Tuesday, January 27th, 2026

Niel's Tuesday Morning Swim - 

Today was my birthday so I wanted to do a special swim. I didn't think I was ready to do the full birthday distance of 7,600M so I decided to do three triangles which would be about 4,800M.  It was a chilly morning with an air temperature of 34°, clear skies, a light offshore wind putting a ripple on the 54° water, and waves between 2 and 4 feet. The tide was high and going out.  

I began with a clockwise triangle. It was a bit chilly on any exposed skin but I was feeling good and the ripple on the water was a interesting texture that added some character to the swimming.  At the start of the third triangle I was still feeling strong and when I was past the end of the Avila Pier I began thinking about the possibility of doing four triangles and the full birthday swim.  I have swum 5K before without any nutrition so I had not brought any with me.  For 7,600M I would have two 24 oz. bottles of Fluid hydration drink with 6 Gu's added to each bottle to keep me going, so trying 7,600M would be a real stretch, but the idea of doing that distance today was exciting. I decided that when I got to the pier at the end of the third triangle I'd check my distance and if I was at 6,000M and I was still feeling good I'd try for the full distance.  Well, when I was swimming along the 'buoy line' to finish the third triangle I began to feel a bit tired and when I arrived at the pier I had covered 5,400M. I did a honest appraisal of how I was feeling and headed in. 

I'm happy with how this swim worked out.  I did my planned distance and I'm confident that with some nutrition along I could have done 7,600M.

As I was walking out I saw Tom Lorish getting in on the other side of the pier and when he was getting out he saw Duke getting in.  It was a beautiful morning for swimming, and there was plenty of warm sunshine at the showers.  

I'll swim Thursday 7:30 and Saturday morning at 7.

niel