As I've mentioned before...
I'm a huge believer in the credo "do something everyday that scares you" as a way to combat and control my anxiety. While I can't always follow this everyday, I do try and follow it as often as I can. Case in point, the owner of the 9Round gym I go to was training for the swim portion of a Half-Ironman race and asked if I wanted to join him for a swim in the then-frigid waters of Lake Keowee.
"How far are we talking?", I asked. "Just over a mile.", he said. Gulp...
My first reaction was to say oh helll no! Then I realized this was definitely a "something that scares me" moment I should probably take part in. So I agreed and we met out at Lake Keowee at one of his friends' house along with three other guys. The water was about 68º, so wetsuits were definitely in order. We suited up, jumped in and just started swimming while his wife followed along in a kayak.
We swam to there and back.
The Swim
We left from the dock (shown in the foreground) and swam all the way across to the green-roofed boathouse on the other side of the cove – a total of about 1,700 yards. Despite my anxiety about the whole thing, it was actually a lot of fun. The conditions were nearly perfect – it was 57º but sunny and while the water was a brisk 68º, it was actually pretty refreshing..especially towards the end when I started getting hot in the wetsuit. We even had bagels and bloody marys afterwards!
The out and back course. (swim stats recorded by my watch can be seen here)
Lessons Learned
- As usual, my fears and anxieties about things are mostly unfounded. I had a total blast.
- If I can do this, there are probably a lot of other things I've been avoiding that I can do.
- Drinking Bloody Marys after a long distance swim should be required behavior.