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December 10, 2008
swimming outside in the winter
I have gotten two comments on my blog in the last day or so (which is a lot for me, since I hardly ever blog!) with regard to my sweet outdoor swimming PR. People seem to think this is not possible! So I will explain how it works.
At my gym the outdoor pool is open all year long. It is heated and it is about 10 feet from the door to the indoor pool. So unless it's under 20 degrees outside, you can trot over to the pool in about 15 seconds. I do put my swim cap and goggles on while I am still inside the building so I don't have to stand around in the cold. Once you get in the pool it is really nice! The other day when I swam, steam was rising from the pool and it was so pretty. So the pool itself is heated (I cannot imagine how many polar bears this kills!), and it is actually refreshing to have your arms outside of the water. I do not overheat nearly as badly in the outdoor pool as our indoor pool tends to be way too warm for my taste.
It can be unpleasant to get out of the pool when it's cold out but I just put all my stuff in a pile, get out, grab it, and trot back inside. The other thing I should mention since I don't care as much any more how many people move here (I used to have a weird thing thinking that our state would get over-crowded and I could personally stop people from moving here, what a silly idea!), is that it is much milder here than people think. We probably have two or three weeks a year when it's really cold, like the high temperature being under freezing. Most of the winter the high is in the 40s which is actually quite pleasant. It does cool down more at night here than in other places due to the altitude but this is frankly a benefit in the summer when the highs are in the 90s and the lows are in the 60s. Now of course there are not a lot of awesome days to ride in the winter here, but since it is so mild and since the sun is so strong we do get a lot of snow melt as well. When I lived in Minnesota and Maine, we would have snow on the ground, streets, sidewalks, etc. from October to March (April in Minnesota, that is the worst place I have ever lived for weather!). In Colorado we rarely have snow on the ground for longer than a couple days. The notable exception is the winter of 2006 when it snowed once a week for three months. That was awful and it would have been nearly impossible to ride outside, although I am sure some people made it happen.
So that is how I swim outside in the winter! Fascinating stuff I am sure.
Today I have been spinning again but only for 1:15. Hoo boy, after Monday that seemed like a walk in the park! I have a 35 minute run after work and then I am meeting my friend Ashley for dinner, I cannot wait! I ran inside yesterday mainly because it's easier on my ankle, but for 35 minutes I think I will be heading to Wash Park. I am so excited about that too, I have not run there in ages!
Posted by barb at December 10, 2008 3:16 PM