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2015-01-26 2:49 PM

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Subject: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
I am lucky enough to live in Florida and usually blessed with great weather. The pool i use is an outdoor public pool. It's forecasted to be 45 degrees tomorrow morning. The pool water temperature will probably be around 80 degrees. The tough part will be:
1), getting up at dark thirty in the cold to head to the pool
2). stripping down to my jammers walking 20 yards from the benches to the water and getting in
3). getting out running cold and wet to the benches and dashing 50 yards back to the unheated locker room.

So would swimming outside at 45 degrees be an exercise in mental toughness or just plain bat crazy. For those of you in warm climates what is the coldest air temperature you would swim in?

For those of you living in states which were on the winning side of the American Civil War there is no need to reply and entertain me with tales of how you break the ice on the pool in May to swim.




2015-01-26 2:53 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?

No big deal. I used to swim in an outdoor pool just above San Fran and it can get really cold, even during the summer. It'll make the water feel even warmer

2015-01-26 2:54 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
I won't respond since you asked the question of the warm weather folks, but just to let you know it is 25 degs & snowing. Tomorrow is going to be colder. Enjoy your swim & think of us cold weather folks while you enjoy the pool.
2015-01-26 3:00 PM
in reply to: 0


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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
Take a bathrobe or swim parka wear that right up to the edge of the pool. "Towel pants" seem to be popular with the pre-teen club swimmer they don't even dry off they pull the pants on over the suit put on their parka. Then go to the locker room to change.

FWIW I lived in north Florida for 10 years 45 degrees in a heated pool was fine. What was not fun was they did not turn the heat on until after Thanksgiving. Nov the water was cold.

Edited by Sidney Porter 2015-01-26 3:03 PM
2015-01-26 3:07 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
No big deal, if the water is warm!

I've been in heated outdoor pools when temp was in the 20's
2015-01-26 3:13 PM
in reply to: Sidney Porter

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?

Originally posted by Sidney Porter Take a bathrobe or swim parka wear that right up to the edge of the pool. "Towel pants" seem to be popular with the pre-teen club swimmer they don't even dry off they pull the pants on over the suit put on their parka. Then go to the locker room to change. FWIW I lived in north Florida for 10 years 45 degrees in a heated pool was fine. What was not fun was they did not turn the heat on until after Thanksgiving. Nov the water was cold.

Mental toughness is great... occasionally.  But day after day - either you get used to it and don't mind anymore, or you swim less than you should.  I have a couple pool options and I pretty much stopped going to the outdoor one during the winter.  I hated it every time.



2015-01-26 3:22 PM
in reply to: spudone

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?

I've raced tri's in just a trisuit at that temp, water was colder too. No big deal.

2015-01-26 3:42 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?

Yes, swimming in 80 degree pool water is crazy

oh.... you meant air temps?

HTFU sissy boy!!     Seriously, that's not that bad (and yes 80 is too warm for me for a swim session)

2015-01-26 3:48 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?

Business as usual in Tucson in the winter - especially those 5:30 am practices.

2015-01-26 3:54 PM
in reply to: ratherbeswimming

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
Since I am living in the land of Dixie I am qualified to respond to this post. However, since I am known to come up with any excuse to skip a swim workout you should NOT take my advice, which is: Stay in bed - 40 degrees is way to cold to be swimming outside for delicate flowers like us!
2015-01-26 4:13 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
I'm probably the worst cold-water wimp on BT ( really, I've been wearing a short sleeveless wetsuit to swim in our pool in Vietnam because water temps are down to 74 or something during our 3 week "winter") and when I'm home in Oregon, I swim in an outdoor pool (same arrangement as yours, heated to 80 degrees) in all kinds of weather. Rain, freezing rain, even snow. It's fine once you get in. Just have one of those long jackets (I don't so just wear sweats) that you can get quickly off/on. Some kind of deck shoes that actually cover your feet helps too (not flipflops). I forget what they're called but they're rubber/neoprene and you can get them at sports stores. It also helps not to stop too long between sets or if you do, keep as much of your body in the water as possible! I actually feel warmer swimming in the heated pool in winter than the poorly heated outdoor pool in summer. (An Oregon summer morning can be like winter in a lot of states--40's are common, even on days that get warm later.


2015-01-26 5:34 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?

Sounds like race morning in Western Washington. Minus the 80-degree water.

2015-01-26 7:31 PM
in reply to: briderdt

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
I live in southwest FL, I'm right there with you. In fact I was sitting here thinking THE EXACT thing you posted before I even opened BT and started reading the posts!!! OH the irony!! LOL


So yea, it's going to be roughly 45 - 50 degrees tomorrow morning. I plan on being out at the pool we have in the commnity I live in (25yrd lap pool) around 7:30am. The water in our pool though is only heated to 73 degrees. What I usually like to do right before I get into the pool is either do jumping jacks or jump rope for 10-15 min with heavy sweats and a fuzzy wool hat and gloves. It's a great on-deck warm-up, it gets the blood pumping and it really warms you up. Then I take off all the warm clothes and get into the water and immediatly swim sets of 50 or 100yrds as fast as I can to get keep the heat generation going and get acclimated to the temp. By then you are physically comfortable, warmed up and ready to work out with even thinking about the air temp.

Plus I drink lots of hot coffee (or tea if you don't want the caffine) to really enhance the warm up. Another idea: if you eat before you do your workout, depending you what you're eating, try to eat something spicy. It too will warm you up and get the blood flowing. I like hard boiled egg whites with hot sauce.
2015-01-26 7:39 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
This explains why the nice tri shop in florida i was going to swim with on vacation was so insistent I needed a wetsuit because it was "far to cold" to go without. Water temp was low 70s.
2015-01-26 8:30 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
HTFU... I have swam outside in 30F. Don't be a baby.
2015-01-26 8:44 PM
in reply to: simpsonbo

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?

My two youngest swim in an outdoor pool all year.  We're in Austin, but they've been out there below freezing (pool stays high 70's through the winter to counter the cold).

Maybe not "fun" to walk across ice to get to the water, but not bat crazy at all.  

Swim on!

Matt



2015-01-26 9:09 PM
in reply to: mcmanusclan5

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
Turn in your man card at the table. Walk the distance in your bare feet, shorts, and goggles. Get in water, swim and walk out when done. You will manage to survive unless you stub your toe on the zero entrance area of the pool.
2015-01-26 11:18 PM
in reply to: cafenervosa

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
You can always make like me and get a shorty sleeveless wetsuit for the pool. Be prepared for lots of ribbing about triathletes who can't swim without a wetsuit, though. (That stopped when i completed the 800 IM winter challenge last year, sans wetsuit.)
2015-01-27 12:33 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
Admittedly I live in Vegas, so it doesn't get too cold here. Only thing besides lightning that has kept me out of the pool was when it snowed here. Even then I was willing, but the pool wouldn't let me swim because of the fog on the pool. Some lame excuse about the lifeguards needing to be able to see the swimmer, or some crap like that.
2015-01-28 6:05 AM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
Apparently in Oregon, fog is so normal it's not considered a safety hazard. Not only master's and adult lap swimming but all manner of high school and age group teams train at the same facility in those conditions. I think I posted a "tri-ku" on the subject last year--

Swimming in the snow
Speedo-ed forms glide through steam clouds
We are all insane!

Coldest I've swum outdoors was in was low 20's, probably without the wetsuit. (I do bring it in case the heater isn't working well, and sometimes put it on if snow/cold rain is falling into the pool and messing with water temps.) My feet were kind of cold on deck, no other issues.

Edited by Hot Runner 2015-01-28 6:11 AM
2015-01-28 8:58 AM
in reply to: Hot Runner

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
This thread is a candidate for the old 1st world problems thread!


2015-01-28 9:15 AM
in reply to: cartman1966

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?

I would rather the air be a little chilly if that water is 80.

My pool in an indoor/outdoor configuration (they slap a big tarp up for a roof during the winter.  We usually open up around May 1st and we've had a bunch of 6 AM'ers in the 30s.  Feels great to get in the warmer water.

2015-01-28 11:46 AM
in reply to: jmhpsu93

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
Originally posted by jmhpsu93

I would rather the air be a little chilly if that water is 80.

My pool in an indoor/outdoor configuration (they slap a big tarp up for a roof during the winter.  We usually open up around May 1st and we've had a bunch of 6 AM'ers in the 30s.  Feels great to get in the warmer water.




That's the best thing about swimming outside when it's cold. Having the water feel so warm when you jump in, but still not overheating when swimming. It's amazing how 76F water temp feels warm when the air is 30F.
2015-01-28 12:32 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
I dropped-in on a Masters workout in Central FL recently. Their website said they cancel the workout if the air temperature is below 50 deg F. A few weeks earlier I dropped-in on a Masters workout in Silicon Valley (not sure what CA was doing during the Civil War, but still a relatively warm state). The temperature was 36 deg F when I arrived and they had a big crowd. The pool temperatures were about the same, it's just a different mind-set.

In the Silicon Valley swim, I was cold walking to the pool, but not really when I got out of the water. If you have a hard workout, your body is generating more than enough heat to keep you warm on the walk back to the locker room.

Ironically, I dropped-in on the Masters team in Hawaii and several of the swimmers were wearing wet-suits. Not sure what was going on there.

Scott I.
2015-01-28 8:01 PM
in reply to: Then&Now

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Subject: RE: Mental toughness or bat crazy?
Originally posted by Then&Now

For those of you living in states which were on the winning side of the American Civil War there is no need to reply and entertain me with tales of how you break the ice on the pool in May to swim.




This funny story has nothing to do with triathlon training:

On a family vacation driving from Michigan to Florida we stopped in Atlanta for the night. It was a cool night but we decided to swim in the pool anyway. Some guy poked his head out of his hotel room to yell at us, "Y'all crazy?" My mom responded, "No, we're from Michigan." He yelled back, "Oh, all right." and went back to his room.

P.S. We're expecting high temperatures in the teens later this week.
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