7 degrees

This morning things were a little hectic at Hatfield as the 'winter swimmers' were doing a qualifier event for their Ice Mile. Working around them meant that the rest of us were a little delayed getting into the water, I was cold before getting wet! Anyway, that didn't seem to matter and I managed 4 small laps, which is around 1km in half an hour. As is so often the case, after one lap I nearly stopped due to feeling cold, tired and generally 'why bother?', but pushing-on gave a reward as I settled into the rhythm of the stroke, thought about hip rotation and set my sights on another few laps.

Once back in the cafe the sign noted a temperature of 7 degrees, over two degrees colder than last week.

Although my pace is ridiculously slow, at lunchtime I did reflect on this year's progress, 3km in the Mediterranean and 1km below 10 degrees, and both are within my comfort zone now.

A bit chilled

It's the winter timetable at Hatfield from today and so I wasn't in the water until nearly 09:30. It was a lovely autumn morning with the pond surrounded by a palette of orange leaves and the water still, almost glass-like. This would have been a perfect day for some photographs but I've not really worked out how to do that safety (for me, the wetsuit and the camera), although there's a method here, it doesn't feel healthy for the wetsuit! Walking in was a bit of a shock, distinctly colder than last week's evening swim even though officially there's been only 1 degree reduction.

After a little breast stroke faffing I got my face in the water and completed 1km. I set off to do another small lap but decided that the cold was getting to me, my hands were stiffening and somehow the chill was penetrating. Previously I'd just felt superficially cold, but after the half hour it was feeling different. So I headed back to the beach and teetered back to the cafe and changing area.

It's possible I looked very wobbly as an assistant was dispatched with me to 'make sure I was OK' whilst getting tired and dressed. After a coffee and walk around the cafe I felt almost normal but wished that I'd taken my DryRobe. It's been a waste of time carrying it back and forth over the summer but now I do need it.

The heated seat in the car warmed me through on the drive home. I think that it's mild and consistent enough to complement the hot drink and give core warmth - showers are best avoided after a cold dip.

Some hardy should were swimming without wetsuits ('skins') in training for an ice mile, but that won't be me for a season or two...

14 Degrees

The water was a claimed 14°C this morning although my watch recorded at a whole degree warmer. Really this is quite mild as open water swimming goes in the UK but it's a good 10°C than I was immersed in a fortnight ago. I was torn between acclimatising and getting cold, or just getting on with it! It's been a shame hat I was affected by a cough and cold that made swimming here unwise, until today, since my holiday.

I found a single lap a bit of a struggle due to feeling a little cold and also finding the Alpkit wetsuit hard work by comparison with the HUUB I've been using most recently. Having said that, the Silvertip was easy to get on and kept me fairly snug. As is so often the case my goggles were an irritation as they were perpetually misted up and some of the buoys had moved around due to strong winds over the last few weeks. I also managed to mess up settings on my watch and so don't have a true record of the swim pace. I think I kept pressing 'Start' rather than 'Lap'. The numbers don't really matter...

After the slow lap it didn't seem wise to go around again so finished off with a couple of small laps so that I knew I'd swum beyond 1km. Not a lot, but a step in the right direction.

Whilst driving to Hatfield I as slightly aware of my left shoulder, it's been more uncomfortable since being told there some impingement. I think that my minor injury was due to a combination of overuse during this training block when I've been trying to do some sprint lengths and insufficient roll to the right. As I tend to breath just to the right I have an asymmetric stroke with probably a biased roll. The article linked to earlier comments that injury risk is increased whilst fatigued so I am aiming now to keep good form throughout shorter sessions to try to counter this. The article also hows some exercises and I think I'll ask the physio about these.

First open water swim

I was already booked on an introductory open water swimming session in July, but the promotion of the Great North Swim and ongoing mild weather made me itch to have a go. Luckily a local organisation, SwimYourSwim, had a session today and I was able to get time off work to leave early.

The traffic to Doncaster was terrible, to my inexperienced eye, and made the journey rather stressful. At least this confirmed to me why I live within walking distance of work. There was a bit of a delay in starting the session even after we'd filled in the usual forms and disclaimers. This made sense as  it enabled the regular swimmers to get in the water as quickly as possible but really there was no need to arrive 30minutes early, as advertised.

Alistair got us to think about his 'pool' and how it differed from the local tiled, chlorinated swimming spot. This useful exercise highlighted the dangers and opportunities as well as the chance to relish the deceptively rural location of this 24m deep gravel path. After instructions on the wetsuits we were told about cold water immersion and how to acclimatise to the water. Actually, at just below 20°C the water was pretty mild.

Initially I certainly felt the reflex and could appreciate the danger but the process (and wet suit) were effective and eventually submerging my face didn't seem so bad. Gradually we made our way into the water with a few easy strokes to a buoy and then the next until I felt confident enough to get a good rhythm of freestyle. We'd been told to try lying on our backs, using the buoyancy of the wetsuit, to have a rest, or call for help if need be, and I was surprised at how easily I floated.

The water was reasonably clear and certainly in the shallows it was possible to see pond weed and the sandy floor of that part of the lake. Naturally along the way I had a mouthful and although I endeavoured to spit it out it tasted fine.

After completing 1 lap of the 200m course in sections we set off to do a second lap. Straightaway I went face-in for freestyle and only stopped at the halfway point whilst we regrouped. Sighting was a bit of an effort as it broke my rhythm. It wasn't clear that my unilateral breathing made me veer off in any particular direction as sometimes I was tending to the left, others to the right.

The session came to an end all too soon, really I could have gone around again, and that's a great way for a training session to end. Far better than to feel you've been pushed too much. Alistair and the club swimmers were very supportive and made us newcomers feel at home. I'd recommend the course but do remember to take some flip-flops along.