In the Fall of 07 most of my open water swims were at Lake Berryessa with friends and fellow swimmers from the Davis/Sacramento area. Nate also escorted us on the kayak for several swims. I tried out a few 2 hr swims but made them shorter as the water temperature got colder. By mid winter we were only swimming 30 minutes and the water temp. reached a low of 48 degrees. The feeling of the water on my skin was a mix of sensations including burning, numbing, and tingling. I made sure to swim at the lake every week and after a while the feeling became routine. I knew that at first it would feel cold and I'd swim fast, then I'd start to numb and slow down a bit, then I just had to hold that constant rate until I returned to shore. When I got out of the water, the wind would send me into shivers within 5 minutes. That was the time to quickly bundle up, drink something warm, and hike up to the car. Sometimes the shivers would last (for me) almost 30 minutes after swimming. Because I could not handle the colder temps for too long I started swimming longer hours at the pool. I would swim long sets at the Saturday or Sunday lap swim (longest =5.5miles) and made a habit of swimming double workouts during the week (5-6,000yds total). On occasion, Kate and I would swim a set at the pool and then head up to the lake and swim another 1-2miles.
As spring temps brought warmer waters, Kate and I started swimming more at Lake B. and less at the pool. By then, Kate had also officially made the decision to attempt a Catalina Crossing, so we slowly started increasing our time in the water from 1.5-3hrs. We began carrying water bottles in the back of our suit and Kate carried chocolate and apple cinnamon gel for us in the front of her suit. We would stop every 30 minutes and share a drink and squeeze from the gel bottle.
When Lake B. warmed to an almost too comfortable temperature, we tried out a longer swim (8 miles). Duncan accompanied us on the kayak and Lyra and Allen met us in their boat. Lyra swam with us for a long time and it was great to have her company. Allen motored us across the channel in the boat (which had become dangerously thick with speeding boats) and Duncan was our constant eyes and ears and safety watch. The swim was exciting and a great accomplishment for us both but was also a big signal that it was time to switch lakes to a place with less or no boats.
Since that swim, Lake Natoma has been our main training ground (or water). We have done several 2hr, a few 3hr and one 5.5hr swim there. We have also met and started swimming with Jack (who is training for the English Channel this September '08). In the months to come we hope to continue swimming at Natoma, add more swims at Aquatic Park (San Francisco bay) and Santa Cruz, and trips to Southern Cal. beaches as well.
