More Olympic oohs and ahhhs

As I sit on the couch tapering and eating a fudgesicle, I am in all my glory watching the Olympics. Hee-hee! Watching Phelps win another gold last night was awesome!!

I did manage to go for a lake swim yesterday morning however. But it was freezing cold! What happened to summer? There's already been frost up at Mike's Mom's horse camp -- brrrrrr!

When I drove down to the lake, I could see the wind had turned the usually placid water into a choppy surface. I dallied a bit at my car. Should I go for a swim, or should I just head to the pool instead? It's frigging cold! I bucked up and decided to just give it a go.

I stood there shivering in my bathing suit as I quickly got my wetsuit on. There were a few campers about in case I needed help zipping up my suit, but I managed to do it on my own. As I walked to the water, my eyes were glued to the waves. Now, I know it isn't anywhere near as wavy as REAL lakes, but they were short and choppy enough for this rookie!

My first step into the water confirmed it -- it WAS cold. Oh well -- nothing like swimming like a mad fool to get warmed up. There was a guy fishing just to the right of me -- he was bundled up pretty good and looked like he was enjoying a beer. I heard him ask, "It's cold out today, eh?" as I stood waist deep in the water. I was surprised I even heard him as I had my silicon ear-balls in, but I yelled back cheerfully, "OH YEAH!!"

I swam back and forth across the lake like I usually do, until I noticed a few kids had set up a fishing station in between my lake crossings. The waves would crash over me and I got a good few mouthfuls of water before I finally decided to breathe on just one side. This didn't last long, though -- I just had to try and see if I could roll more to the wavy side to learn how to swim in the waves.

Now, Cath -- if you are reading this, you would laugh if you saw what I call waves -- compared to your race that was changed to a duathlon due to the magnificent wave action...but like I said earlier, it was challenging enough for me!! :) :)

I decided to swim directly into the waves and to a further point across the lake. I could practice swimming in some wave action, and I would give the kids some breathing room to fish their hearts out. :) It was definitely different swimming into the waves. The waves crashed over my head no matter which way I turned my head to breathe, and I had to work harder to actually move ahead. Swimming back, was GREAT!

For my last "lap" I decided to swim across the lake, but to the right of the fishing kids. I sighted off this white rock and noticed immediately that the waves had REALLY picked up. It was like a bloody current. I had to hammer my arms into the water really hard to make progress and to keep in line. Coming back was even more challenging --- I really had to swim hard. It was so weird -- I have never had to swim that hard just to go straight across the lake. It was a good workout though!! :) :) :) :)

By this point, the waves started to grow again. Standing knee deep in the water, the size of the waves rolling by me was startling and I started to get a little scared -- I decided enough was enough and to call it a day. :) I looked at my watch -- 30 minutes. My inner Ironman freak was yelling, "Well, just drive to the pool and swim another 15 minutes to make it 45 minutes!" Fortunately, I slapped my freak into silence and had the good sense to go home and watch more Olympic coverage instead. :) :) :) :) :) :)