Ted and I met at the club just before 7 a.m. Saturday morning. The air temperature was 54 and the water was a balmy 52. Our goal was to swim as many miles as we could in one day.
I suggested that we swim a mile, rewarm, and repeat until we called it 'quits'.
Ted thought we should swim two miles at a time. Ted has two daughters who are about the same age as my two boys. He convinced me to accept his approach by comparing the swim to driving on a family vacation. He said, "its always best to cover as many miles as possible at the start of the ride."
The first swim chilled us to the bone. We completed the 2-mile course in exactly 1 hour. We refueled with pop tarts, hot tea, and sports drink. The sauna was set at 200 degrees, but I was so cold I had to check the thermostat to see if it was working. While reflecting on the first swim, Ted winced in pain and quickly exited the sauna. He had a tooth ache and the heat of the sauna triggered searing pain. Ted went back into the showers to rewarm. As I shook and shivered, alone in the sauna, I reconsidered our approach. . . surely 1-mile loops would surely be better for maintaining our stamina. . .
After being out of the water for 50 minutes we toed the bay again. This time Ted and I were to follow Jason and his swim group around the cove. I mentioned to Ted that I thought a 1-mile loop might be more sensible. He smiled and replied, "I'm the type of guy that carries 8 bags of groceries from the car, just so I can make one trip." Standing waist deep in 52 degree water, the analogy was just goofy enough to make sense. We followed Jason's swim group around the cove and continued on for another mile.
We completed our 2nd 2-mile swim in 1:05 minutes.
This time we refueled with oatmeal, sports drink, tangerines. Jason and his group were dressed and out the door by the time we hobbled back into the locker room. I noticed Jason had left on my locker which read "Go for it Kevin!". I smiled and headed into the sauna.
An hour later, we were back on the beach shivering and trying to derive an original swim course. It seemed we had covered every inch of the cove the during the previous 4 miles. During this swim we encountered two giant sea lions. This was our first encounter with seal lions in six months. It seemed fitting to see them on our 'big day'. One was at the opening of the cove; it was just cruising by. The other swam right up to us like a friendly neighborhood dog. We completed this 2-miler in 1:07.
6 miles down. . . lunch time!
We hit 'In-n-Out Burger' at around one o'clock. It was pure heaven!
During lunch we agreed to one more dip before calling it a day. The final swim measured 1.25 miles. It was obvious that fatigue had set in. It took us 45 minutes to complete the course. The last few strokes to the beach seemed to take forever. When the water was shallow enough to stand, we rose out of the water, shook hands, and made our way back into the warmth of the club.
In total, we were in the water for 3:57 and covered a distance of 7.25 miles. It was an incredible experience. I enjoyed hanging out with Ted and was glad to bank some miles for my Polar Bear Challenge. I also feel I gained more insight about endurance swimming. Although the cold had its effect, the limiting factor during our swim seemed to be muscular conditioning. Swim technique likely had something to do with it, but our shoulders were in agony by mile 6. Based on this experience, I've decided to spend more time in the gym and periodically attempt longer swim days like this one to increase my endurance.
It was an epic day. Thanks Ted!!!
