Night Moves

February 27, 2024

Wind: from S 4.0 m/sec (9 mph) Air Temperature: 6.8 °C (44 °F) Water Temperature: 7.45 °C (45 °F)

Today at the lake it was dark, windy, and cold. 

I met my new swim buddy, S, at the other beach for a night swim. I usually find parking right near the beach, but tonight I had to park a block away. No biggie. 

S hadn’t been in the water in a long time, so she wasn’t sure how long she’d last. I couldn’t get my second headlamp to work, so I couldn’t put it into her tow float. 

The water was really cold. I think the cold night air makes it feel so much colder than it did just two days ago. The lake is too big to change temperature, so it had to be the air. Also, I wore my thinner thermal suit, so I was really feeling the cold. My torso felt fine, but the arms on this wetsuit are only 1mm thick, I think, so I was fairly cold for the entire swim. It didn’t help that my suit has dozens of tears in it that let water seep in. I didn’t care because I love swimming in this suit so much more than my warmer, thicker suit. I hope thermal suits plummet in price soon so I can find a 50% off sale and get one in a size larger. I’m assuming and hoping a larger size will mean it goes on easier so I don’t get so many tears. 

Anyway, we didn’t know how long we’d last in the cold, and decided to swim to the building and back twice. I was all over the place, swimming in circles. I tried following the sand line below, thinking I could see where the sand angled down, but I guess I wasn’t seeing what I thought. Every time I pulled up I was either in shallow water and could stand up or I was in really deep water. Duh.

I couldn’t really let my head go tonight because I’d received some stressful and life-changing news before I left for the lake. On top of hte usual mess that is my life, now I have to worry about losing my rental assistance. In a couple of months, I can’t afford to pay rent. F!

Also, I was there to hang with S and to swim. We both needed to get in that water. So we did. 

On my way back from the apartment the second time I heard voices. At first I assumed it was someone walking their dog past the lake, talking on their phone. But the farther I got after turning around at the apartment I realized there were two guys in the water. 

I swam over to them, and they were in trunks, standing in waist-deep water, shivering. I asked what they were doing. They said they were gonna dunk, then bolt out of the water. I said, “well, what are you waiting for. Do it.” They were trying to get up their nerves! I told them good luck and splashed off toward my starting point. I pulled up a minute later, and realized I had gone 90 degrees in the wrong direction, straight into the deep water. 

I could see S in the distance, so I waited for her to get to me. We were both cold and exhausted, ready to get out. The sucky part of swimming is changing in the dark, in the cold. No hot showers at this beach, so it was a bit unpleasant trying to wrestle off my wetsuit. I forgot to remove my two layers of neoprene booties first, so it was really hard to get the legs over those. 

Then a bolt fell off the bench, and one of the wooden planks shot up in the air. I was worried it hit S, but it didn’t. That would have sucked. And it would have sucked to fall on the cold cement. I didn’t, thankfully. I sat on the other bench and tried to pull on my dry track pants. 

I still had some juice left in my headlamp, so we did a quick look to make sure we had all our gear in our bags before we shuffled up the hill to the street. 

Tonight was one of those nights where the effort to swim was harder than the swim. I had to drive to a beach that’s farther away. I probably spent as much time putting on, removing, and then rinsing (at home on the lawn) my gear as I did in the water. 

That’s just how it goes sometimes. I know S felt much better after the swim. It lifted her out of a mid-winter blah. I felt better, too. I like S, and I always enjoy swimming with others. Even though we do our own thing in the water, there is something nice about sharing the experience. We know exactly how we benefit from it. 

I am always glad I made the effort to get to the lake, and if I’m at the lake there is no turning back. Not yet, at least. There have been a couple of times where the waves were too big or it was really cold out when I considered going home. I never do. 

Now I am home. I have a lot to do, but I’m too tired to panic. Thankful for that.