Starting 2017 with a Cold Ocean Swim

It's been a cold, late December and I've struggled with feelings of weakness and fatigue that comes from being out in penetrating, bone-deep cold.

And yet here I am on the Hayama beach getting ready for the annual TiT New Years Day swim.  Here even after reading this article describing deaths from hypothermia and cardiac arrest brought on by cold water swims.

I had also read about the benefits of starting every day with an ice cold shower: pushing you out of your comfort zone and creating willpower,  improving immunity and circulation, speeding up muscle recovery, triggering mood-boosting endorphins, easing stress, increasing testosterone, help your hair and skin, etc. 

I am not so keen on starting every day with an ice cold shower, but at least I can start the year with a cold (13 degree Celsius)  open-water swim. I try not to contemplate the cold water in the hour leading up to the swim, and when Mark shouts at us to start I am just thinking about keeping up with the group, and the shock of the water leaves me gasping.  My face feels numb and I immediately want to stand up out of the water, but the other swimmers are rapidly pulling away.  So I put my head down as best I can, catch up with the other six swimmers and am soon comfortably swimming  the 1.5 kilometers out and back to a beautiful nearby cove through the crystal clear winter sea.  Four of my hard-core teammates don't even bother with wetsuits, something I had not remotely considered.

And the cold water swim works!  I feel ready to tackle anything after powering through the swim.  The teammates who don't bother with wetsuits are even more positive - describing a euphoric, transcendent experience after their bodies adjusted to initial shock; and before the cumulative cold leaves them shaking uncontrollably. 

Now with the Polar Bear Swim completed the rest of 2017 should be a breeze.