A year of wild swims everyday – and why I am now giving up
365 days of wild swimming everyday. So, what did I learn? Do I feel any different? And most importantly am I going to continue?
Today marks 365 days since I started wild swimming every day. It all started on the 1st December last year, by accident, as it was a nice frosty midweek morning and the river looked quite inviting. Up until this point I had been wild swimming every weekend for a couple of years, but never during the week.
The next day was also a gorgeous day, so I went again. It felt sort of rebellious to take half an hour out of my day to jump in the river. Plus, I was suffering with a trapped femoral nerve at the time and the cold water eased the pain and the mental torment of not being able to run. As someone who ran everyday believe me when I tell you this was really hard on my physical and mental health!
So, I kept on going, often just for a few minutes, but always in a swimsuit and always dunking my head before I got out. Before I knew it, I’d completed a month, then 100 days, then it just sort of became a habit.
And here we are 365 days later. So, what did I learn? Do I feel any different? And most importantly am I going to continue?
So first up, I never regretted any of the 365 swims. After each one I felt exhilarated, alive, and raring to go. Don’t get me wrong, some were just ‘getting it done’ so as not to miss a day. Miserable weather, a very non-instagrammable spot, typically in a ratty old swimsuit that, believe me, no one else would want to see. Others left me euphoric and ecstatic, totally in thrall of the beauty around me.
I stopped feeling so cold all the time, apparently because my body adapted to the cold by developing more brown fat which acts like an internal thermostat.
And I also didn’t get any coughs or colds, the cold water boosting my white blood count and my immunity at the same time. And my aches and pains subsided whilst I was in the water and for a good while afterwards.
So, am I going to continue?
The answer is perhaps a shocking NO. Why?
Too much of a good thing
It seems that potentially you can have too much of a good thing. The buzz that I got earlier in the year subsided over the summer months, which I just put down to warmer water temperatures. However, now the weather has got cold again and I’ve even been breaking the water with an axe to get my daily dip, the buzz has not returned. This has been a devastating blow for me. I can only put this down to becoming TOO acclimatised and the dopamine hit reducing. I’ve also been doing some research in the effects of cold water on women and as it is such a high stress on your body, too much cold water exposure can actually have the counter effect of releasing cortisol which counteracts all the lovely happy chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. Apparently the optimum time to spend in cold water is 11 minutes a week, spread over three or four swims, so that your body does not become overly stressed.
Strength training
As a woman of a certain age (as my coach delicately puts it!) I should be doing at least three resistance or strength training sessions a week. Lifting heavy weights, performing movements that move multiple joints, and getting involved in planks and holds and stuff that really HURTS. Apparently this will stop my bones turning to matchsticks and help ensure I can still chase waterfalls in my 70s and 80s. Now it turns out that strength training and cold water exposure don’t mix. Not on the same day anyway. When you get into cold water it reduces inflammation, which can be a good thing if that’s your goal, but after you’ve been pumping iron you actually want your muscles to hypertrophy (fancy word for damage and then repair themselves so they get leaner and stronger). If you go for a wild swim on the same day as doing resistance training, you might as well have not done any workout at all, as many of the benefits will be negated by your muscles getting cold and not hypertrophying (if that's a word).
Time
To fit in a swim every day, usually before everyone else in the house has woken up, has involved setting my alarm for 4 or even 3 something every day. That means going to bed at 8 or at the very latest 9 something every day. It’s starting to become a bit of a bind and I really would like a bit more sleep! I've also found that if I couldn’t get in the water first thing in the morning I would then spend the rest of the day fidgety and restless like a junkie waiting for their fix, trying to engineer the day so I could get a swim in and not break my run of consecutive days. That’s not what it’s all about!
Becoming a chore
Before I started this challenge, I used to get really excited heading towards the weekend and getting my swim kit ready for a much anticipated swim. Lately this has just become a bind of trying to dry swim kit and then getting it ready every evening before bed to go out again the next day. I don’t want it to feel like this anymore. I want to be chomping at the bit for a special swim that is going to leave me buzzing again!
Falling back in love with wild swimming
To get a swim in every day has involved a lot of dipping in the same spot. It gets a bit monotonous if I’m honest. I’d much prefer to research some hidden waterfall and then enjoy the thrill of trying to find it and that unmatched sense of joy as you turn the corner and there it is in all its glory. That is what I am after. Not day after day of mediocre dips.
So, no, I won’t be continuing my daily challenge through this winter. I WILL be wild swimming lots, but focusing on the quality not the quantity. I’m looking forward to swimming with lots of fellow cold-water lovers, finding new spots, and looking forward to my dips again. Bring on 2025, it’s going to be ace!
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