Swimming with the fishes (2)
10:45pm, 13th May 2015 | 17 Comments
Blog by LazyDaisy
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Well, as you can see, I survived. What's more, it was a gorgeous evening:
and a lovely location. Everyone was really friendly and encouraging. I will definitely go again. But here's how that list of worries played out:
*Getting into my wetsuit without making a complete idiot of myself - first surprise was that there appeared to be no changing rooms :-0. Luckily I'd already put my trisuit on at home, so I joined B in wriggling into our wetsuits in the car park. Despite not having any Bodyglide (it's due to be delivered tomorrow, according to Amazon) the wetsuit went on without trouble, though the zip is still a bit stiff so yet again I needed help to zip myself in. I'd debated whether to take flip flops or my swim shoes (not to swim in, but to walk to the water's edge). I'd gone for the swim shoes - you certainly needed something as there was a stony path leading from the car park to a bark chips 'beach'. Next time I'll go for flip flops, as being much easier especially when your feet are wet and have bark chips stuck to them
*Getting into the water without screaming that it's too cold - no problem. The water was 15*, apparently, which gave you a little bit an 'ooo' as it crept into the wetsuit, but not astonishingly cold. The slope to get in was steep rubber honeycomb matting which was not as slippery as I feared as first.
*Coping with a mass start - never done one of those - no problem because I just bobbed about at the back until the klaxon went and everyone else shot off leaving me swimming sedately behind
*Actually being able to do a front crawl stroke without the cold water initiating a breathless panic attack. Here we come to The Big Problem pf the night. When I signed in and confessed to my total OW novice status, I was advised that it would take a good three minutes to acclimatise to the temperature of the water, and that I should do breaststroke until I got used to the feel of the cold water on my skin. That seemed like good advice, so when the klaxon went I set off on breaststroke. No problem, so then I changed to front crawl but the cold water on my face had the effect I'd experienced in Portugal - a reflex action constricting my throat (or so it seems). I went back to breaststroke then tried a bit of side stroke as a half way house to proper front crawl. That was ok. Tried front crawl again - same reaction. I was swimming completely by myself now, the others having long since left me behind. I decided that as my breaststroke is fairly strong I might as well stick with that and enjoy the swim. And it was enjoyable. However, it was also quite tiring swimming breaststroke in a wetsuit - you're higher in the water than usual, and your body position generally seems affected. By the time I'd got to the first buoy (it's a triangular course) the small of my back was starting to ache.
*Being able to see where I'm going without my specs and given that normally I just follow the black line on the bottom of the pool - it was fine going to the first buoy (off to the right of the photo above) because the sun was behind me, but when I turned to head to the next buoy the sun was shining directly into my eyes. If I had been front-crawling I could have gone anywhere as I've never practised sighting but at least the breaststroke meant I could head in vaguely the right direction.
As I neared the half-way marker, I was getting really tired and was having to turn on my back for a bit of a breather from time to time. This is weird because I'd only swum about 200m which is nothing - I regularly swim 1750m in the pool - but I think it was a combination of the wetsuit effect and maybe nerves. The stretch to the next buoy and a turn for home would take me further out into the lake. The safety guy was on his paddleboard nearby, and when he saw me doing a bit of side stroke he called over to ask if I was OK. Had he not been there, would probably have carried on. But I decided that perhaps it would be for the best to call it a day, and I hung on to the back of his paddleboard while he took us back in. As we floated along he asked what the problem had been and I explained. He immediately said that I should come back for a free swim - he's one of the people who operates the lake - and I shall probably take him up on the offer. I feel sure that if I just bob around in the shallows for a bit I will get over the panicky reflex, and it is a lovely feeling swimming in the lake.
*Feeling sea-sick - no problem
*Getting out with some dignity - no problem. I wasn't the only person to call a halt early, as people were doing a variety of distances. In the changing portakabin afterwards a woman who's on her second year of OW swimming was bemoaning the fact that she has yet to complete the distance she'd signed up for.
*Being able to extricate myself from the wetsuit without causing mass hysterical laughter - oh dear. I do hope Bodyglide is gong to make a difference!
*Not feeling nauseous even though I'm back on dry land. - no problem.
Overall, it was a good experience and I'm looking forward to having another go. The water will get warmer which will make it easier. I wish there were showers, and I really wish I could get the wetsuit off more easily - there's no point in signing up fr a tri until then. I *am* thinking of signing up to a 'novice OW swimming' course with Tewkesbury Tri club though. I'm not giving up on this goal yet.
and a lovely location. Everyone was really friendly and encouraging. I will definitely go again. But here's how that list of worries played out:
*Getting into my wetsuit without making a complete idiot of myself - first surprise was that there appeared to be no changing rooms :-0. Luckily I'd already put my trisuit on at home, so I joined B in wriggling into our wetsuits in the car park. Despite not having any Bodyglide (it's due to be delivered tomorrow, according to Amazon) the wetsuit went on without trouble, though the zip is still a bit stiff so yet again I needed help to zip myself in. I'd debated whether to take flip flops or my swim shoes (not to swim in, but to walk to the water's edge). I'd gone for the swim shoes - you certainly needed something as there was a stony path leading from the car park to a bark chips 'beach'. Next time I'll go for flip flops, as being much easier especially when your feet are wet and have bark chips stuck to them
*Getting into the water without screaming that it's too cold - no problem. The water was 15*, apparently, which gave you a little bit an 'ooo' as it crept into the wetsuit, but not astonishingly cold. The slope to get in was steep rubber honeycomb matting which was not as slippery as I feared as first.
*Coping with a mass start - never done one of those - no problem because I just bobbed about at the back until the klaxon went and everyone else shot off leaving me swimming sedately behind
*Actually being able to do a front crawl stroke without the cold water initiating a breathless panic attack. Here we come to The Big Problem pf the night. When I signed in and confessed to my total OW novice status, I was advised that it would take a good three minutes to acclimatise to the temperature of the water, and that I should do breaststroke until I got used to the feel of the cold water on my skin. That seemed like good advice, so when the klaxon went I set off on breaststroke. No problem, so then I changed to front crawl but the cold water on my face had the effect I'd experienced in Portugal - a reflex action constricting my throat (or so it seems). I went back to breaststroke then tried a bit of side stroke as a half way house to proper front crawl. That was ok. Tried front crawl again - same reaction. I was swimming completely by myself now, the others having long since left me behind. I decided that as my breaststroke is fairly strong I might as well stick with that and enjoy the swim. And it was enjoyable. However, it was also quite tiring swimming breaststroke in a wetsuit - you're higher in the water than usual, and your body position generally seems affected. By the time I'd got to the first buoy (it's a triangular course) the small of my back was starting to ache.
*Being able to see where I'm going without my specs and given that normally I just follow the black line on the bottom of the pool - it was fine going to the first buoy (off to the right of the photo above) because the sun was behind me, but when I turned to head to the next buoy the sun was shining directly into my eyes. If I had been front-crawling I could have gone anywhere
as I've never practised sighting but at least the breaststroke meant I could head in vaguely the right direction. As I neared the half-way marker, I was getting really tired and was having to turn on my back for a bit of a breather from time to time. This is weird because I'd only swum about 200m which is nothing - I regularly swim 1750m in the pool - but I think it was a combination of the wetsuit effect and maybe nerves. The stretch to the next buoy and a turn for home would take me further out into the lake. The safety guy was on his paddleboard nearby, and when he saw me doing a bit of side stroke he called over to ask if I was OK. Had he not been there, would probably have carried on. But I decided that perhaps it would be for the best to call it a day, and I hung on to the back of his paddleboard while he took us back in. As we floated along he asked what the problem had been and I explained. He immediately said that I should come back for a free swim - he's one of the people who operates the lake - and I shall probably take him up on the offer. I feel sure that if I just bob around in the shallows for a bit I will get over the panicky reflex, and it is a lovely feeling swimming in the lake.
*Feeling sea-sick - no problem
*Getting out with some dignity - no problem. I wasn't the only person to call a halt early, as people were doing a variety of distances. In the changing portakabin afterwards a woman who's on her second year of OW swimming was bemoaning the fact that she has yet to complete the distance she'd signed up for.
*Being able to extricate myself from the wetsuit without causing mass hysterical laughter - oh dear. I do hope Bodyglide is gong to make a difference!
*Not feeling nauseous even though I'm back on dry land. - no problem.
Overall, it was a good experience and I'm looking forward to having another go. The water will get warmer which will make it easier. I wish there were showers, and I really wish I could get the wetsuit off more easily - there's no point in signing up fr a tri until then. I *am* thinking of signing up to a 'novice OW swimming' course with Tewkesbury Tri club though. I'm not giving up on this goal yet.
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