Water monsters

Open water swimming has felt a lot more comfortable and bearable with water temperatures now around 72F. I'm actually starting to like swimming in the open water better than my gym's pool which gets crowded with the hotter weather.

However, I still have my freak out moments swimming in open water (but fortunately haven't been hyperventilating). Our swim coach has told us that we need to concentrate on our swim stroke & cadence and not let our mind wander during our swims because it could result in slower speeds. On Friday, I swam 75 minutes at Shadow Cliffs Lake in Pleasanton just outside the swim lanes. I like swimming the length of the swim lanes so that I can track if my lap times are improving. The water is actually sort of clear where I can see the bottom of the lake in some spots. I couldn't keep my mind from wandering as I saw many little minnows swimming along the plants on the bottom and various piece of trash partially buried on the lake floor (empty Gu packet, swim cap, pipe, etc.) The first time a large black catfish swam under me caused my heart to jump. But there was one part that I just had to keep my eyes diverted away from looking straight down because my imagination got the worst of me when I swam over the spot the first two times. The creepy, hair-standing-straight-up-on-your-neck feeling returned each of the remaining 18 times I passed over that spot. Probably due to my vivid imagination, I swam each lap 40 seconds faster than two weeks ago.

On Sunday, the IronTeam met at Lake Del Valle where we swam 1 hour followed by a 10-mile trail run. Water had very little visability. I only freaked out when my hand got caught in some algae during the swim and when a very large fish passed in front of me.

I just remember the very first time that I experienced open water swimming, I uncomfortable not being able to see underwater clearly like in a swimming pool. This week, I think that it may be better not to see what is lurking with me in the water.