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Brighton Beach/CIBBOWS

Need I mention that it’s just TWO WEEKS AWAY?!?!?!

Today’s scheduled training was a 1:30 swim, preferably done in open water. I’ve done a lot of swimming this year in preparation for the Ironman, but really haven’t done that much outside of the pool – just a couple races and a couple training swims at Mirror Lake. Even though my swim fitness, time and confidence is way up from last year, the swim is still my relative weakness. While it would have been much easier to just go to the pool and swim laps, I decided to get outside and try something different. In some research along the way I’d read about CIBBOWS (Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers). They do group swims at Brighton Beach three times each weekend from about April to November (twice on Saturday – at 8AM and 10AM and once on Sunday – at 10AM). I decided to check it out for today’s swim.

The forecast called for a sunny and very hot day, and Elizabeth decided to go out there with me – she’d go for a run on the boardwalk while I swam and then we’d hang out and enjoy the sun on the beach for a little while. We got out there and I met a few of the regular swimmers. They were mostly really nice and welcoming right from the start. As I talked to them I found out the CIBBOWS swimmers are a pretty accomplished group – multiple people there today have swum the English Channel and/or the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, as well as other ultra-distance swim events. One of the guys I spoke with explained where to swim and told me that they don’t swim in a “group” – people just go at their own pace. I found out that the water temperature was around 66 degrees (brrr!). I had brought my wetsuit but left it in the car, correctly guessing that this was a “skin swimming” (i.e. no wetsuits) group. I’m sure I would have been more comfortable (and faster) in the wetsuit, but I didn’t want to stand out that much, especially not my first time swimming with these guys! I also found out that there was “a bit” of a current going from right to left (facing the water).

The “usual” swim is following the beach to the left (facing the water) about a half mile down to where there’s this big white building; then they turn around and swim back. Many of the people continue on to the big pier at Coney Island and swim back. The longer swim is about 3 miles. I was planning on swimming my full 90 minutes but wasn’t sure how far I would get. Today’s current would be with us for the first half mile, then against us after we turned around.

I followed one of the guys into the water and started swimming. The water didn’t feel that cold at first, but after a couple seconds, I felt it. I mainly felt it in my chest as I labored a little to breathe. Despite the cold, my stroke felt pretty good right away. After a few minutes I warmed up enough to the point where the swimming felt “comfortable”. And before I knew it, I was at the big white building and ready to turn around. I stopped to look at my watch – 11 minutes. That’s fast for me for a half mile – I knew that I hadn’t been pushing it very hard, so that meant the current was stronger than rumored and I was in for some fun on the way back! I turned around and started swimming back. I noticed that the guy I started “with” and a few people who had started before us had already passed the turn-around. I swam and swam and swam – I even included some short “race efforts”. After a few minutes of this I looked up and noticed that I was still essentially in front of the big white building. Oh man. I swam some more and finally got to another big building – and promptly got stuck in front of that one for a while. The current was kicking my ass. And at that point I also began to notice how cold I was. Also, I was lifting my head to “sight” more often and getting discouraged. On the positive side, my stroke still felt good and fairly even – despite the fact that it wasn’t taking me anywhere!

I started thinking about Lynne Cox. She’s an amazing record-holding open water swimmer who wrote a book called Swimming to Antartica: Tales of a Long Distance Swimmer. I read the book while we were in Italy and was amazed at her feats – at age 15 she broke the world record for swimming the English Channel; at age 17, it was the record for the Catalina Island crossing; then she was the first person to swim the Strait of Magellan, the first to swim around the Cape of Good Hope and the first to swim across the Bering Strait, she also was the first to swim in Antartica – completing a 1.2 mile swim in 32 degree water. Many of her other swims were in water temperatures in the 40’s. It wasn’t until I realized how cold I was in 66 degree water that I really could even begin to appreciate how amazing her swims were. The book is a great, fun read by the way.

The swimmers who I had seen before were now just specks in the distance. How were they swimming so fast? I tried swimming a little closer to shore, but I don’t think that made any difference. I was making progress, s-l-o-w-l-y. It was difficult to judge how hard I was working. Since I don’t wear my heart rate monitor when I swim, I normally use time/speed to judge effort. But out there today, with no distance markers, on a “course” that I wasn’t familiar with and either flowing with or fighting the current, I couldn’t tell. My breathing was controlled and I didn’t feel like my heart was racing. But I couldn’t tell if I was working as hard as a 1:35/100 yard pace or a 1:45/100 yard pace or even “slower.” When I’m running, I can tell, based on my breathing about how hard I’m running, but it’s taken me years to develop that sense. I’ve only been swimming for about two and a half years, so I assume I just need more time – especially in open water – to get there with swimming. I looked at my watch and another 20 minutes had passed. I’d been in the water about 45 minutes and had probably only swum three-quarters of a mile. I knew that swimming ninety minutes was out of the question and revised my goal to swimming the mile in an hour. I put my head down and swam. I noticed a swimmer in a pink cap behind me to the left, then she wasn’t behind me anymore, then I could barely see her. Damn. What was she doing different? But I was getting closer. I angled in to shore at about 55 minutes and finally got up to walk it in at 58 minutes. A 58 minute mile! (and really a 47 minute half mile). For reference, in the pool, during my normal (not race pace or strong effort) workouts, I swim a mile in less than 29 minutes. I got out and immediately started shivering. It was sunny and in the eighties, but my lips were blue and my fingertips felt frozen. Thankfully, I almost immediately found Elizabeth who handed me a nice warm towel. It took me a while to warm up. I talked to some of the other swimmers and thankfully discovered that today’s current was what they would call “strong” – I was a little worried that they would say that this was nothing!

After the swim, Elizabeth and I lay on the beach for a couple hours. (Elizabeth is back running again, by the way. It took her almost five months, but she’s doing a couple short(er) runs a week and so far, so good!) It was hot and sunny and a nice day to be there. Brighton Beach was crowded, but not as packed in as I’d feared. It also gave me a chance to chat with some of the other swimmers some more. I was/am a little disappointed that I didn’t swim for 90 minutes and only swam a mile, but I’m getting over that by reminding myself that this was (a) my first ocean swim, (b) my first open water swim without a wetsuit, (c) the coldest swim I’ve done without a wetsuit and (d) close enough to the Ironman that there was no reason to really push myself that hard today. Most important though, it was FUN! Next Sunday, I’m scheduled to swim 60 minutes, preferably in open water. As long as the weather cooperates, I’ll be back at Brighton Beach, trying again. I’m sure that as I do it more often, I’ll get more comfortable and will be able to swim faster and longer.

Yesterday, I did a moderately long Brick. I drove across the George Washington Bridge, parked in Fort Lee and biked on 9W, then threw the bike in the car and ran around that area. It was a much much better ride than last Sunday – I felt stronger and faster and managed my fluid intake better. Phew.

Swim – July 5
Distance: 3,050 yards
Time: 1:00

Brick – July 7
Total Time: 3:30:25
Average heart rate: 136
Bike:
Distance: 50.5 miles
Time: 2:38:24
Average heart rate: 131
Course: Route 9W
Transition: 7:00
Run:
Distance: 5.75 miles
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 159
Course: Fort Lee, NJ
Conditions: hot, sunny

Swim – July 8
Distance: 1,760 yards (1 mile)
Time: 58 minutes
Ocean Swim – Brighton Beach