Saturday 23 January 2016

River Swims

Over the last few weeks I have managed to get two cold water swims in a local river.  In the first I was out for a shirtless run in the evening with two of my mates and as the run finished along a stretch of a large UK river that runs a few miles from my house I said I wanted to go for a swim. 

Although I had said this before to my two friends they said that I was always saying that and not doing anything about it but talk.  Well, that was enough to spur me on so I stopped at a convenient point, stripped off completely and waded into the water.   I didn't stay in the water for too long but I think I have broken the ice with them so when I headed out on another run with them a few days ago when we got to the river they asked if I was going to swim again.  I said "yes, of course".   

So when we got to a place not far from the end we stopped and I stripped off completely again and this time stayed in the water for a bit longer this time.  No comment from them this time, they just stayed and watched, but were not tempted to get in themselves.

I have no idea what the temperature of the water was but I do know that the air temperature was around -2C.  Once I got out and started running again in just shorts and trainers I warmed up quickly.

I think I need to go out for more runs and swims in the dark evenings as there are less people around, less likely to be seen (apart from by my mates). 




2 comments:

GP said...

Um.. I wish that around here on my running route, I could have find an area where there is a river for me to go in for a quick swim. Did any others see you besides your mates? How deep is the water? If it's deep, then it's still better to have mates there to watch you as safety comes first.

Karel said...

Swim again! :)