As much as I didn’t want to drag myself out of bed early on Monday, I got up and headed to an open water swim practice at Fort Ritchie, which is where I’m doing my 1500m swim “race” this coming weekend as well as a triathlon later this summer.
(Side note – while driving out there, I realized just how painfully hilly the bike course is going to be. Need to practice that.)
The practice was exactly what I needed. They had a 150m course set up so I swam it ten times, though not without some breaks to chat in between the first few laps. The swimming part isn’t the hard part for me. The hard part is all mental. I felt like I got comfortable more quickly than I did at my previous OWS, even though the water was equally cold. But I still don’t love open water.
I’m a little apprehensive about Saturday’s swim. 1500m is far. It’s actually two 750 loops, where I’ll have to get out of the water, run on the shore and then get back in, so that’s a good mental break. And I just need to get out of my head while I swim. I told Liz that one trick I’ve used is to sing a song in my head, and I just have to get back to that. Time to put on the Frozen soundtrack and make sure I have the entire thing memorized so I can sing it as I swim. Don’t be surprised if you hear about a woman doing the backstroke while singing Let It Go. (Kidding – I hate backstroke.)
It’s reassuring on some level to know how many people don’t love open water swims. Somehow, that makes me feel better. I’m not totally crazy. Doesn’t necessarily make the act of getting through the swim easier, but it’s good to know I’m not alone. And the more practice I do, the better it will be.