The hourly forecast for today showed clear and sunny skies from 7:00am to 9:00am – and for once the meteorologists were spot on!
Five of us gathered out at L1 at 7:30am. The sun had risen 30 minutes prior, but I wanted to make sure it was in full blaze once we entered the water given the outside weather conditions.
Despite the abundant sunshine, we had to contend with a 21F air temperature and a lake that read 42.7F. The latter was the surface temp – I’m estimating that the in-swim water was around 40F tops!
I went with almost full body neoprene – a wetsuit top along with gloves, cap, and foot covers – with only my lower legs and neck exposed. It was a bit of a painful first five minutes, but I was able to acclimate by that point thanks to the perfectly calm water and absence of any wind.
Since I felt like I was “cheating” with all that neoprene, I decided to swim the full out-and-back mile this time. While it was certainly doable, I was completely spent by the time I returned to L1. I haven’t been swimming that distance regularly – so I was a bit out of shape! Plus, even with the extra layers, the cold really sank into one’s bones.
Post-swim was a real challenge. Since I was moving really slowly, I opted to keep on my wetsuit top and jammers and just put on layer after layer in an effort to stave off the inevitable afterdrop. And that turned out to be the best idea since it hit me with full force once I got back to my car!
Once I started the engine, I cranked the heat to full blast and rode out the worst part of the shivering. All in all, it was a good half hour until I “broke through” to the calm at the end of the storm (ugh).
But even with this temporary discomfort, it was well worth getting out to the beach on one of our very rare sunny mornings this time of year!
Long shadows
Crazy sunshine
Our own private skating rink!
Pre-swim scene
This morning’s video