Swimming with the " Suits"

Sunday  November 7th, 2010
Water Temperature 50 degrees
Air Temperature 40 degrees
Wind Chill 33
Location: Second Beach, Newport Rhode Island

Second Beach, Newport RI

 Today is the second to last ocean swim of 2010, on the menu a mere 30 minutes in the water, I am due to meet Tim at 8am at second beach, the plan to drink a hot tea and speculate for a bit before preparing for the swim, by prepare I mean Tim layering up in a 5mm full wetsuit full with hood and booties and unload his SUP( Stand Up Paddle Board), for me it means controlling my elevated heart rate due to the pending date with the frigid water, put in my ear plugs, on with my cap and goggles and off with the layers of clothes that are currently keeping me toasty warm. We also need to talk about safety, what the plan of action is if I start getting disorientated and drifting away from the board, also if I mumble and stumble my words, another sign to watch out for uncontrollable shaking of my hands. We talk about how long the trip is and a turn around signal, all the time we are discussing the details I am taking in the view at hand, the waves are tumbling in, a spray of foam cascading off the top of each wave as it breaks, the skies are dark, it seems such a contrast, the grim look of the sky and the sparkling beauty of the crashing waves, it is very soothing.
 The tea is gone much too quickly, that means it is time to move on, Tim starts getting ready, I choose to stay put just a little longer, Tim had kindly turned on the seat heater and unknowingly I had been sucking in the heat while we pondered the swim, " I just broke my rule of no seat heater until after the swim" I tell Tim, he apologizes, and I quietly leave the seat heater on figuring I can stock up a little rump heat to help get me started on my swim, " what's the harm in that?" I justify to myself quite happily.
 Before I know it I am stripped down to my black TYR suit, I have a generous layer of baby oil on my body, so much I feel like if you grabbed me by the arm I would slip out of your hand like a wet fish.
 Tim is into the water already and wastes no time heading out past the breaker waves, I dawdle behind him stretching my arms overhead before I dive in, I don't really need the stretch this just buys me a few more seconds before I surrender to the water. Then I am off, today I don't need to do the few hundred crazy fast strokes to get comfortable, right off the bat I am feeling calm, controlled and not uncomfortable. We travel down the beach parallel to the shore, I am swimming right beside the board, I worry for a bit that I am drifting left and Tim is following me and that I am swimming us right into the shore, I am not Tim holds a good course adjacent to the beach. The wind is cold, I can feel it on my cap chiiling my head down, just as I am noticing my head beginning to feel cold there is miraculously a break in the clouds and the sun streams through, it warms my back and instantly brightens the water, it gives me a boost and I feel strong in the water, before I know it we are turning around, then it is back to the beach where the car is parked, the wind picks up on the way back and the waves begin to jostle me around, I take in a few good mouth fulls of water as I swim but not enough to  frazzle me, soon the cliffs are upon us and it is time to turn to shore, swimming in is FUN, I love this, with not looking up I am unaware of when a wave is breaking, rather than sight I go on feel, I feel the wave building behind me, I drive my head down and stroke hard to catch the wave for a ride in, good times. What a good swim, I know that once I get out of the water I will not be able to communicate, I swim over to Tim, " good job, we did great", then I walk out of the water, it takes the cold wind only a mere few seconds to render me useless, I scoop up my towel and clothes, shuffle up to the car and start the battle of getting dressed, it seems to take forever, my hands and feet were great while I was swimming now they are like blocks of ice, into the car, engine on , heated seats on high, now I sit and wait.....wow when am I going to feel the heat of the seats, the warm air blowing from the heater, today it seems to take forever and hurts inside while I wait, it makes me want to throw up, but I don't, I know it will pass soon.
 Finally I am feeling recovered enough to drive, back to the house, into the hot showers, ahhh pure bliss.
 Next a snack then off to an 11:00am Yoga class in Newport, it felt great and warmed my body right up, afterwards lunch and into the car for the journey back to Vermont.
 Whats next, a good dose of pool swimming this week and then back to Rhode Island for the last out door swim of 2010, how much will the temperature have dropped by next weekend? I'll keep you posted