Swimming Uphill (at least that's how it felt)

I couldn't stand the thought of getting up at 5a to swim during my last week off.  I grabbed my stuff and drove down to the lake.

The regular crew was there and finishing up their swim. I put on the wetsuit and we made our way down to the water. We started swimming right away because, according to Jen, it was freezing. I had some inner conflict swimming today because I didn't want her to think that I was the slowpoke that I really am. I had to channel my inner Ian and find another speed to swim at. It was a little dark so sighting was rough. I think I did a decent job of swimming straight but I can't be too sure. I was so focused on swimming as fast as I could without killing myself that I don't really remember sighting. I know I did it and probably corrected myself without thinking, but I just wanted to get to the other end in one piece and my heart still in my chest. I have to say I think it was my fastest swim time across the lake. I was waaaaay out of my comfort zone today, which is a good thing. When I got to the far end, I was happy the swim was done, but realized I had to swim back. Oh man, this is going to hurt. With the wind blowing, there was a little more chop on the way back. It made breathing a little more difficult. I didn't have my breathing timed well with the chop so getting a good breath was hard to do. I was still focused on not looking slow so I just kept putting the hammer down. Before I knew it I was back at the beach. I looked at my watch and even with the chop, I still made it back ~30 seconds faster than usual.

The weather for the next few days is crappy, so looks like I will be on the trainer today for my workout. I haven't been on the trainer in a while, but it's just to windy and wet to ride outside so close to my race. And I have until Thursday morning to recover from the swim before I step back into the lake.