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Haydn's Ice Mile.

HaydnHaydn Member
edited February 2013 in Swim Reports
Getting really excited now. At Lake Bled to do my ice mile on Saturday. Martin and Borut to observe. Temp nicely under 5c and snow tonight. More nervous about it being too warm than anything.

Still time to win an Ice Watch. Simply log onto my site www.haydnwelch.co.uk and tell me how long my swim will take.
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Comments

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
    OK, submitted. I think I did it right. Good luck!

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • oxooxo Guest
    Best wishes on Saturday Haydn !
  • HaydnHaydn Member
    The swim was fab. Funny though, having worried about the temp not being cold enough, and the swim not counting. In the morning of the swim, there was a pan of ice across the course. It had just melted 4 hours later as I swam. The thing is, I had trained to work harder so I wouldn't have to stay in so long. It turned out the temp was 3.7 c. Having swam slow in Windermere at 5.1c the other week on 38 mins, I really was nervous of the colder water. I worked hard and the first 1200 was around 24 mins ( I really hoped for sub 30 but expected sub 33 mins), the last 400 took about half as much time again and I finished on 37 mins 23 secs. Although I haven't seen the splits ( the times were given to my wife from a photographer who got them off his video). I am also told the last 200 took 5 minutes. So I am waiting for clarification. I thought I worked just as hard in the last 400 as I did throughout, but my wife said my pace had dropped off a lot near the end as she found it easy to stroll alongside the bank rather than walk. When I was swimming I did not appreciate I was suffering that much, I even thought I might try speeding up. But I did think at one point that I might fail to finish when I actually realised how cold I was. All through the swim, I was not bothered at all by the frozen hands and feet they were easy to ignore, and that surprised me too. The hard bit was the swimming and trying to race it and my mind was not on the pain of the cold at all. I will write up a blog when I have all the details.
    Thanks Strel Swimming for inviting me to swim with them and being the first Ice Mile completed in Slovenia (ratification pending).
    molly1205phodgeszoho
  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
    Ok, that's nice and all, but did I win the watch?

    Seriously, and all joking aside: Congrats!
    jcmalick

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • jcmalickjcmalick Wilmington, DEMember
    Mike, Step Aside because I think I won! haha Congratulations @haydn and welcome to the club!
  • oxooxo Guest
    Big congrats Haydn, looking for the report.
  • gnome4766gnome4766 Member
    Well done Haydn. You must be very encouraged by the swim as it didn't turn out as tough as you expected. You must be tougher than you credit yourself for!
  • HaydnHaydn Member
    I just got sidetracked away from the cold by the swimming bit. The body is amazing, it is just as easy to slip into 5 degrees now as it was when it was 10 degrees. You just get on with it and swim. Just flying home right now, so full report in a couple days.
    nvr2lategnome4766
  • molly1205molly1205 Lincoln, NebraskaSenior Member
    Great job, Haydn! I'm inspired by your swim and relieved to know that acclimatization to the cold is really possible :-)
    nvr2late

    Molly Nance, Lincoln, Nebraska

  • HaydnHaydn Member
    I still got very cold, but you get used to getting in, without noticing it. I am not certain how this acclimatising or conditioning relates to much longer immersion times. The pain of the cold can be put to one side, but I am not sure the affects of longer immersion can be avoided. We might be able to ignore it and swim through it, but if we do that, we must recognise it is our willpower rather than anything else.

    Ice Swimming is a bit like skydiving and trying to stay longer in free fall by opening lower. 0ne day we might get caught out. Just because we condition ourselves to do 45 mins at 3c doesn't mean we can do 15 hours at 12c and stay warm.
    [Deleted User]Dawn_Treader
  • HaydnHaydn Member
    Full Ice Mile Swim report on my blog:
    www.haydnwelch.co.uk
  • oxooxo Guest
    edited February 2013
    "Then I am warm and the swim is over. "

    Well put. That'd be the defining perspective of a cold water swimmer. Double congrats on there actually being ice in the lake.

    Direct link:
    http://www.haydnwelch.co.uk/previous-swims/ice-mile/
  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
    So who won the watch?

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • HaydnHaydn Member
    It was won by a local Taunton man who immediately donated it back to be sold and the proceeds paid back into the charity. He was 23 seconds short on his guess. The watch still hasn't been sold and I am thinking to auction it on eBay along with a t short or hoody.
  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
    Let us know the eBay auction code if you do that.

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

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