was no longer “cold”, and thus any swim 50 or above did not deserve the monicker “cold water swim” so I would not be adding to my log any longer. Ha.

I guess I figured that if I could swim longer then 30 minutes, then it was just regular old swimming. However, what I didn’t know, is that 2 hours at 55 degrees is pretty damn cold, and just as much as a mind fuck (if not more) then 25 minutes at 45.

Continue reading →

I’ve been watching fellow swimmers clock 3-6 hours in the pool, thinking to myself no fucking way can I stare at that black line for that long.

For some reason yesterday I decided I needed to accomplish a 10,000 yard swim.

Continue reading →

Date: March 24th
Time in water: 22:47
Water Temp: 46-48°F
Air Temp: 60s°F, sunny
Where: Hagg Lake, boat ramp C

I knew it had been a while since I swam outside, I didn’t realize it had been well over a month. I was a bit nervous, even with the 10 degree rise in water temp from the last time I almost froze my hands off.

Continue reading →

Date: February 10th
Time in water: 6:38
Water Temp: 36.2°F
Air Temp: 35°F, lightly snowing
Where: Broughton Beach

That was… cold. I mean, this is a cold water swim log, so saying it was cold seems rather redundant. But this, this was fucking cold.

According to the temp readings at Vancouver, the water temp was down to 38. So, like an idiot, I thought it was 38, and I didn’t bother to ask anyone if I was wrong. OK, I swam 11 minutes at 39 and felt like I could go longer, so let’s see if I can do 12 to 15 minutes at 38.

Continue reading →

Date: February 2nd-3rd
Time in water: 4 bouts of 30 minutes: first swim, second swim, third swim, fourth swim
Water Temp: 54°F
Air Temp: 52-55°F
Where: Aquatic Park, San Francisco, CA

What an adventure! I must say, I find it hilarious that I did a 24 hour swim relay (which I’ve never heard of), before a 24 hour mountain bike race (which are quite common). I never thought I would do an overnight event, but with a little peer pressure and a whole lot of FOMO, I guess I’ll do anything!

Continue reading →