open water swimming - the North Sea brrrrr

I found myself at Balmedie Beach last weekend filming some kite surfers. A blue sky day but with a warm ish wind chill. I have not done any open water swimming since the 2 mile race in Lake Berryessa, , California 2 year ago so I thought I'd give the north sea a go.

The tide was going out, the waves a bit on the rough side, well a whole lot choppier than a swimming pool, but I waded out. The water was not that deep so I got used to the cold and then that moment where the first strokes are swam. Brrrr, the cold rush, the bumpy waves, no line of sight. It was all rock n roll for a while. The first task is the get the breathing to calm down and to get some heat built up. Eventually, things seem OK, when reaching shallower water, you feel the water warm up but it is still cold really. A calmer lagoon was next up and some decent swimming was possible. Swimming in waves is real strange for a pool swimmer, you feel the need to neutralise them but you soon learn to go with the flow. It was cold, so a quick sprint with the tide to the beach and out. Core cold, I ran for half an hour to retain body temperature and my skin changed from a bright red to is usual pale white.

A pleasure pain type swim experience overall.

turning into a triathlete

It's not an uncommon transition to see an 'ageing' swimmer evolve to become a triathlete. Swimming will always be my favorite sport but adding running and cycling should bring additional fun. I find my hill walking legs turning into running legs when out in the hills, I'll just need to find a regular pattern to ensure I do run. Cycling is my biggest stumbling block, a knee injury does not like the bike but I have plans in place to address that. 2010 is the year to emerge as a triathlete.

There is so much new stuff to learn, training to where the competitions are, new friends to find etc. That why I am enjoying using mepath.com (NB. I am the founder) to gain an insight into the lifestyle, training to food to events to injuries that are being authored by others that share a triathlete lifestyle, beginner to Olympian.

swimming 2009

I've made it to the swimming pool once this year already.  After a getting back in shape during the Olympics time period in 2008, winter bugs have limited or basically stopped my training.  Expectation for the year ahead are to build up to 3 session per week and be ready for a competive swimming year in 2010.