First open water outing of the season!

Normally I would not be dashing to the shores of Box End Lake the moment it opens in April, due to the incredibly harsh water temperatures involved with early spring in this wonderful isle of ours. BUT, due to the fact that I fly to Israel next week to compete in the European Triathlon championships, I figured I had better get in that wet suit at least once before my incredibly high profile first race of the season!



I am not sure how well this will prepare me for the race, when the red sea is 21.5 degrees and the lake is a mere 10 degrees!?

My local lake opened its doors to swimmers on Saturday 7 April. I was not one of the dedicated few who tip toed over the ground frost to get their first open water swim of the season in, however I was there only a few days later, this time later in the morning, I figured it had a tiny bit of time to warm up, right? Hahahahaha

I was well equipped with neoprene scull cap, (unkindly named a ‘gimp hat’ by some of my local triathlon friends!) and neoprene socks! (Trust me, if I had gloves, I would have worn them too!) I decided that the ‘go for it’ approach was the best one, so I ignored the sharp intakes of breath as the other swimmers got in, and didn’t dilly dally, I just got on with it, the sooner I acclimatise and generate heat the better I figured!

The instant ‘ice cream head’ brain freeze pain was the first thing I noticed, followed by a similar hand sensation! Nope, it did not subside, gosh it was cold! I think my hands stopped hurting because they went numb but my ‘ice cream head’ didn’t go away at all, I just got used to it instead! I felt like I was flailing along, I certainly wasn’t gliding, and it took almost the entire 850m lap for my arms and legs to decide to co-ordinate and begin moving in some kind of swimming fashion! I did have to stop for a moment to let the dizziness subside before the second lap, which felt a little smoother but gosh it was hard work to motivate my muscles! After standing up for a while to allow the world to stop spinning after lap two (a little too long because the head thawed out, thus meaning that when I started lap three the brain freeze feeling started all over again, just when I had managed to ignore it!) Three laps was easily quite far enough (and one lap more than I had expected to stay for). I had to stand there for a while to get my bearings before I got out, and clearly didn’t thaw to air temperature for long enough, because the shower felt like it was scalding me!

I am sure that brief, arctic like experience will prepare me for the race next week, somehow!

Isn’t it funny the things we do for entertainment and ‘pleasure’!