Breakthrough Swim

I finally felt comfortable during an open water swim this morning. For history, my first open water swim of the year was an aborted attempt at Grant Ranch (5/15/2010) as the water was just too cold for me. I jumped into the Boulder Reservoir (6/3/2010) planning to swim 1500 meter, but went out to fast and got panicky at around 300 meters and was just happy to be on land at the end of the swim. My 3rd attempt was the gravel pond at Chatfield (6/5/2010) and this was OK, but I still felt the need to rest every 300 yards to the sand bar and back. Not to be deterred, I returned to Grant Ranch (6/13/2010) along with the Arvada Triathlon Club. This swim was better, but I still wanted to pause and catch my breath every 225 yards to the buoy and back.

This morning I woke up at 5:00 AM and decided to trek out to Union Reservoir which opens up at 5:45 AM. The water was a little cooler and there were already 3-4 people in the water when I arrived. I waded in and adjusted to the temperature and then headed off around the 400 yard course. I considered going to the first buoy and back, but felt reasonably well and completed the first lap in a little over 9 minutes. I paused just long enough to hit the lap button and went around again for another 400 yards at about the same pace. Brimming with confidence, I rested for a minute and took off again. The 1200 yard workout was terrific and I hope it sets the tone for the 5430 Sprint this weekend.