I drove to Wrightsville with Liz and we swam with Paul, Burak, and Mike. Water temp 56/57 degrees. It was outstanding.
We met up at Henderson and boy, did it seem like a bad idea when I put my tootsies in that water. The air temp was nice (60ish?) and as we were standing around waiting I wasn’t thinking about it that much. So my mental prep started with “Ahhhhhhhh! Fork, that’s cold!” But I brought out my SF Bay routine. One that is so successful that I’m going to put it in instructional form here:
Laura’s method for entering cold water (whatever cold means to you):
- Walk in gradually
- Pee (ah, the warmth) (are you grossed out? If so, maybe OW not so much for you. Also, fish do it.)
- Splash water on your face (most of how your body feels about temperature comes from receptors on your face, so if you don’t want to be gasping for air and feeling like you are suffocating, get your face on board BEFORE you start swimming. There’s interesting science here – Here are articles about Cold Water Shock and the Human Diving Response for anyone interested in those sorts of things. It’s interesting to me that the two responses are sort of at cross purposes.) [2020 Commentary – And, score! I just found a review that addresses exactly that and calls them “two powerful and antagonistic responses.” Here it is.]
- Splash water on your arms (no science for this one, just a more gradual way to get used to the water, I think)
- Wait for your body to start pumping warmth to the core
- Start with some breaststroke (back to that face again. Submerge it gradually as you start to swim)
- Off you go
And you know, I never did get that breathless feeling, even having been out of the truly cold water loop for over a decade.
The Swim
We headed down the channel with quite a current assist and it was lovely. The first 15 minutes, my chest actually felt a bit too warm (like a furnace in my chest), which was quite a strange sensation. Then I had another 15 minutes of feeling about perfect. The next 15 minutes my feet were a bit cold. It wasn’t a problem, but I felt it. And the final 15 minutes include a very slight amount of “the claw” – just the pinky on my left hand.
I kept trying to straighten out that hand, without even really realizing it. I finally told myself to knock it off – just pretend it’s fist drill and claw your way through the water. Excellent training for good forearm position, no?
When we hopped out at the Coast Guard, um, place, the group felt fantastic. The walk across the sand was great, and passing people wearing winter coats while sopping wet in nothing but a swimsuit was hilarious. Except that their dog was violently interested in my swim buoy. But all was well and getting into Paul’s car, which has the largest heating vents in the universe, was bliss. (I apologize that I do not have video of any of that.)
They drove us back to Henderson where we deck changed into our clothes. I felt even better this time than after the 63-68 degree swim two weeks ago, and my fingers were completely capable of getting my bra hooked. I was a tiny bit shivery as we sat down to brunch at King Neptune’s, but it went away quickly. And I think that if I liked coffee instead of ice water, I wouldn’t have even had that.
It did not occur to me until just this moment – ask them for warmer water, duh. Certainly no ice in it.
While I’m making notes to myself – I am starting to suspect that CarboPro makes me gassy. Not terribly, but a bit. Try Maxim.
My speed was very satisfactory on the swim, easily keeping to the front of the group. I was thinking about riding the rails of my hips; I think that’s a good thing for me to focus on now. I’m a bit worried about how much better I am with a current assist – definitely need to train plenty against or with neutral current. I’m thinking I should really add in strength training – it is dramatic how the men (who are of course stronger) fare better in the waves and chop.
We drove home without incident and the rest is history. (Including the historically good Challah bread Liz’s husband had made while we were gone and let me sample.)
