I saw the article in the most recent, "USMS Swimmer," magazine about swimming through winter. The first thought that went through my head is that these folks swim inside. Once you get to the pool, you have nice warm facilities, no rain on you while swimming, etc. Here in the Phoenix area, we swim outside year-round. The pools my team uses are heated, but getting to/from the locker room is sometimes painful. If it is raining, you can feel it falling on you while swimming.
Then I went to Flagstaff for work Wed-Thurs. I had gone there last July, and took my swimming bag, got in a great workout at the NAU pool. This is a fantastic facility, some olympians train there for the high altitude. So I brought my bag with me again, thinking I'd get in a swim at least after I got there at night, maybe with the masters team the next morning.
My drive from Phoenix to Flagstaff was uneventful until about 20 miles out. There was a flashing sign on the side of the road, "Winter weather ahead." Ok, at this point it was cold out (40ish), but dry. Slowly, I started to notice patches of snow on the sides of the freeway and thought how nice it looked. As the elevation went up, the temperature dropped, and eventually these patches got bigger and grew together until it was all snow. Then it was snowing on the road. Now I grew up in PA, but hadn't driven in snow for years.
After crawling along the freeway for 30 minutes, my rental car slid into a spot in the hotel parking lot, where it stayed until the next morning. I had wanted to eat at a place in downtown Flag, but didn't want to drive, so opted for walking to Sizzler instead (big mistake). My swim bag stayed in the car. When I did finally get out the next morning, I had to brush snow from the car, wait for the defrost to kick in to get rid of ice, then had to drive very creatively.
So for those of you who have to put up with this everyday, what keeps you heading out, especially for early morning workouts? How much earlier do you have to get up to deal with all of this?
When I'm at home, I pull my car out of the garage at 5:30, park at 5:50, and have plenty of time to spare for the 6 am workout, without the hassles of winter. I can say this, even just 1 day of the winter weather makes me appreciate living in the desert.
I grew up in Michigan and also went to college there. Thinking back I don't ever recall missing a practice in college due to the weather and I always lived in a location where I had to drive. I guess when snow and ice are commonplace it doesn't really faze you.
On the other hand, this winter in Seattle has had an unusual amount of cold, snowy weather and it has affected my workout schedule. People just can't deal with it here and it creates mass gridlock. My normal 30 minute commute has increased to two hours a few times and I've missed practice because of it.
There are certain other factors at work here for sure. Much hillier terrain, lots more traffic on the roads to begin with, etc. but I think a lot of it is just what people are accustomed to. In Michigan people were used to driving in the snow and here they aren't.
Here in northeastern Nevada the winter morning temps are usually around
0-10. It takes longer to warm up the car and scrape the frost off the windows than it takes to get to the pool. Traffic? :rofl: I might see 3-4 other cars on my way. This year it has been colder than normal with morning lows in the -10 to -15 range and highs around 20. The pool I swim in doesn't have any heat in the building except for the dressing rooms and it is a cold walk to and from the water. The water is fine though at around 80-81.
The worst thing is the steam rising off the water makes it hard to see the pace clock sometimes.
I grew up in Michigan and also went to college there. Thinking back I don't ever recall missing a practice in college due to the weather and I always lived in a location where I had to drive. I guess when snow and ice are commonplace it doesn't really faze you.
On the other hand, this winter in Seattle has had an unusual amount of cold, snowy weather and it has affected my workout schedule. People just can't deal with it here and it creates mass gridlock. My normal 30 minute commute has increased to two hours a few times and I've missed practice because of it.
There are certain other factors at work here for sure. Much hillier terrain, lots more traffic on the roads to begin with, etc. but I think a lot of it is just what people are accustomed to. In Michigan people were used to driving in the snow and here they aren't.
This is my exact experience. I grew up in the city featured in that USMS article. When you're used to it, it doesn't faze you. You just keep the driveway plowed and out you go. Everyone knows how to drive on ice and snow. In contrast, where I live now, even the teensiest bit of precipitation sends people screaming and cancels school. No one knows how to drive at all, accidents galore. Makes me crazy and makes it difficult to get to a nighttime workout, or anyplace really.
Fortress,
I went to college in Delaware and it is the same as around DC... a 1/8" of snow and the governor calls a state of emergency, schools are cancelled, and people fight over the last can of sardines at the grocery store. Out of control.
Here the only thing that brings trouble in the winter are the cold bugs (today I was diagnosed with sinus infection #3 of the season, God these are frustrating) and the dry, dry skin on hands and feet.
Personally I think it's a lot harder to swim in the summer when there are so many other fun things to do (and when the diving board at the Beach calls my name...)
Once I get in the water and do my warm-up, I am always glad I got up in the cold dark morning and drove into town from my small town. Although I am thinking of swimming Sunday afternoon instead of Monday morning since Monday's temp is supposed to be -5 with very cold windchills!
Wow, thanks for all the replies. I do get a little of the winter blues myself, as it can get chilly here (we had some lows in Jan of 22F). Once I'm out of bed though, I'm awake and get going. Our group fluctuates quite a bit, with fewer people Dec-Feb, a large increase in spring/fall, and another drop in Jun-Aug.
I definitely agree on knowing how to drive in the winter weather. Flag is so close to Phoenix and at a freeway crossroads that it probably gets many people who don't normally drive in snow. My boss had told me I could stay over again if I needed to, but after 45 min and the drop in elevation, the drive back was pretty smooth. I did swim with my group this morning. I was just looking forward to the pool there, and I was out all last week so didn't want to miss more.
Tim,
here in Granby, Colorado, we train at the local YMCA about 20 minutes drive away from our house. My wife and I roll out of bed at about 5:30 to make a 7-9 a.m. workout. This December and January the temps have often been -20 to -30 F. This morning, there was snow and high wind with a wind chill at -40 or colder.
I've lived in Arizona and wouldn't trade my experiences here for anything.
I was really puzzled why anyone has the winter swimming blues. It's summer when I get mine. Then, the outdoors are wide open and inviting.
Meanwhile, I'm flying to Tucson tomorrow to swim in the Polar Bear meet at Ford Aquatics.
-- mel
Tim--
But do you have the opposite problem swimming outdoors in the summer? After it has been 100+degF all day, aren't the pools scalding, --hot tub temp.? (or do they have chillers for them :> ? )
Our local outdoor pool in the summer gets to feel like bath water (or swimming in someone's else's sweat!), and that's at a much lower daytime temp than out in AZ.
Not necessarily. We more often have problems getting people to swim early because that's whey they'd rather run or bike, when the outside temp is still somewhat reasonable, and the sun rises at 5:30.
Our morning group swims at the ASU Rec Center, where they use aerators to cool the water a little overnight. It does make a difference, and there could be a 3-5 degree difference during the day. Our noon/evening groups usually use the ASU Competition pool/Mona Plummer, which has some advanced system that is like an air conditioner for the water, it is rarely too warm in the main pool.
My pool at home is another story, it does get to 90-95 in the warmest of the summer. I don't mind it too much though, when it does bother me I'll turn the aerator on overnight. Since it is a small pool (about 10,000 gallons) it changes more drastically.
