I'm signed up for the Swim Across America event at Nantasket Beach, MA next week. For those not familiar, it's a 1-mile OWS to raise money for cancer victims. Since I lost my mom to cancer last year, I'm excited to use my one athletic talent (swimming) to raise money for this worthy cause.
So I went swimming in the ocean with others from my master's swim group this weekend. It wasn't what I hoped. :(
I hated the taste of salt water in my mouth. I just spent the whole time wishing I could drink some water to get that nasty salty taste out of my mouth. I hated that when I turned to breathe, a wave would often smack me in the face. I hated feeling like I was swimming as hard as I could but I was going nowhere (not true, I know, but that's how it seemed). It didn't help that I was with two very nice but very good swimmers who had to wait for me to catch up every few minutes.
Don't get me wrong - I'm still doing the SAA event next week. But I'm wondering if, after this event, I should keep trying to swim in the ocean in the hopes that I'll get used to it, or should I just accept that I'm more of a freshwater kind of gal?
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Former Member
Eh, you'll get used to it. I like pool swimming OK, swimming in a lkae is pretty nice too, but there's nothing in the world like swimming in the open ocean :) Sounds like you were breathing to the side where the chop swells were, maybe try some bilateral breathing?
For that "I'm not getting anywhere" feeling, I get that. We do a weekly pier to pier and the far pier just never seems to get closer at times. I just pick out a landmark on shore, a tree, or a house, or a hill, and work towards that, it's a great way to see progress when you aren't feeling it. Reach that landmark, pick the next one.
And bring some gatorade to rinse out your mouth post swim. It's always a bummer when I can't really taste the post swim coffee cake because the salt has killed my taste buds :)
How was the swim?
Eh, you'll get used to it. I like pool swimming OK, swimming in a lkae is pretty nice too, but there's nothing in the world like swimming in the open ocean :) Sounds like you were breathing to the side where the chop swells were, maybe try some bilateral breathing?
For that "I'm not getting anywhere" feeling, I get that. We do a weekly pier to pier and the far pier just never seems to get closer at times. I just pick out a landmark on shore, a tree, or a house, or a hill, and work towards that, it's a great way to see progress when you aren't feeling it. Reach that landmark, pick the next one.
And bring some gatorade to rinse out your mouth post swim. It's always a bummer when I can't really taste the post swim coffee cake because the salt has killed my taste buds :)
How was the swim?
