Lake Effect
Part of the fun of doing a triathlon, once you get over the initial stages of pure panic, is the swim. I remember the first tri I did back in 2001. It was in Midland Ontario and the swim had been changed from the traditional 'out and back' to a course that paralleled the beach. Bad idea. It was too shallow, too muddy, and way too crowded. I finally managed to drag myself onto the beach at the end of it all but not without a few 'wtf' moments. Horrible.
Anyway, I'm a much stronger swimmer now and I actually like the swim, especially if the conditions are nice. A sunny day, flat, weed-free water, plenty of room between swimmers... you can't beat it. I can't swim all that fast, so I just relax and enjoy it. It's way more fun swimming in open water than plodding along in an over-chlorinated pool filled with other people who are swimming either too slow or too fast and where the chances of a 'fouling' always lurk. If I could train in open water all the time I would.
'But wait', I hear you say. 'Don't you live in Toronto, right next to one of the largest freshwater lakes on the planet?'
Why yes, yes I do. It may be one of the largest, but it's not necessarily one of the friendliest. At least not right here in the city. Lake Ontario has a longtime reputation as a polluted cesspool of a lake, a reputation that it no doubt earned over several decades of mismanagement and indiscriminate filth-dumping by industry and inadequate waste treatment facilities. It has cleaned up quite a bit lately, however, to the point where there is even a tri right in downtown Toronto again.
Last night some fellow Lake Placid-bound friends and I decided to try our luck with an open water training swim in the Beaches. We wetsuited up and hit the water on a clear night at about 6pm. A stiff breeze was blowing in from the southeast, which around here means bad weather is on the way. It also means that waves have been travelling right across the width of the lake before hitting our shores, so the seas were rough, as they say. About a 3 to 4 foot swell with a few bigger waves in the mix too. Interesting. Also 'interesting' was the water temperature. Interesting as in 'I'm more interested in standing on the nice sand here than swimming in that frigid water'. I waded into the surf last, and instantly my hands and feet were numb and my breath was taken away. Not good! I jumped right out again after 30 seconds and a few strokes.
Standing there on the shore though, watching as my friends splashed away, I decided that cold water or no I had to go back in. So in I went and took off after them. And you know, it wasn't all that bad after a while. I got used to the cold (the wetsuit helped of course) and my breathing slowed down enough to get into a half decent rhythm. The waves were big, but they were real rollers so I was able to ride them up and down.
We were all having a grand time out there and feeling quite pleased with ourselves when the police arrived. I looked up to see the police boat bobbing beside us and a cop talking to one of my pals. I didn't really catch all that was said, something about taking an oar in the head. Also apparently we were advised to stop doing what we were doing. Something about us being in a boating channel or something. Huh. I guess the buoy we were using as a marker wasn't just for swimmers.
A couple more 'lengths' of our giant pool and we headed for the shore, cold but feeling quite chuffed about it all.
The local tri shop runs an open water swim there twice a week, so we'll be back.
Anyway, I'm a much stronger swimmer now and I actually like the swim, especially if the conditions are nice. A sunny day, flat, weed-free water, plenty of room between swimmers... you can't beat it. I can't swim all that fast, so I just relax and enjoy it. It's way more fun swimming in open water than plodding along in an over-chlorinated pool filled with other people who are swimming either too slow or too fast and where the chances of a 'fouling' always lurk. If I could train in open water all the time I would.
'But wait', I hear you say. 'Don't you live in Toronto, right next to one of the largest freshwater lakes on the planet?'
Why yes, yes I do. It may be one of the largest, but it's not necessarily one of the friendliest. At least not right here in the city. Lake Ontario has a longtime reputation as a polluted cesspool of a lake, a reputation that it no doubt earned over several decades of mismanagement and indiscriminate filth-dumping by industry and inadequate waste treatment facilities. It has cleaned up quite a bit lately, however, to the point where there is even a tri right in downtown Toronto again.
Last night some fellow Lake Placid-bound friends and I decided to try our luck with an open water training swim in the Beaches. We wetsuited up and hit the water on a clear night at about 6pm. A stiff breeze was blowing in from the southeast, which around here means bad weather is on the way. It also means that waves have been travelling right across the width of the lake before hitting our shores, so the seas were rough, as they say. About a 3 to 4 foot swell with a few bigger waves in the mix too. Interesting. Also 'interesting' was the water temperature. Interesting as in 'I'm more interested in standing on the nice sand here than swimming in that frigid water'. I waded into the surf last, and instantly my hands and feet were numb and my breath was taken away. Not good! I jumped right out again after 30 seconds and a few strokes.
Standing there on the shore though, watching as my friends splashed away, I decided that cold water or no I had to go back in. So in I went and took off after them. And you know, it wasn't all that bad after a while. I got used to the cold (the wetsuit helped of course) and my breathing slowed down enough to get into a half decent rhythm. The waves were big, but they were real rollers so I was able to ride them up and down.
We were all having a grand time out there and feeling quite pleased with ourselves when the police arrived. I looked up to see the police boat bobbing beside us and a cop talking to one of my pals. I didn't really catch all that was said, something about taking an oar in the head. Also apparently we were advised to stop doing what we were doing. Something about us being in a boating channel or something. Huh. I guess the buoy we were using as a marker wasn't just for swimmers.
A couple more 'lengths' of our giant pool and we headed for the shore, cold but feeling quite chuffed about it all.
The local tri shop runs an open water swim there twice a week, so we'll be back.
posted by carbonman at 10:16 PM
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