Swim Report – October 10, 2015 – Autumn Perfection

It was a brisk 47F outside when I stepped out into the darkness and started up my car on Saturday morning. But I could see a clear crescent moon in the eastern skies – which meant that the sunrise was going to be nothing short of spectacular.

The drive down to the swim site was agonizingly long. Even though there was almost no traffic, I confess to feeling more than a little restless while watching the pre-dawn colors come out over the lake. However, I was fortunate enough to find a free spot in front of the Latin School right away.

I made a quick stop into Starbucks to get a small coffee, and I almost popped a cork after the guy in front of me ordered some time-consuming, labor intensive specialty drink. Fortunately, one of the other morning baristas came out of the back at the tail end of his order and filled mine right away.

The 1/3 mile from Clark Street to L1 seemed to take an eternity, but I finally got to our coveted swim spot with more than enough time to spare for the sunrise.

I was quite stunned at the turnout. We had several new swimmers show up – all from out of town – along with a very large gathering of seasoned Lake Monsters. Plus we also had The Twins show up over at L2. So we all had a chance to chat for a while and suit up before the sun made its grand appearance.

And grand it was! Longtime readers of this blog will already know that I have a special affinity for October sunrises. In fact, I consider them to be the most beautiful ones of the year. I think it has to do with the special combination of the colors, contrast, and clarity that we only get this time of year. But whatever the reasons, it sure made us delay our swim start for quite some time!

When we finally got in the lake, we were pleasantly surprised at the rather balmy 59F water temperature. We had some 1-3 foot swells to make things interesting, but they were were barely noticeable throughout the swim.

We did, though, have a bit of drama during the swim. One of the CPD cruisers drove by and checked us out while we were 3/4 the way to Oak Street Beach. One of the high rise residents must have alerted them of someone being in the lake. But since we were not in any obvious distress, the patrol car decided to move on to other more important matters (whew!).

Even in the sub-60F lake, I managed to do the out-and-back mile to Oak Street Beach fairly easily. I wore just my jammers and swim cap with a neoprene thermo cap over the top and was just fine the entire time. The lack any wind coupled with the abundant sunshine really made a difference during the swim.

Being a slower swimmer, I got back when most people were already out of the water. Several of us stayed around for a bit and socialized some more while warming up. I completely lost track of time and suddenly realized it was 8:30am – well past the meter enforcement start! So I hustled back to Clark Street and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw an empty windshield.

I took that as a sign that I shouldn’t stick around for strike three. So I got in the car and headed north, cranking up the heat on my still numb feet.

Happy Autumn 2015!

Daybreak