Mild Hypothermia in a Sauna

This week I turn thirty five - it feels like a milestone for some reason, I'm now in the "35-39" age category for petes sake! Mid to late thirties - I think it just snuck up on me! Anyhow, my parents spoiled me with a three month membership for Garryvoe Leisure centre. This means I can be from the sea to the sauna in maybe five minutes. It is funny though as no-one expects someone to be recovering from mild hypothermia (shaking limbs, teeth chattering and bloodless feet) whilst in a sauna!

This probably tips me into the wuss section of aspiring channel swimmers, but it really is bliss to be warm and functioning within a half hour of finishing a swim.

Saturday I swam for forty two minutes and Sunday I upped it to fifty, my pb for the year. Really hoping to break into an hour on my actual birthday. I was a bit spoiled this weekend with family support. Dad walked the beach while I swam Saturday. He doesn't normally look like this but it was St. Patricks Day after all!

Sunday Dean swam with me and it was reassuring that he found it cold in his wetsuit! I reckon the first time you swim in the sea in winter/ spring is going to be a shock to system even if you were in a "drysuit"!

Which brings me to discuss Lisa Cummins and Finbarr Hederman. Both accomplished marathon swimmers but still, their 3hours40mins in 10deg water is simply astonishing to me, and totally inspiring!

Two new blogs to add this week! Fellow aspirants training with Eilis are Colm Breathnach and Jennifer Lane, the latter who is training for this challenge on a vegan diet no less!

Finally, Dean reckons there are at least one pair of my togs in each load of laundry. On the plus side it means he's doing laundry! On the downside it means that i'm wearing out my togs. Quite embarrassing when you realise AFTER swimming how threadbare your pair was!

So how did you spend your weekend?

Garryvoe was beautiful today - but cold. Air temp was 8deg or so with a biting cold wind and water temp was maybe 9.5deg - Paraic Casey and I swam for 32 minutes.

It's what we all ask our coworkers of a Monday morning - though people normally skip me now as more likely than not I have been swimming. First time queriers tend to be shocked at the notion of swimming in the sea at this time of year concluding, quite rightly, that there is something a bit "off" about someone who does such a thing. I normally shrug this off, but today i looked at my weekend activity of choice with a bit of distance and realised ...

I willing create a situation which results in mild hypothermia. It's not that i enjoy the symptoms but i'm jsut trying to push out my tolerance of the cold water so that ultimately i'll be able to last the 16 to 20 hours in 14deg - 16deg water come August 2012. The "good thing" is that I am only a little bit hypothermic and it only happens after i stop swimming. The bad thing is that, f**k me but do i get cold! Shivers, numbness, aching shoulders, and tiredness that doesn't quite dissipate for the rest of the day. And I am only averaging 40mins at the moment in water ranging from 9deg to 11deg - the latter if and only if you believe Finbarr Hedderman's watch.

So tomorrow if anyone asks? I shall say that I went on the beer and watched the rugby and got a taxi from outside the door cos it was WAY too cold to be outside. Pure lie? Yes - but never let the truth get in the way of a good story.