I did my first open water swim last week. Near Ft. Lauderdale, I swam 2 miles in the ocean parallel to the beach. When I finished, about 1 inch of the tip of my tongue was numb and stayed numb for a couple hours.
What does this mean?
One technique to start the saliva glands working again –and thus helping you mouth and tongue clear out the salt is to chew on a couple of jelly beans. Some will actually stick to your teeth a while helping to give a pleasant burst of flavor. We discovered this to be a big help especially in the longer swims where an escort boat can offer them to the swimmer. It seams that water or other liquids simply wash out the mouth without really helping – a little chewing action seems to do the trick.
The pink ones are best.
One technique to start the saliva glands working again –and thus helping you mouth and tongue clear out the salt is to chew on a couple of jelly beans. Some will actually stick to your teeth a while helping to give a pleasant burst of flavor. We discovered this to be a big help especially in the longer swims where an escort boat can offer them to the swimmer. It seams that water or other liquids simply wash out the mouth without really helping – a little chewing action seems to do the trick.
The pink ones are best.
