Learning about cold water

Great January 2nd swim at Alki.  Met up with the gang, got in the water, and got COLD.  Ended up feeling like my fingers were colder than I wanted them to be, so I got out. Air- 29, Water 48, time in water, about 15 min.

I've been thinking about why I got colder faster this time. It might have been the air temperature, but I'm not really sure how relevant that is when your whole body is in the water.  I think what happened can be seen in this photo.

Of the two in red sweatshirts, I'm the one on the right.  You will notice that my hands are tucked up inside my sweatshirt sleeves for the photo.  This is a sure sign that I'm feeling cold. I think I was too cold before I even got in the water.  And therefore, couldn't truly get warm from swimming.

I have a big puffy jacket that I often wear in these colder temperatures, but had realized a few weeks ago that it is so non-breathable, that the warm air from the car heater wasn't getting into it to warm me post-swim. So I left it at home. I didn't think about how it could help me pre-swim.

My goal is to try to heat my body a bit more before the swim next time, and see if that helps.  If not, I may go back to the wetsuit, so I have more time in the water.

The good news is that my fingers re-heated quickly and I maintained my fine motor skills, so I was unlikely in any real risk of frost bite. I am glad, however, that I made the decision to get out of the water when I did. The goal is always safety first!

Christmas Day Swim

Since we had the time off work, I decided to swim on December 25th.  About five of the Notorious Alki Swimmers showed up, one for the first time.  Because it was both not a work day and not a Saturday, my husband joined and took some great photos.

That's us taking a pre-swim selfie.  You can always tell the "skin" swimmers because they are still wearing street clothes in the pre-swim photo.

Then we got in.

See how I appear to be shuddering in that photo.  Yeah. It was cold. But I swam.

I actually did more face-in swimming than the last time. The water was murky, so I couldn't see much.  And the waves were stronger than they appeared.  The tide was in, so they were hitting the seawall and coming back at me. And therefore there was a bit of a "dishwasher" effect.

But it was a beautiful day to be out!!  Water, approximately 50*.  Air 39*.  Time in the water- 20 min.

Skin swim!

Open water swimmers classify swims as "wetsuit" or "skin". Skin doesn't mean nothing but skin, a swimsuit, cap and goggles are still worn, but it means no wetsuit.  My wetsuit has a hole.  I tried to patch it this week, but I couldn't get the glue to hold.  I'm going to take it to the local tri store for a "professional" patch, but that will take a week. And I still wanted to swim.  So I decided to go in skin.

My goal was simply to get in the water, with a secondary goal of swimming for 10 min.  The air was 44 and water was 50. To add to the experience, it was raining, a steady Seattle winter rain.

I met the Notorious Alki Swimmers and announced my intention to go in skin for the first time.  Two of the regulars, J and J helped me figure it out.  I was struggling to not cuss, so J suggested I just shout it out.  A yelled F*** actually helped a lot. I walked around for maybe 10 min or so, then too the plunge and started swimming, aided by another set of f.f.f.f.f.f.f.s.

I was able to swim to the first set of stairs.  Then felt like I could go further, but wanted to not push things, so turned around and swam back to the bathhouse.  When I got back I wanted a little more so did another small loop.  In the water, swimming, for about 20 min.  Was cold after, but never go the horrible shivers or trembles.

The water feels so amazing on the skin.  I'm not sure I want to swim in a wetsuit again!

Saw two sea lions as we were getting out, perfect icing on the day!

This is supposed to be fun

I woke up to freezing temperatures, but a clear day.  I'd committed, in my head, to a swim, but was having a hard time convincing myself I really wanted to do so. So I had a conversation with my husband that went something like this:
Me: I don't want to go.
Him: You don't have to go.
Me: I don't want to go.
Him: You don't have to go.
Me: This is supposed to be fun. It doesn't sound fun.
Him: You don't have to go.
Me: I'm going!



Driving over, the city was socked in with fog.  My first glimpse of the water looked like this:



Seriously. That's not exactly inviting for swimming!


But I still did it. This was the group from this week, smaller than last.

I think the motto, as we entered, was "just like bathwater." 


And here's a photo of me (blue swim cap) with the space needle hovering in the background.

I ended up staying in the water for 45 min, swam to the third staircase, and felt like I could have gone longer. The water was flat and calm. The swim was amazing. I'm glad I went. I did have fun!


The wetsuit has a small hole on my hip.  I didn't feel it while swimming, but will need to fix it this week!



Air temp: 34.  Water temp: 50.

Joining the Notorious Alki Swimmers

I am thinking about revamping this blog.  The year I started it I did not successfully swim through the winter, but I'm giving it a try again this year, and I have some help.  The help comes in the form of the "Notorious Alki Swimmers". I swam with them for the second time today.  They are a (crazy) group of people who swim year round out of Alki point in West Seattle.  Today more than 20 people showed up (that arrow is pointing to me).

I was in the water for about 45 min but never got comfortable enough to put my head down and full on swim. The issue wasn't the cold. It was the chop.  The waves were high and strong. I've swum in higher, in fact two weeks ago snorkeling in the Keys the waves were higher (but the water A LOT warmer). Today I was still struggling, as the waves were coming across fast and hard.  So I did head up breast stroke.  I figure the best way to get used to waves is to swim in waves.  I never felt panicked.  But I also never relaxed enough to really swim.

Air temp  41.  Water temp 48.6!

Peeing in the Pool

It's a swim blog. A discussion of urine was inevitable.

This week Slate.Com ran an article with the headline "Do Olympic Swimmers ever Pee in the Pool." The answer, of course, is yes.  But it is very hard to pee while swimming, so it is done at rest. Apparently some also pee on deck.

The article ends with a mention of the chemical that can be added to pools to turn pee bright colors.  I assert that such a chemical is an urban legend, propagated to keep young kids from peeing in the pool. I challenge folks to prove otherwise.

And I will leave you with my thoughts on peeing in wetsuits... There are two types of people... those who pee in their wetsuit and those who lie about it.

Blue Angels

This weekend was Seafair in Seattle.  That means hotter than average temperatures (yes, this is statistically the weekend least likely to rain) and a performance by the Blue Angels. Their show was scheduled for 1:30 each day of the weekend, and the majority of Seattle takes to the water to watch. So I had to schedule my swims carefully.

Saturday I was at the lake around 11:30. It wasn't hard to park, there were still 10 or so spaces left in the lot.  But the park already felt crowded, and there were tons of boats out.  I did a half mile (I had food poisoning this week, so hadn't worked out and really needed to take it easy). The water was choppy from the boat wake. I felt like I was in the ocean, not the lake.  And the water was cloudy.  Not a bad swim, but I spent a lot of time with my head up looking out for motor boats.

Sunday I got to the lake earlier-- about 9:30.  The water was flatter and clearer.  Again I only did a half mile-- this time because I had a time deadline.  But it was good to get in the swim before things got chaotic.

I swam with the swim saftey device on my Saturday but not on Sunday. I broke the valve a few weeks ago, and in repairing it, ended up taking it out all together. Now it doesn't stay put.  I'm going to look into trading it in for a new one. I've had it for less than a year.