Winter Motivation

Tis the season to treat yourself... buy a new cap, goggles, new suit - or in your case, maybe spring for a parka... keeps you warm and snuggly before you jump in. Periodically, I buy a new cap or whatever just to psych myself up... I like to start January in a bright swimsuit in hot tropical colors. No black or navy, there's enough of that outside. (Besides, dark somber colors make pasty white winter skin look even more anemic.)

I've done my share of swimming in an outdoor pool in freezing weather. Once you get in it's fine. I guess you could say the same thing about an inside pool--once you get inside the building it's fine. However, if you've got to walk to the pool in sometimes sub-zero (Fahrenheit) weather I think that's worse than walking across a cold pool deck. But it gets you into the pool quickly! Last year was my first year in a year-round outdoor pool and I really liked it. Yeah, you have to sprint from the lockers into the pool, but the pool is 78-80 degrees so it feels great. Getting out isn't a problem because you're running warm after your workout. I love the days where everybody is barely poking their heads above the water between sets. Keeps the blood flowing. Plus, the fresh crisp air beats the heck out of the warm, stagnant, chlorinated air of many indoor pools.

If you swim for TXLA - at least you are swimming indoors. I swim in Austin outdoors and the forecast is sub-30 tomorrow morning. I plan to swim tomorrow morning. I admit it isn't something I look forward to though. I use my parka on those days. Put my goggles on, then quickly shed my parka and shoes before I jump in the pool. There have been days before when the water on the deck ices up. I suppose one good thing is that I get a perverse satisfaction of saying Yes when people ask me if I swam on a particularly cold morning. Yes, I am a real wimp. I do swim for TXLA. Perhaps the best movitation yet came yesterday when a team mate called me at work (I didn't know she had my work number) and chastized me for missing. I promised I would be there Monday morning. Actually she wanted me to go Saturday at *** Nichols, but as Friday is my birthday and I'm going out, its highly unlikely that I'll be up early enough. :chug:

We've got people from Texas and Arizona chiming in. I think we should listen to the Calgarian! :canada: Most of the rest of you don't know what cold really is! Exactly how cold is the air temperature inside that indoor pool in Calgary? I'm in Calgary/Alberta once or twice a year as my wife's family all lives there. I'll be there in December and trust me, it'll be easier to get my butt out of bed to head over to a brightly lit indoor pool than it would be to schlep over in low-to-mid 30 degree weather to swim outdoors at 5:30am in Arizona. Like hoffam, we do have days when the blocks/deck freeze over.

trust me, it'll be easier to get my butt out of bed to head over to a brightly lit indoor pool than it would be to schlep over in low-to-mid 30 degree weather to swim outdoors at 5:30am in Arizona. I've done my share of swimming in an outdoor pool in freezing weather. Once you get in it's fine. I guess you could say the same thing about an inside pool--once you get inside the building it's fine. However, if you've got to walk to the pool in sometimes sub-zero (Fahrenheit) weather I think that's worse than walking across a cold pool deck.

I wonder if anyone else has trouble getting up ... to make practice? Any good ways to trick yourself out of bed? It's a year round challenge for me. Here's my recipe for success: Get two dogs, preferably one quite young with loads of energy Give them their walk in the morning ... 4:30ish am seems to work for me so I can give them a decent walk and still make the 5:30am workout Feed them after their walk It'll take about ... oh ... two, maybe three days before your dogs are licking your face at PRECISELY 4:30 eager for their walk and meal. Two other tricks to make it tolerable: Make your double espresso the night before and sit it on your nightstand Don't even think of letting your feet touch the floor before you've downed it Sweet dreams.

We've got people from Texas and Arizona chiming in. I think we should listen to the Calgarian! :canada: Most of the rest of you don't know what cold really is!

I like to start January in a bright swimsuit in hot tropical colors. No black or navy, there's enough of that outside. (Besides, dark somber colors make pasty white winter skin look even more anemic.) :laugh2:

Exactly how cold is the air temperature inside that indoor pool in Calgary? I'm in Calgary/Alberta once or twice a year as my wife's family all lives there. I'll be there in December and trust me, it'll be easier to get my butt out of bed to head over to a brightly lit indoor pool than it would be to schlep over in low-to-mid 30 degree weather to swim outdoors at 5:30am in Arizona. Like hoffam, we do have days when the blocks/deck freeze over. True. Once you actually get there, it's probably a lot easier than swimming outdoors with the air temps at freezing point. The hardest parts are putting on all those clothes for -25º C, chiselling the frost off the car windows (or trudging down the hill to the train station), stuffing all those clothes into the usually undersized lockers, and fingertip cracks. Have to slather on the hand lotion as soon as possible afterwards or go through the rest of the week with painful cracks and splits in the fingertips. Apparently the air here is dryer than the Sahara on the coldest winter days.

Do you guys go swimming when it's time but you are very sleepy (not necessarily in the morning)? I didn't have enough sleep last night and nearly fell in asleep in the afternoon, hesitated whether to go swimming (it's also raining hard), then off I went, 'cause I knew I wouldn't be sleepy in the pool.