Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Back to the Pond

Two weeks. 

Two weeks. 

That's how long it's been since I last swam the pond. I missed it and so did the dogs. Monday afternoon was warm and sunny so I loaded the hounds after work and headed for the fish farm. They were so excited I could hardly drive with them crawling all over me. I need to do something about that.

The water was warmer than I expected. Good thing because I busted the zipper on my wetsuit. That's the second one over the last few years that has done that. I buy an entry level suit so I got my money's worth this year alone. But I don't know what I will do for my next one. There is a pretty good jump from the price I pay to the next level suit, and I don't know if it is worth the extra or not. Usually you get what you pay for. One exception to this rule of thumb is goggles, but I have written about that before. If Speedo ever quits making the cheep pair I wear, I will likely have to retire from marathon swimming because I have not been able to find another model I can wear all day that doesn't leak on me or that I have to tighten too tight for comfort. Really, I have been on a search for a replacement. Seems that my face must be shaped funny because every other pair I try leaks.

I had a pretty nice swim but was surprised at the fatigue and discomfort in my shoulders. I guess I'm not recovered from last week. The 26,000 plus the weightlifting was a big load. The water was choppy and this was my first open water swim in two weeks. Choppy water is fatiguing because I balance on the palms of my hands and the chop is constantly changing my stroke, changing where my palms are.

The dogs had fun. Pee Wee followed me on all my laps as he always does. Bear sat one out. I took Pee Wee out into some water over his head and let him go to see if he could swim. I know what you are thinking, but it's not true. All dogs don't swim. I have had to teach dogs to swim before. I wanted to know if he could could do it and he did. Well. He swam back to shore like a muskrat outpacing a gator.

I made it 3.55 miles in 2:00:38 at 34:01. That pace is pretty slow, but remember, my wetsuit was catching water in the back. It was nice to on the farm again, to see the water fowl, the sinking sun, to experience the wide open spaces. The dogs and I love it out there and I feel like the luckiest man in the world to have access to all that space. And not having a night class on Mondays means I can stay at the pond as long as I need. Maybe next week I can bust out a five-miler. That's the kind of swimming I need.

Now I am in class and dreaming about this afternoon. I plan to stop at Noble's Fish Farm and retry one of his ponds. If I can last for four miles, I will drop DSU tonight. I did not bring my full wetsuit, but I do have my rash guard and my shorty. Jerry's ponds are shallower so they warm a little quicker. Add at least two degrees to what I experienced yesterday and I may be able to stay in over two hours. I was still in pretty good shape yesterday but one foot was beginning to go numb. I will have less protection today. We'll see. I'll let you know how it goes.

Praise be to God.

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