Navesink Swim

Tonight was the first open water swim night.  All day long I kept reminding myself, you have to get in the water today, no excuses.  & I am happy that I did.  I now know I have 30 days to get my ass into gear.  Putting on the wetsuit & having to pose for a picture made me realize that I need to stop eating junk food!

It was a quick swim, we were only in the water for a half hour.  All day long I kept wondering what the water temperature would be by 6 pm.  It's been nice out & getting warmer, but only for about the past 2 weeks.  It has been a loooooong winter.  The temperature was about 57 degrees & honestly, it sounds a lot colder than it was.  The worst part was walking in to the water, as I do not wear the wetsuit booties & with the seaweed & the cold, well I was not thrilled to be standing in the Navesink.  Not to mention the last time I went for a swim there I got an ear infection.

There were some buoys set up & I made it out to the first one without any problem.  I was nervous at first, as I always am when I get in the open water, but when I turned for the second buoy & realized how fast I got out to it, I started to relax.  It was easy too because it wasn't a race & you could actually stop & float & speak to the other swimmers around you.  Not really used to that happening.  For a few minutes I swam with a woman & we chatted.  I was happy to hear that her goggles were foggy too.  Phew, it's not just me.  We looked at the third buoy & we decided we'd do it.  Another 10 strokes & we were there.  It was weird.  The tide must have been going out because after floating around the third buoy for a few, turning back was a bit harder.

The swim clinic is two nights a week & I know that I am definitely going to need it.  The entire time I was in the water my friend Doug was in his kayak saying, it's just as cold as Alcatraz.  But to tell you the truth, by the time I got out to the third buoy, the water felt refreshing & no longer cold.  I know one thing thought, I'm going to have to get in the open water more often, no matter how slimy the bottom is, or how gross I feel after.  I know it's only a 5 minute drive to a hot shower.