Sunday, July 5, 2009

PP2P: Pine Point to the Pier training swim


View of Old Orchard Beach from Pine Point

Wonderful swim this morning albeit very very cold. Thanks to John from the Riverton group for letting me know about this swim, which I have wanted to do for a long time after first reading about it on Nitsirk's blog last year. About 12 of us set off from Pine Point at 8am this morning to swim to the Pier in OOB. It looked very very far away at the start. I wasn't sure I could swim for that long in water that cold.... my guess is it was about 56 degrees judging by various buoys in the area. But hey, I figured, at least the sun is out. As you can see from the picture above, the Pier at OOB isn't even clearly visible (it is all the way at the left hand side of the picture)

However the major battle for this swim wasn't the distance (3 miles), it was the temperature! Half way through I wasn't able to control my right pinkie finger and fully extend it anymore. My feet, face and hands were numb. But I couldn't get out and walk I kept telling myself. Besides, as I was swimming along the shore, I could get out anytime if I really needed to. I kept pushing along. Thinking about widening my stroke kept my mind busy. I have to say I am really glad I finished the swim. I think it took about an hour and 15 minutes. At the very least I feel ready now for P2P (Peaks to Portland) even if this summer weather keeps the ocean cold.

Only 5 days til my first triathlon!....more on that later.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

That's certainly a brisk swim! It looks beautiful, too!

And a tri right around the corner? Best of luck!

Swimming for ME said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Swimming for ME said...

Thanks Wendy! It will be an adventure for sure.... OOB, if you didn't know it, is quite the destination for Canadians.

GetBackJoJo said...

I can attest to the cold! You are a WOMAN for making that whole swim without losing a body part to frostbite or something!

Unknown said...

nice work! Good luck on your first Triathlon, tomorrow.