Today, however, I was too lazy to get up for a run and after some reviewing of my Youtube channels and searching for new content I hit on the idea of using some of the accumulated snow outside to create my own ice bath. So armed with a bucket and large spade I set about collecting and placing a large amount of snow into the bath and filling it up with cold water. By the time the bath was full there was still snow floating and not melting on the top so I have to assume that temperature was at freezing or thereabouts.
I must admit that as this was the coldest water that I have ever gotten into I was a little apprehensive. I planned only to spend 3 minutes in the water. On getting in it did seem to be very cold but the feeling was not as bad as i had expected it to be. I was not even really that much out of breath when I got in. I must be acclimatised to this by now I guess.
It was really wierd seeind and feeling the slushy snow floating in the bath around me and when I lay back I pushed a slushy cushion of ice to the back of my neck as a makeshift pillow. The 3 minutes slipped past so quickly that there seemed no point in stopping there. At 5 minutes I put my head into the water until it became painful - I was surprised to see that more than 1 minute had passed by the time I sat up again.
My skin was red when I got out (as expected) but I did not shiver at all in the water, only when I had dried off and started to warm up. That was strange. My toes and fingers were numb, but that was to be expected. The rest of me was fine. Totally invigorating! Roll on the next time.
I can report a new record for temperature and time now for me:
- Duration: 7 minutes
- Temperature: 0C (32F)
1 comment:
Your posts has inspired me to try winter swimming. Last week during one of the colder days in Southern California, I had a chance to jump into my parent's back yard pool. At the time, the morning temperature was about 6C (43F) but not sure the water temperature was. I jumped into the pool and swam for about 90 seconds. It was the coldest water that I had experienced as I felt the cold "chilled" into my bone. My feet and fingers were numb and I felt some pains in my face when I put my head into water.
The next morning, I decided to simply stay in the water and walked in circle where the water just covered up to my neck. I also brought my timer as I was determine to stay for more than 3 minutes. As I walked around in the pool, I can see my warm breath. Like the day before, I felt numbness at my fingers, but I was surprised that I was not shivering. As I felt fine at 3 minutes, I decided to stay until 5 minutes was up. In total, I stayed in the pool for 5 min and 20 seconds. I felt quite good after I got up. It wasn't until about 10 minutes later that I start to shiver occasionally. This intermittent shivering (with 2-3 seconds duration) went on for about 15 minutes. Not sure why the shivering only started after I dried off and get dressed warmly.
Thanks for your posts as I look forward to reading your experiences which continue to inspire me to challenge myself in the cold water experience.
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