Pleasantly Surprised

It looks very inviting, but is the temperature going to make
me wish I just stayed in the warm car?

This afternoon I drove to the Marina and was very pleasantly surprised to see Goody and Sue there talking.  I knew a small group of us were gathering for a swim in the Marina, but didn't expect Goody as he is recovering from chemo treatments.  Apparently things are going really well for him and he is feeling more energetic and back to himself.  Although far from back to normal.

Chad drove up and we all discussed our concerns about getting in.  None of us have maintained any kind of cold water acclimatization since New Years.  I was especially worried since shedding 50 pounds of fat.  Goody took a temp and it read 53.

After watching Sue,  Goody and Chad get their feet wet and hearing and seeing their reaction to the cold I started to get really nervous.  They hung out at waist level for a while and I did my normal routine of just wading in, and keeping my momentum going forward instead of stopping to soak in the cold a little at a time. I quickly got to swimming.  My goal was to do two laps.  When I got to the turn around point, I noticed they were all hanging out at the ramp still, and talking.  They waved and I waved back and swam back.

First SLOW swim of the year.  Goody, Sue, Chad
and Gords (photographer)

When I got back I turned around for another lap.  Sue followed this time.  At the end of the second lap, I was about to go for another when I saw Goody floating and he yelled out, "Hey Gord, take a picture would ya?"  So I got out to take a picture.  I was better off anyway, my daughter had an orchestra performance that I was probably going to be late for, but I felt like I had another two more laps in me.  I was very encouraged by my ability to cope with the water.  Chad and Sue got 51 and 52 degree readings on their watches.  I forgot to get a last reading before getting out.  So I'm going with 53, just to be conservative.

I'm definitely going weekly now.  It's to the point where I can deal with this and increase my exposure pretty quickly I think.  Next week, I'm going for a mile.

Total: 800 yards in 12:10