With Tim and Roly deciding on a 4km pool set, I was in two minds whether to do a double this morning. Getting out of bed at 6am and finding it still pitch black didn't help my thoughts either!
Knowing that I needed to up my open water time, and with the light starting to kick in, I decided at around 6.10 to just go for it. With a certain amount of trepidation, I donned the wettie, jumped on the bike, rode down to Manly SLSC, dumped the bike and got straight into the water, swimming by around 6.25ish. The light wasn't too bad by this time.
However, the swell was, and it took me a good while to get out the back as I was nailed by a fair few rolling sets.
Once out the back things didn't get any easier with the swell making things rather lumpy and bumpy all the way to Shelly. That, and the fact that the waves were breaking quite a distance off shore made the trip across rather interesting. Not helped by the fact that my route seemed to take me rather a long way from the shore for some reason.
Still, I made it in one piece. After a quick turnaround I started the return journey, this time accompanied by a few intrepid souls who had also decided on an early lap. Things were a little better on the way back as I tried to stay closer to the shore. I was still nailed as I made my way in to Manly, but nothing too bad.
After a quick turnaround I was quickly back out for the second lap - things were still lumpy, but with more swimmers around me, I felt more confident in the swell....
The final leg was also fairly non eventful as I tried to follow a group ahead of me who went wide into Manly, thereby trying to miss most of the big waves...and failing miserably.
A tough old morning out there - but one that was definitely worthwhile. On the plus site, the wettie felt good , and my stroke felt a whole lot better after the drills of Monday.
Point - Shelly: 12.35
Shelly - Manly: 13.29
Point - Shelly: 11.02
Shelly - Manly: 15.30
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