Swimming in the Rain

I woke up this morning ready for my first swim in Lake Washington. And what do I wake up to? Rain! Yuck!! Guess that's what you have to expect living in Seattle. My mom came with me and sat on a bench in her raincoat to watch me "just in case". Where I swim isn't too deep, but it's still nice to know she's there. The lake was so cold! I inched my way into the lake before finally taking the plunge, literally, and submerging my body up to my chin. I couldn't quite put my head in yet. I did the first two laps without putting my head in - one on my back and one doing a modified breaststroke. This way I could continue to get my body used to the cold temperature. Although I think the first time I put my neck in the cold water is the worst - once I've done that it's a piece of cake. But finally I worked up enough nerve to put my head all the way in and was off. It's so funny - I know the cold won't be so bad once I just get in the water but it still takes me forever to just get in the water! In fact at the end it's the opposite - I inch my way out of the water because it's so much colder out of the water! I'm that way with a lot of things - I know it'll be okay once I do it, but it still takes me awhile to actually do it.

For the most part the water was clear, but on one end there was this dark area where there was lake grass. I have a hard time swimming in a straight line without lane lines and I knew I was getting far off when I headed into the dark spot. I really hate lake grass - it just feels slimy and yucky and it grabs at you. I finished up my 20 lengths faster than I anticipated (what I've estimated the triathlon length to be) and so continued on for another 10 lengths. For most of the time the water was really smooth but towards the end it started getting a little choppy, which in a way is good because on race day the water definitely will not be smooth! I felt good at the end of it which means I might be in a better position for the swim than I was thinking!

One of the good things about the rain was I got to try out the back windshield wiper on my new car! It really does not take much to amuse me - case in point, using the back windshield wiper. It was just fun that I had a back windshield wiper to use!