I was just curious about everyone's "first time". When/where did you take that first plunge into open water??
(I did a search to see if a thread like this had been done and came up empty.)
So, FindingMyInnerFish, it seems that all your practice had been in a pool before the OW race? Do you feel it necessary to practice in OW at least a few times?
Well, it's no doubt desirable, and if I lived near open water, I'd definitely take advantage of the opportunity. But even for my five mile swim, all my workouts were in the pool. Talk about hamster swimming... I did the race distance in the pool just to feel confident that I was good for that distance--after that, I was REALLY glad to do it in open water. Very liberating!
I think what helped me in all these swims, despite not having the o.w. practice was that my childhood swimming lessons mostly took place in a bay, and I spent many summers swimming in water that didn't hold still for me. So the body memory was there, and when I would swim in these events, it felt like coming home.
So, FindingMyInnerFish, it seems that all your practice had been in a pool before the OW race? Do you feel it necessary to practice in OW at least a few times?
Well, it's no doubt desirable, and if I lived near open water, I'd definitely take advantage of the opportunity. But even for my five mile swim, all my workouts were in the pool. Talk about hamster swimming... I did the race distance in the pool just to feel confident that I was good for that distance--after that, I was REALLY glad to do it in open water. Very liberating!
I think what helped me in all these swims, despite not having the o.w. practice was that my childhood swimming lessons mostly took place in a bay, and I spent many summers swimming in water that didn't hold still for me. So the body memory was there, and when I would swim in these events, it felt like coming home.
