I suppose this is a primitive skill, so I'll share it here. Over the past four years I've been developing my cold tolerance, and here in Vermont a warm snap has finally made the ice covering Lake Champlain start to break up. I managed to sneak into an open area between ice sheets for a swim earlier this afternoon, then lied out on the beach in the sun afterwards. The water temperature was just a shred above 34 Fahrenheit (1.2 Celsius). Left me feeling refreshed and limber!
The above photograph was kindly taken by a cyclist from shore with her phone. Not the best image quality, but she did the best she could without a zoom lens given how far out in the lake I was. My skin is so red it looks like I've got a severe sunburn, but I don't. When I'm in cold water my blood rushes to my skin, giving my skin a deep red hue. It goes away within a few minutes of exiting the water.
Anyone else out there in PA land partake?
For those who are interested, I wrote up a more detailed blog post about cold training earlier this evening:
Embracing the chill.
