Scrambled Eggs

This morning I decided to join the guys from Openwaterchicago.com at North Avenue beach for a dip in the lake.

This is the sight that greeted me!

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The bright orange thing is the ladder we normally use to climb up out of the lake 🙂

There were 4 of us there, including one real, honest to goodness Channel swimmer whose name I can’t remember. The Channel swimmer, claiming to be hung-over, took a flying leap into the lake and started swimming. Shamefaced, the remaining 3 of us jumped in.

The water was quite nice, really. About 60 degrees, which was quite a bit warmer than the air temperature.

Not all the waves were this big:

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I bobbed around and swam a little bit. The exit worried me, but turned out to be pretty easy. Just ride a little wave in, grab the ladder and cling!!!!

Here’s some video of the others having fun after I’d made my escape.

All in all, a fun morning.

The Eggplant that Ate Chicago

With less than 4 weeks until the big swim, I’m running out of time to re-acclimatise myself to the cold.

Sick of sitting in a cold bath with only my hives for company, I ventured into Ohio St Beach, Chicago, for a quick immersion in Lake Michigan. My friend Liz went with me, though she vowed she wasn’t coming in to rescue me should the need arise. Hmmmm. I was also accompanied by my good friend Stanley, and Pepe, my newly acquired Epipen (in case of apopleptic shock).

What a beautiful day! Sunny, outside air temperature in the high 60’s and smooth, blue waters.

Water temperature supposedly in the high 40’s
http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/michigan/m54.html

My thermometer read 51-52, and I’m going with that!

I set a modest goal of 20 minutes, as I wanted the day to be a success. Longer swims can come later.

25 minutes later I emerged feeling great! Shivery of course, but not too bad 
I was red all over, like a sunburn, but not a hive in sight 

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Lunch in the sun at Bubba Gump’s defrosted me and we headed home.

Determined to insulate myself as much as possible, I stopped by the Haagen Daaz store on the way to the carpark.

Me: “I’ll have the dulce Sunday please”

Haagen Daaz girl: “ok”

Me: “how much will that be?”

HD Girl: “that’ll be $8.50”

Me: “$8.50?”

HD Girl: “$8.50.”

Me: “$8.50?”

HD Girl: “$8.50.”

Me: (discreetly looking for a price list) “$8.50?”

Thinking I’d heard wrong (people talk funny in Chicago) I handed her a $20. $11.50 came back to me accompanied by a delicious treat.  oh well!

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