Shiver Me Timbers!

I went to the pool today to get my swim on after work.  (I typically tell Brian that I have a swim meet... I can see him rolling his eyes and nodding his head just to give me my moment, and then we later laugh about it!)  As soon as I stepped out of the locker room and into the pool room I noticed that the air was much colder than it usually is.  (One thing that I love about this pool is that it is always so warm!)

That scared me a little bit.  (I am not a huge fan of being cold, and if the air was cold, that did not bode so well for the water.)

But I put my towel down, grabbed my cap, goggles, water bottle, kickboard, and buoy, like I always do, and headed to an open lane.  At this point, I usually set my stuff down and hop in, put my cap and goggles on, and get to swimmin'.  Today, however, I made the mistake of dipping my toe in.  (Mental note #1: NEVER DIP YOUR TOE IN!)

It was freezing...

I sat on the edge of the pool and put my legs in.  There was one other person swimming and he got out just as I arrived.  I mentioned that it seemed very cold and he reassured me that it started to feel good after you got to swimming.  For some reason, I didn't believe him.

I stood up and walked over to the steps to ease myself into the water.  (Mental Note #2: NEVER EASE YOURSELF INTO THE WATER!)  This didn't go well.  I stepped in until the water was nearly touching my knees and then I turned around and headed out and decided I was going back to the edge of the pool where I originally was.

The water was still freezing.  I didn't understand what was going on, but I know that my cold tolerance is a lot less than most people's. (I am always cold and that is not even a joke.)  So, I told myself not to be a chicken and just jump in.

It took me three tries to get into the water.  Finally, I gently fell in from the edge where I was sitting, tightly gripping the edge that I was just sitting on.

The shock of the cold took my breath away.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to swim, but I reassured myself that I would get warmer once I started swimming.  At least, that's what my fellow master swimmer said.

I was shivering.  I had goosebumps.  My teeth were chattering.  I was trying to convince myself to duck underwater and start my laps to warm up, and it was still freezing.  IT WAS NOT GOING WELL!

After a good five minutes of tricking myself into thinking that the pool was not really that cold, I went underwater and pushed off the wall to start my lap.

I thought my heart stopped, and I thought I was going to freeze in the freestyle swim position I was attempting.  It felt like I was swimming through ice water, and as each lap passed, I did not get any warmer.  As a matter of fact, I think I got colder, and I half expected to feel ice cubes against my body as I moved my arms and kicked my legs through the water.

I swam three laps before I threw in the towel got out and wrapped myself up like a burrito in my towel.  I couldn't do it.  It was just too cold.

As I was recovering from self-induced hypothermia, another swimmer entered the pool room.  He noticed it was cold too and saw me shivering on the edge.  I made mention that the pool was too cold to swim in, for me, at least.  I saw him at the edge of the pool.  I saw him walk to the steps and take three steps in, just I had ten minutes earlier.  I saw him turn around and head back to the edge of the pool.  (I know this story all too well...He was doomed.)  He decided to more or less just jump in and take the initial shock and start his swim.  He threw in the towel too.  (I was glad the water was too cold for someone else.  This made me feel much less of a wimp.)

After I showered and headed out to leave, I stopped at the front desk to inquire about the temperature of the pool.  For if it was going to stay that way I was going to need to find another swimming hole. 

They told me the water heater was broken.

REALLY?!  YOU COULDN'T HAVE PUT A SIGN UP AT THE FRONT DESK?!  ON THE LOCKER ROOM DOOR?!  ON THE POOL DOOR?!  ANYWHERE?!  (Mental Note #3:  Inquire when something isn't as it should be to prevent time wasted and hypothermia...)

It turns out the water heater had been broken for a few days, but someone was scheduled to fix it.  (Gee, that's nice to know.)  I just laughed and told the front desk attendants my story and that I was happy that I wasn't the only one that couldn't tolerate the cold water!

Even though I didn't get my entire swim in, I left comforted knowing that I'm not a complete weakling!  And in a couple of days, the water will be back up to the warm 84 degrees Fahrenheit that it normally is, and I will be able to swim my heart out!