First Open Water Swim of the Season

On Monday afternoon my friend Petra and I headed out to Farm Pond in Sherborn for our first open water swim of the season. Actually, it wasn't Petra's first. She was recently down in Florida competing in the Orlando 70.3 in prep for Ironman Austria, coming up in a month and a half. But it was MY first open water swim, and her first NEW ENGLAND open water swim. Petra's husband dropped us off because you can't park there unless you have a membership to the beach, which we don't. Thanks, Mike! We donned our wetsuits and slipped into the icy water. A wet suit keeps you toasty, of course, so we were fine. When I actually dove in, though, the taste, smell, darkness and cold of the water shocked me. I began to swim and I was immediately out of breath. The cold water trickled into my suit and I cringed. I had forgotten how it feels--how the sun reflects off of everything and can easily make you dizzy when you sight, how the wet suit is so tight on your shoulders, and how it buoys your legs up so high that you almost kick in the air. It's so different than swimming in the pool. We swam out to the middle of the lake, and then paused to tread water. We'd been swimming for seven minutes and I was already totally exhausted! I took a deep breath and soldiered on. Sailboats and a few rowboats dotted the lake, and we quickly decided that going around the perimeter made sense so we could stay safe. I actually don't like swimming on the edge. I don't like to see the bottom with its leaves and debris and fish and tree branches. But it is safer. I really didn't want to get hit by a boat. That would kinda suck. The day was windy and the lake was rough. I kept swallowing water and having to stop and cough. Blek! Still, though, every once in awhile we'd stop and just look around for a moment and I was so happy. We were out in the water! Summer is coming! We swam for about an hour and then finally headed in. I love that tired feeling you get after being out in the open water. It's better than pool tired. I don't know why--it just is. ______________ Today I had a hard bike workout and then a transition run. I really wasn't in the mood for it. I got home from work and really wanted to crawl into bed for a nap. I had 1.5 hours until I had to pick up the kids, and it would be so nice... but I didn't. The workout is three sets of 10 minutes at high power and a low cadence, each separated by 10 minutes of spinning recovery. I keep thinking I will suddenly become stronger and be able to sustain a higher power for these intervals, but I seem to be stuck at 175 watts. Today I did manage to do the last one at 180, but I really, really had to work it and my cadence slipped below 60 rpm--which it's not supposed to if I'm in control! I started my transition run at a moderate pace, but I soon began to recover from the bike and I picked up the pace. The thing is, for the first time this whole season I actually felt really strong during the run. Not really fast--though I was doing sub-8's which is fast for me--but strong. My legs felt packed. Do you know what I mean? I just felt like I wasn't flimsy--that I was made of something thick and beefy, and that I could pick up the pace infinitely if I had to. Of course, my heart rate began to creep up, and I knew that I shouldn't move into full hammer. No need to shatter myself for the week because I wanted to slam a transition run on a Tuesday. Still, I was pleased. The feeling has stayed with me. I am strong.