Viking Swim

Since I have been swimming only 1000-2000m a week (less than I used to swim in a day) I did not think I would attempt the Roskilde Viking Swim, which is 2500m (if you swim straight).  David encouraged me, thinking my training from previous years would be enough to carry me through.  His spark, the location, and the fact that the water in the fjord is almost irresistible to me led me to sign up.

The water temperature has been in the high teens (low- to mid-60s, F), which is lovely to play in, but seemed a little cool for what I thought would be at least a one-hour swim.  I rented a wetsuit, even though I had never swum in one.

I did not watch the weather report carefully since it makes no difference to me whether I swim in the sun or rain, but I was happy it was dry for everyone else.  As I got in the water I felt like only my feet were wet since the rest of my body was so cozy.  I might have grumbled about the price of the rental, but at that moment I thought it was worth every krone.

And we were off, headed toward the cathedral.  It was very different from the marathon without distance markers, without bands, and with the only sound being the water against my ears.  I looked at the jellyfish and thought mostly about my stroke and a bit about people.  At some point I realized I wasn't tired so I tried to pick up the pace, but a short time later I had swum off-course a bit (despite my prescription goggles) so I went back to my slow-but-steady-and-straighter pace.

The slow people started in the first heat with the fastest people starting eight heats and thirty-five minutes later, which made for a tight finish, but not as much of a problem as I had feared.  Each heat was given its own color so as I passed or was being passed I could see where that person started relative to me.

The pace picked up near the finish, which helped me have a little competitive adrenaline, leading to a finishing time of just over 54 minutes.  Unfortunately, I had predicted a time of well over one hour, so no one in the family was there at the finish.  David arrived just a bit later with the tandem to take me home.  He's the greatest!

Before heading home I changed out of my suit and since we were right by the museum and there was a crowd it seemed appropriate to use the tent provided.  No one was worried about privacy when the flap was lifted to allow people to enter and exit, but it wasn't until after I changed that I realized both the women's and men's tents had windows!  Very un-American.