I'm loving this warm winter. Sunday the 8th of January, we woke to an 11 degree morning. All the water I saw, except the Yazoo River, was covered with a layer of ice. The temps, however, began to warm even Sunday afternoon and by Monday it was shirtsleeve weather. The mildness has stayed and it has been so nice that I called the fish farm late last week and inquired about the water temperature. David told me the ponds were running 58 degrees. Cha ching!
My cutoff point is 60, but I knew with the weather forecast we had that we were bound to get there. I didn't bother to call again but Monday I drove to the pond in faith sure the temps were high enough for me to manage with my wetsuit. I loaded Bear, our trusted dog, and headed for an afternoon at the pond.
As soon as we arrived the sky quickly clouded over and the wind picked up and had a touch of a bite to it. I had run Bear the final mile in and he was loving every minute of being out of the back yard and hanging out with me. I laboriously put on the wetsuit and waded into the chilly water. Bear looked at me with a definite expression of confusion. I didn't tarry long but began to swim.
At first, the bite of the water was tough on my face and caused my skull to ache. But it was not as bad and water in the 50s and I knew it would get better if I could hang in there for four minutes. I learned long ago that four minutes gets you passed the pain. I got passed and slowly adjusted to the cold water trickling inside the suit. For a while, my stroke was short, choppy, but as I warmed up and became comfortable my stroke lengthened and I felt smooth again.
Bear trotted along at the edge of the water and eyed me with concern. A few times he acted like he wanted to swim out. I don't know if he was afraid for me or if he just wanted to join the fun. When I made it to the end of the first levee and started my turn, he did wade into the water and began to swim towards me. I turned over on my back and spoke to him as he drew near. He swam well, but I was still confused as to whether he was trying to have fun or attempting to save me.
I rounded the end levee and began the long trek down the length of the pond. Over and over Bear waded out and swam to me then swam back to undry ground. He seemed to be having great fun. Then it began to rain. Lovely. Bear wasn't happy about that, however, despite being wet already. Even turtles on a log will go into the water if it begins to rain.
I finished the lap and started back up the long levee. Bear disappeared and I was a little worried about him. I swam up the pond until the Garmin under my swim cap buzzed letting me know I had covered a mile. I turned back towards the truck, and when I got to the corner where I get in Bear came out from under the truck. He was happy to see me. I stood there a bit and pondered if I should swim some more. I decided to pack it in. It was raining hard and although I love swimming in the rain, Bear didn't. Besides, any outdoor swimming I do this time of year is a bonus. The Garmin read 1.12 miles in 35:02 @ 31:15.
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