Location: Magothy River, Ulmstead Beach in Arnold, Maryland-open water swim
Time: 7:00-8:30 am
Total miles: 2
AH FINALLY back in the open water. It's been way too long. Always enjoy swimming with my ABC friends. They've been so supportive with my situation with my son with Autism. They helped raise a large chunk of the $13,500 for Nate's service dog. I have such gratitude for these friends.
So, as real swimmers do, woke up before the sunrise this morning. 5:00 am. Left for Naptown around 5:30 and pulled up to the beach at 6:55. Gorgeous morning with the sun shining. Always my concern are the jellyfish. Call me a wimp, but I hate them. Like HATE getting stung. Guess no one likes it but really ruins the fun for me. I'm high maintenance. What can I say?
I had asked my good friend, Bill if there are any jellies these days. I got a definitive "no" answer.
Anyway, we got in and started swimming our usual route to Laura's dock. (about a mile there).
I'm always kinda the lost soul in this bunch. There are always the really fast swimmers. Almost always the dudes trying to out swim one another. Then there is me.....I can always keep them in sight but never can stick with them. Then there is usually another group behind me. I'm always feeling like I'm out there with no one to watch for me....Boat traffic can be heavy on Labor Day too. Anyway, made it to Laura's dock. The dudes informed me they had all gotten stung by jellies. Ugh. Wasn't happy to hear that. Felt sluggish and my lower BACK was really bothering me. I think I'm having some female ovarian cyst issues that I will be getting checked out for next week. So thinking this is the cause of the back pain. However, I do tend to get lower back pain a lot swimming open water. I probably did sight too much today. My goggles keep fogging up and can't see where the heck I'm headed. I need to let go of some of my negative thoughts and excuses and just relax. Boats can be heard.
Anyway, so then we headed back to the beach. I expected to feel the jellyfish stings at any stroke. Felt a few of the jellies themselves but somehow managed (once again ) to escape the sting of the damn things. Looked at my Garmin and said 3.89 miles. I was thinking..cool. That was easy!! Well, OPPS. I had it in "Run" mode. Damn. Only really swam about 2 miles. I really had hoped to swim more miles. It's too far of a drive for an hour swim. But knowing that the jellies were high in abundance and waiting to wrap their nasty tentacles around my flesh, I decided to call it a day.
My goal is to continue to swim outside in open water this season as long as possible before winter hits. Sans wetsuit of course. Not sure if I should swim longer and include the wetsuit or not. Not a huge fan of the wetsuit but hey, allows me to stretch the season out longer (Gordon? What are your thoughts?)
Plan to do at least one long swim in the pool before this Labor Day weekend ends. I REALLY need to up my yardage.
I do miss the open water though. The jellies will be gone soon (where they go, I just don't know!) But can't wait to get in a long open water swim soon.....Life is always good when you can start your day with an open water swim.
Can't blame you for not wanting to get stung. Unfortunately with most ocean swims it'll happen where you'll get stung. And you just have to move on.
ReplyDeleteAs far as swimming with a wetsuit. If it means not swimming at all, definitely a wetsuit is better. But it is good to empower your mind when it comes to dealing with the cold. That is probably the biggest triumph you could have is acclimatizing to the cold and knowing syncing your mind and body to understand it's limitations.
When your mind isn't aware of what your body can do, you either push yourself too far and risk hypothermia, or on the other end of the spectrum, you rob yourself of maximizing your potential. If you find yourself on either end, you can resolve it by doing the same thing. Practice cold water swimming. Then your body and mind meet in the middle and you learn that your body can acclimatize, and your mind is more realistic in what you can achieve.
I realize the water temp during your swim will probably be in the high 60s to low 70s, but its always a great motivator to be involved in a polar bear club. Some may call you nuts or crazy, but having that attribute isn't all that bad as a marathon swimmer either. You don't have to swim the ice mile, but its a great feeling when you extend your boundaries and broaden your abilities.
Keep at it. You're doing great!
Ha! Being friends with an Ice Swimmer, Lelane' Bancroft doesn't even start swimming outside til the water temp in in the low 60's. I have the opportunities to swim outside in the cold but didn't know at what point to stop nor how far to actually swim.;)
ReplyDeleteI don't mind cold water. It just doesn't like me!!!! :)
I know...gotta suck it up and just deal with the jellies.