tldr

**Date**: November 25th **Time in water**: 16:32 **Water Temp**: 44°F **Air Temp**: 39-41°F **Where**: Milwaukie boat ramp I was thinking about just paddling instead of swimming all morning long, but finally I got my butt in gear and left the house sans paddle board. The fog was thick again, but wasn’t nearly as bad in Milkwaukie, but the wind was picking up slightly. There were 8 swimmers, we milled around for a while, I tried to decide between 15 or 20 minutes. I decided to shoot for 20 but wouldn’t be sad with 15. Getting in was easy once my lower half was numb; I really have to concentrate on my breathing for the first 3 minutes. Long slow breaths, focusing on the exhale to prevent hyperventilating.

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**Date:** November 24th **Time in water:** 23:55 **Water Temp:** 43/44°F **Air Temp:** 39-42°F** Where: **Milwaukie boat ramp The fog was thick in North Portland, and I prayed for clearing the whole way down. No luck. When I walked down the boat ramp, Anita’s car sat idling, half on the beach, half on the ramp. Cindy’s face poked out the window and beckoned me inside. 

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**Date:** November 20th **Time in water:** 10:55 **Water Temp:** 44/45°F **Air Temp:** 52°F** Where: **Milwaukie boat ramp

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I am stealing the idea of a cold water swim log from Margot, so here we go. I am going to do a rough back log since I can’t recall all the details, culminating in today’s swim, which was the worst after drop I’ve had so far. Since the official-ish yeti calendar starts on October 15th, we’ll go from there. Well, I was Hawaii at that time, so we’ll go with the first swim back.

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I stood knee-deep in the water, staring out at Janie, who was already swimming away from me. “Wait!” I yelled, wading in mid-thigh. From there, the small shore on Haydn Lake dropped sharply, 12 feet at least. I could see the tangle of seaweed growing on the lake’s bottom through the clear water, and I knew once I was in I had to swim hard away from shore to avoid it touching my feet. But the water felt cold to my 11 year old self.

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For some time, most of my personal goals are athletic, and most of those are around either speed or distance: completing an event at a certain ranking or time, or just racing some distance I’ve never done before. Or in the case of Ironman, both at the same time (because of course you would set time goals for something you’ve never done before…) After Santa Rosa, I took the summer off from goals and challenges (except the challenges that come with selling and buying homes). So as summer started winding to a close, I was feeling ready to do something with purpose. However, most of the things I do start training in January.

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