First Open Water Long Swim - 15 km, June 1st

Silbersee near Frankental

Finally! After thunderstorms on Saturday and the Mannheim Marathon Saturday before, I did my first long swim in open water this year on Sunday, June 1st! Since the 5 hour swim on May 1st I had only done 45 minute to 1 hour swims at most in the pool, since it was either too "cold" (19°C, still have to acclimatise) or too crowded..., plus some weight training, which my teammate Vijaya in New York had recommended strongly. In 1985 I never thought about weight training, but since last year in Zurich I could feel my shoulders after 11 hours, I suppose it is a good idea, especially since with the triathlon I need my arms and legs after the swim still. And it just so happened that Kieser Training were offering one week free training for each life decade = 5 free weeks!



(This foto is from the Zurich lake Marathon Swim 2007, but since the blog does need a few more swimming fotos I am cheating a bit...)

So on June 1st around 10 a.m. I went by train and bike to the "Silver Lake" near Frankental, where I have always trained since 1985 for my longer swims.

I love the peace in this natural reserve area in the early and late hours of the day, with neighbouring lakes full of nesting birds of all kind and other wildlife. The water is pure in the main lake, with sandy beaches, and I can swim for half an hour to an opposite sandy stretch and another half hour back - which makes a lap of almost 3 km. It is perfect - half an hour twice is "easy", it's ideal timing for the feeding break, and all you need to get 3 more km done is one short moment of "self-transcendence" getting back into the water. After a short break, even after three or four hours - it usually feels great again, even if something started hurting before, mostly the flow comes back immediately as soon as I am back in the water.

On longer swims I usually do sets of two laps, then a tiny bit longer break - just to divide "infinity" into digestible pieces and get a feeling of accomplishment on the way - cutting hours off the big cake. The last hour is usually the "icing on the cake" which I enjoy most, even after six or seven hours.

So on Sunday, with 4 weeks from my last long swim, I was happy with 5 hours - it was strong, smooth, rhythmic swimming, faster than May 1st. The water was calm, temperature perfect for now - fresh, but not freezing, at times even too warm on the surface already.

Next weekend the swim will be a bit longer, hopefully there won't be any thunderstorms. The water temperature may even go down by then. So from now on, longs swims every weekend.

I keep reading other Channel swimmers' blogs about their training in Dover - and kind of envy them. I'd love to swim in sea water - it is so much more alive! But I feel it is o.k. for me to wait - I would need more fat to swim in those temperatures now. The more you get used to the cold, the more you suffer in the heat - it will be a difficult balance for August. But I will go over early enough to acclimatisze.

When I biked back to Mannheim train station from the lake in the hot late afternoon (27°C or more?) I knew I would be praying for rain for the biking and running part in August unless some polar air will get swept down south.

"My heart swimming

In silver light,

My soul swimming

In ecstasy's height."

- Sri Chinmoy

One of the aphorisms or poems which often come to my mind or repeat themselves inwardly like mantras during my long training sessions or events, like an expression of an inner state of consciousness I am experiencing - at times, that is. Sometimes I end up only focussing on or repeating single words like "silver light", with the rhythm of my breath or stroke.