Cold Water what is your cut off?
Just posted on the Dash a 2.4mile OWS swim I did this weekend. Reports from buoy's and people were 56-59 and the race in the paper quoted 58. I'm a freeze baby , but I'm no stranger to cold water living on a lake. I have tried to swim in 53 degree water unsuccessfully. I have managed 1.2 mile swims in 57-58 range. I prefer at least low 60's at a minimum. This was the first time having to swim that far or long in under 60 degree water. I acclimated for a good 5 min about 20 min before the start (the water hurt but I did get used to it), then stood on the beach in the sun and got toasty warm before the start. Body temp was good and getting back in was no problem...With the good tides we had ,I was only in the water for 1hr total (5min treading water and 55min swim).... After completing the swim , I staggered onto the beach at the finishline, very dizzy , and then I pretty much shivered for 30 minutes (definitely low level hypothermia)....... I don't know if I could handle those temps for an IM swim (I felt wiped out for the rest of the day)? To make it even harder for me to grasp is the fact the air temps were mid 60's at the start and over 70 at the finish with full sun and low winds.....I'm thinking low 60's is about all I could handle for an IM swim and still expect to race , specially with lower air temps as well... And realistically mid 60's for me to actually expect to perform well... IMAZ 2015 is what I am thinking here!
Comments
I don't know if I would choose to DNS the race (I'm kinda stupid that way) because of the swim but I do know that water temps in the low 60's make my fingers not work. At a race a couple years ago, I could NOT get my dang wetsuit off and then my dry jersey and shoes on and helmet snapped in T1. It got to the point that I was just laughing at myself. A volunteer had to 'help' me. It was one of the HIT Series races so one was getting uptight about stuff. Almost got hit by a turkey that a course marshall startled when he shouted and signaled me to slow down on an approaching downhill curve. I still nipped my cousin in the final 5K though after he took me out at IMLP that summer. ;-)
Another question would be the starting air temp you would DNS for. Back in 2010 I did a 70.3 in NJ (Hunterdon Half Iron, now defunct) where the thermometer read 36F at race time. Since it was October, the water temp was still in the mid 60's though. People didn't want to get out of the swim. At least the sunrise got the parking lot to warm up into the 50's like a microclimate. Once you got on the road though, it was back to the low 40's I was told. The bike course had a 1 mile descent where you could get up to 40 mph - if you weren't holding your brakes and screaming that you were so cold. Good times.
Without the wetsuit, I use a simple rule of thumb. If my "outie" becomes an "innie", I am done....
This year water temp was 58 if memory serves and I had no issues with the water temp or frozen bits at the end of the swim. I wore two caps, wetsuit and booties.
20 minutes in 55F is my personal low temp experience. Neoprene booties & cap a must then.
Dont get me started on IMLT last year. 34F when exiting the swim, knocking ice off of tires.
But remember ...no such thing as bad weather just bad (or not enough) clothing.
Tim, I am in the same boat as you. I have hypothyroidism as well so that doesn't help. I am always cold! There are no sub 60 swims in my future. I have had the exact same experience with the half hour violent shaking and feeling fried the rest of the day after a 2.4 mile swim in low 60's water (I'm also in there for 1:20-1:30). Interestingly, this year at Mt Tremblant 70.3 we swam the day before the race for about 20 minutes and I was freezing during and after (water low 60"s) and I was really worried about the race the next day! Race morning I got up and immediately put on every item of clothing I had, sweatshirt, jacket, winter running pants, winter hat, gloves etc. and kept them on all morning getting my body temp up as much as I could. Kept them on until the last minute at the start and had no problem in the water or after even though I was in there twice as long. That's the first time I've tried that but it really made a BIG difference for me. Really seemed to help!
Although I live in TX, I've swam two HIMs in Santa Cruz CA, two Escape from Alcatrazs, two IMCDAs (water under 60*) and a few other events. I always wear ear plugs regardless of the water temps. But also have a neoprene "squid lid" and booties. Take them with me wherever I go to swim, just in case!
My Cold water cut-off is low 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I start swimming in Lake Ontario as soon as I can. This year, it was Late May and the temp was just over 40. I only did a 1.2 mile swim. At that temp, post swim is usually 1/2 to 1 hour of uncontrolled shivers. When the temp gets into the low fifties, I am good.
'm sorry, Edwin, but you're just not normal. There, I said it. :-)
And I can say that, having grown up near the Tug Hill plateau are.
Based on that experience I would prefer 60+ for an IM swim until I had a chance to experiment more.
I've been experimenting with Cold Thermogenesis this yr and I've found that the more you are exposed to cold, the better your body is at handling it (as your body adds more brown fat to more efficiently burn your white fat). I have an endless pool in my basement and I turned the heater off this yr so the water basically sits right at 60 degrees. I do all of my swims in that with no wetsuit. It is still a bit of a shock right when I get in, but after a few mins I just forget about it. I can now do an hour swim in there without much issue. I do sometimes find that it is hard to warm up afterwards, but I know that as I am shivering for the next 30+ minutes that my body is simply burning more fat so I am okay with it. I do know that swimming in cold water certainly takes a lot more out of you than swimming in "normal" temps water.
Low 60s for me as I have poor peripheral circulation. For most folks the worst part abt these temps in an IM is the nutritional havoc it wreaks. Most don't think to eat and those that do, well, they can't all process the calories.
yes cold sucks.
wish the bike was in hot part of day and run in the cold part.
Swim rarely in the Puget Sounds which is usually in the 50s I believe. Can tolerate only for short periods of time. Swimming with seals is fun. Not fine with sealions.
I did the neoprene sandwich thing on my head (latex cap under silicone cap under race cap). Ear plus. The neoprene booties did not work for me, felt like my feet were dragging down. Anecdotally I'd read L Carnitine helps improve circulation to the extrememties, tried that. I had a bottle of warm water that I dumped down my wetsuit and drank warm ginger tea before getting in. Layer of vaseline on my cheeks to reduce the shock of cold water, and some embrocation cream on my hands after I got the goggles on. Besides that for the four weeks leading to the race, I took cold showers, ice baths, wore no gloves when walking the pup. A friend would swim in the lake for an hour and then just sit there for another half hour. I am jealous of the folks that can swim in temps below 60!