Swim Report – May 25, 2013 – Last rays of the sun

Yes, the meetup times are insanely early this time of year. But I’ll let you in on a neat secret: the most amazing experiences seem to take place between 5:00am and 7:00am. And this morning was no exception…

The alarmed chimed at 4:50am, but I was already awake thanks to the incessant squawking of the robins who seem hellbent on preventing all human sleep during the early months of Spring. I got in the car a short while later, and I started to make my way south along the lakefront. I made it as far as Clark Street Beach before I had to pull over and literally run out to the shore.

This morning’s sunrise was just simply astonishing…

I snapped several shots of Nature’s show before I resumed my journey. And I’m glad I did, because when I arrived at L1, the sun had already disappeared into the cloud banks where it would remain for the rest of the day.

I parked in the Lincoln Park lot and hurried out to the swim site. I took the lake temperature, and it came in at a crisp 53F – much less than last week’s 57F+ reading! Mike and Nick showed up along with Kaley, Bill, Chris, and new swimmers Nick and Chris. Quite a lively crowd for such a cold morning!

We did the out-and-back mile to Oak Street Beach which I managed to do without any neoprene (unless you count my swim cap, that is). The last 1/8 mile was a bit of a pain – literally – as my quad muscles started to cramp up from the cold water exposure. Not having that sunshine really makes a difference this time of year!

Still, any minor discomfort during the swim was a very small price to pay for what turned out to be one of the most amazing swims of the year.

So far, that is…

The lakefront scene at 5:20am