3 loops
lake nokomis open swim
75 degrees
9:30 am
A beautiful morning for a swim! Calm water that felt faster, more buoyant. Was the temp of it colder today? Not sure, but it felt easier to be higher and easier to breathe. Swam 3 loops — 54 minutes — without stopping once, not even to tread water at a buoy. Other than in a race, that might be the longest I have swum stroke after stroke without stopping. Breathed every 5 strokes. Throughout the swim, I tracked the clouds above me. At first: when I breathed to my left there were clouds, to the right, clear. Later: no clouds at all. Finally: clouds to the left, clear to the right. Not heavy clouds, just streaks of fluff covering part of the sky.
10 Things I Noticed While Swimming (other than the clouds)
- difficult to see the buoys, especially the far orange one
- usually I hardly ever see the color, but today I managed to see orange a few times
- more bits of algae in the water, not long strands, but medium-sized chunks, and very small bits
- on the way back to the big beach, on the back half of the loop, I always felt a little tired. By the time I reached the big beach, I was energized again
- no planes
- one bird, bombing through the air — so fast!
- no menancing sailboats or what swan paddleboats* or kayaks
- heard a few voices once, wondered what was happening
- lots of gentle sloshing of water over or beside my ear
- back, a little sore; fingers too, and a little numb; no problems with knees or feet or calves or neck!
*a few days ago, I wrote something about the yellow paddleboats, which have been parked in the shallow water just off the north side of the beach. I just noticed yesterday (having already swum for a month!), that the boats aren’t yellow this year, but white, and they’re swans. Nice paying attention, Sara!