Swimming

[jack]

Holy Jesus, that was cold. I shouldn't have questioned people who go in slowly :) On Saturday, it was sunny for the first time in two weeks, and I seized the chance to go swimming again. I went in the late afternoon, thinking it's a great thermal reservoir, it must be warmest late in the day. Well, I think it was but my imagining of its thermal resevroirosity was sadly lacking, and the previous two weeks of cold drizzle had had an impact.

I made the mistake of putting my feet in the water first, and then had to psyche myself up for about five minutes to jump in. It was bracing from then on, but a bit of a shock then.

On Monday I'd learned my lesson, and jumped straight in, which was a lot better.

Of course, it was 15 degrees (16 on Monday), so if it was literally freezing it would be like four times worse¹, and it didn't compare to that, but it was cold enough for me.

Both days I did about ten lengths, on Monday in three-quarters of an hour, because I was going to pizza, which is fairly good going. On the other hand, it's not so much of a workout as it was when I started, I definitely need to brush up my technique.

[1] Warning, not actual maths

Comments

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Don't forget, if it's Jesus Green, a length counts double, because they're 50 metre lengths, not 25.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

LOL. Thanks, don't worry, the first time I went I was distressed to see how far I'd swum, because I used to remember doing fifty or sixty lengths with Dad, but now I'm used to thinking in terms of Jesus green lengths. They're actually 100m, so 10 is about a kilometre, and 16 a mile.

PS. Ooh, cool, an appropriate icon.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Wow, even longer than I remembered :)

And it's for when I bother to exercise myself, really... must do some of that :)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

LOL. You're welcome to come swimming :)

[pogodragon.livejournal.com]

I did swimming in a lake in Sweden last week. That was very good fun - it's years since I went swimming at all - but also more than slightly cold. Getting out and drying off in the sun was very nice.

It never occurred to me that you could get goose-flesh whilst actually in the water. Turns out I'm stupid like that and you can.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

LOL. You seem to be able to shiver too, at least briefly. (And the nipples are startling :O)

I thought of Scandinavians when the showers were so hot, it's not the same as a sauna, but if you can bear it, it is a very nice counterpoint to the water.

[pogodragon.livejournal.com]

No sauna last week sadly, there wasn't one at the place the LARP was held at, and I was told that it really is a Finnish thing not a Swedish one. Even more depressingly I probably won't be able to go to the thing in Finland that I want to go to next Easter.

(You must be easily startled, it's a long time since my nipples caused me more than vague surprise)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Even more depressingly I probably won't be able to go to the thing in Finland that I want to go to next Easter.

What's wrong?

(You must be easily startled, it's a long time since my nipples caused me more than vague surprise)

Well, I don't know why I have them at all, though on balance I'm probably in favour. But the gooseflesh makes them stand out.

[pogodragon.livejournal.com]

I usually go to Eastercon in the UK, the Finnish thing isn't generally at Easter, so this is an unusual and VERY annoying clash of dates. (Erm. I'll add you to one of my other filters so you can see a bit more of why it's so annoying this time).

The Finnish thing is the Scandinavian LARP convention (it changes its name depending on which country it's in), I went for the first time to it in Denmark this year.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Ah, of course. I went to Worldcon when it was here, my first convention, but haven't been going to Eastercon (though a smaller con might actually suit me better).

[pogodragon.livejournal.com]

Eastercon is really good. I've been to the last two (the one in Glasgow which followed the last Glasgow Worldcon, and this year in Chester). I enjoy the mix of panels and doing things and people talking about intelligent things. Next year it's at a hotel near Heathrow, ie just down the road from here. And excellent Guests of Honour (though even without the 'superstar' variety guest it's good there).

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

A friend described wanting to go as it being like an academic conference, but one where you're the one who knows all about it. And it's always fascinating because it brings together a random cross-section of my friends, who don't know each other, but all fit in there.

[pogodragon.livejournal.com]

Yes, that sounds about right. Though I tend at times to feel like a bit of a fraud because I don't actually read very much SF at all. I still enjoy the people and the atmosphere and the talking and the panels though, so is all good really.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

It's a matter of attitude :)

(Though it's what you read as well as how much -- some people are definitely one of them, despite not reading *much*)

[pogodragon.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, definitely one of them here ... :-D

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

:)