Apparently 3 Equals 4 When it's Hard on the Way Out

Monday was a holiday here in Canada and we celebrated by sleeping in a wee bit and then heading down for an open water swim in the Welland canal. A bunch of swimmers were meeting up and we decided to join them.

Doug was doing some open-water swimming practice to get used to his brand new wetsuit.

I was doing whatever Christine told me to do which, as it turned out, was a lot of swimming.

The Welland canal has a dedicated swimming lane which is great because it protects us from all the rowers, kayakers, canoe-ers and other boating folk that also enjoy this multi-purpose waterway.

We stood on the dock to discuss the plans - me in my bathing suit with two gels tucked in and my pump clipped to the front and pretty much everyone else in their wetsuits. Christine wanted to swim a strong 3k and wanted me to go with her. A few other ladies wanted to swim 2.2k and others wanted 1k.

Christine and I headed off. The first 500m went really well and I felt strong. We reached the first bridge which is at 500m, in no time. We stopped for a second, made sure we were both ok, and then carried on. We swam for what felt like the same amount of time again and then stopped and looked back.

The bridge was looming behind us instead of being 500m behind us like we expected it to be. Apparently the waves and current picked up and we were now fighting the elements.

Not exactly something you train for in the pool...unless dragging buckets counts.

We slogged our way to the 1500m mark and, by the time we reached it, I was pretty spent. I was looking forward to being pushed all the way back home.

We turned around and swam at a steady pace all the way home. I tried to sprint the last few hundred meters but found I could only sustain the pace I was doing. I was still strong but there was only one speed left.

By the time we reached the dock, everyone but Doug and Janice had left. They were both changed and dry, looking no worse for wear after their swims.

"Well, we swam 3k" Christine announced "but it's really more like four because of how hard it was on the way out".

Another reason I like swimming. With running, it's 3k no matter how hard or easy it is. With swimming, apparently you get to increase your distance by your effort.

Does that mean that the 1.5k back was only 1.0k because we weren't fighting the current?

Oh, and that was my first every long distance swim AFTER eating breakfast and bolusing for it. Normally I swim first and then worry about food and insulin.

My pre-breakfast BG was 5.6. I turned down my basal to 60% for a hour and a half before the swim. I took 3.0 units instead of 3.75 units for my breakfast shake. I did not have a gel during the hour and fifteen minutes of swimming.

My post-swim BG was 5.6.

Omigod I love my pump.