Alliswim
Use the search engine on this site and enter "Garmin Forerunner" and you will find Gary Emich`s experiences with one. I tried to cut and paste the thread but failed. Thursday evening will be the first time I use mine.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Swim 25
What was the water temperature @ Aquatic Park??
I swam with Pedro`s group last nite @ 7,..the water was said to be 58 but felt colder,..it was overcast and the air temp was in the 50`s. Two of us swam "naked". We all did a mile. When I got out 40 minuted later my core temp dropped and I had trouble getting my clothes on,..I hailed a cab and spent 20 minutes in a hot shower at the hotel. Pedro`s advise for tomorrows race,...get off the ferry quickly,...it gets drawn to the backside of the island and if you bail out last you have a lot further to go to reach the start line, could add 20 minutes to your swim. Do not head directly towards the opening to Aquatic,...head towards the far rightside of the sea wall by the Balcutha and let the ebb carry you to the opening to Aquatic Park.
So how did you guys do? What an amazing experience that was! It took me 57 minutes. Not bad, I was estimating an hour so I did better then that. I finished and that's all I care about. You'll never get me out of my shirt.
WOW!!!!!!!!! 52 degree water at the Island,..I was about the 15th one off of the ferry I was on,..treaded water for at least 12 minutes,. As we were treading water, waiting for the ferrys to empty someone started a war cry that spread like fire thru the group,it was truely motivating and warming. It was overcast, a bit windy, air temp in the high 50`s, and moderate chop. Once I was underway, I sort of warmed up and not to long after that my fingers were getting numb,.but the rest of me felt fine,...I over-estimated the current and had to do a mid-course correction to the west,..I hit some really cold water just as I entered Aquatic Park and was not feeling great,..finially my hand struck sand, 54 minutes after the start. I fell down after getting out and had a hard time getting my legs. As I walked towards the bleachers things got wierd..uncontrollable shivering and weakness, I couldn`t pronounce words, had no digital dexterity, but otherwise thought I was fine. My wife threw a blanket over me, then a robe, force fed my hot chocolate , snagged a cab within 20 minutes was in a sauna at the hotel. ( she loves me!). Tht evening we had dinner at Ruth Cris Steak House, and dancing @ The Saloon.
BTW ,..I finished tenth out of 12 in my 55-60 year age group. :^(
Oh yeah,..I wore a gps and have a map of my swim,...thanks Gary !!!
Life is grand!!!! :bouncing:
As I got out I felt drunk I had no idea where I was. All m friends were screaming and talking to me but I just looked at them with a blank stare almost didn't know who the were. The cold water never did affect me. Can't wait till next year. I'll be shooting for 40's.
Congrats to everyone who completed the swim! I had an incredible experience and came in just over 47 minutes. I overshot to the left a little and spent more time battling current than necessary, but I suppose it was better than going too far to the right and getting swept out of the park.
Swim25-- sorry I missed you! Glad you had a good race though.
Oh and I can't imagine any shark would want to come near 800 flailing bodies in the water... I didn't see any signs of sea life the entire time.
The WWS practice on Thursday was very valuable. When I got in, I seriously thought I would not be able to do Saturday's swim in a sleeveless wetsuit, but 5-10 minutes later I was acclimated. I'd been regularly taking cold showers in the weeks before and I think those helped. I acclimated in about 2-3 minutes on Saturday -- getting in just once beforehand really helped.
I thought the water was 57 on race day...yikes.
I'm going to upload a race report in a few days; I'll post the link when I've done it. And some pics -- from his kayak, one of the coaches got one of me in the water with Alcatraz in the background!
