Okay, I’ll cut to the chase… and answer the question everyone always wants to know for the first LOST Swim of the year… it was cold!
How cold? 50F/10C!!! (remember you can check the “weather” tab above… but I wouldn’t bet the house on it… sometimes it’s warmer… or colder… so come regardless!)
So you are sitting there in your jammies at the kitchen table, just waking up, saying “phew, glad I missed that one…”. Well you actually missed a great one!
More to the point, about 39 LOSTies didn’t miss it… and had a great swim! What a turn-out! Take a look at the first LOST Swim from 4 years ago… 14 swimmers (which I was really happy about having that many out!)… and the water was 62F/16C!!!
I amazed how LOST Swimming has spread, just by word of mouth… I’d love to say it was all because of me… or because of the Lake or some other reason… but the true of the matter is, I think it is all because of all the LOSTies!!! Truth is, any of us could go and swim by ourselves or with a buddy or two, in Lake O or any other lake any time you want… but it’s more fun to swim with a group… and it is even more fun to swim with a big ol’ bunch of fun-lovin’ crazies like we had out today!!!
Let me tell you… if I had walked down to the water by myself and stuck my toe in and found it was 50F… I would have turned around and walked right back to the Jeep. But the magic of LOST Swimming is that you see all these other wacko’s doing it… so you figure, “well if all of them can do it, then so can I”. And you do.
And you know what? It ends up not being that bad. Don’t get me wrong… it’s still freakin’ cold… but it’s not that bad.
I told everyone that the guys in Dover who also start their training about this time this year for their English Channel crossings are instructed by “The Channel General” (my ol’ buddy, Freda Streeter!) to go in for a dip in the freezing water… come out, dry off, warm up… and then go back in!!! For some reason, the second time isn’t as bad. Again, yes, it’s still just as cold… but you get your head around it. You get conditioned to it. Both mentally and physically.
Naturally, the 40% or so that were newbies, thought I was nuts. Most were thinking of bailing out… not going twice. But then people started going. Madhu, Rebeckah, Loren and even one awesome Brit who was visiting all went in “naked”! (that’s without a wetsuit, for the real newbies!). So then the rest, not wanting to be shown up by the naked also went in. Then there was the usual 5 or 6 that were really having a hard time getting psyched up. So I chatted with them a bit about going in twice (forget just once!)… and sure enough they did. In fact, they all went in 3 times!!! Awesome!
Some wimps (like myself!) were only in for 5 or 10 minutes… but amazingly… most people, new or vets, young or old, strong swimmers and weaker swimmers, were in there for 20 – 30 minutes!!! That is amazing. Really.
Your average triathlete would not do that. Nor would your average swimmer, for that matter. And there in is the magic of LOST. Not your average group of swimmers.
Well done!!! See you next week!!
- don’t forget to register!
- email me if you want the code for a new wetsuit (they usually come within a week! Xterra takes good care of us LOSTies!)
- the new SILICONE caps that come free with your registration should be in for next week… Miguel designed them and they look great! You can write your name on them and they are your proof you’ve registered!
- check out the LOST Store for the great hoodies and T’s… I was like everyone and wanted to see them first… but they look great and I bought one from Katie on the beach!
- special thanks to Katie (LOST Store Manager), Miguel (Team Manager), Mike (Kayak King)!!!
- don’t forget to come out for the coffee social… that’s half the fun!!! Warming up is just the bonus! (“Bean There”… at Reynolds and Lakeshore!).
This is going to be the best LOST season yet!
Cheers,
Rob