Adjusting to the cold
Yesterday I started reading the coolest book, called Swimming to Antarctica. It’s the autobiography of Lynne Cox, the long-distance, open-water swimmer famous for setting a new world record across the English Channel–when she was fifteen. She went on to be the first person to swim the Strait of Magellan. And then there was the Bering Strait, Antarctica–the astounding list goes on. Her specialty is cold water. And she does it all in just a regular bathing suit, goggles, and a swim cap. Burly.
What I thought was really fascinating in the portion I read last night was how as a teenager she got her body prepared for all these cold water swims. She started wearing only sandals, even in the winter. She never wore a coat or hat. She purposely always dressed far too lightly for whatever the weather was. She took only cold or lukewarm showers. A whole list of techniques she devised herself–when she was just 15–to toughen herself up. She said it made it hard for her to take the heat of summers, though, and that’s where I got my idea.
I live where it’s hot. Not just hot, but HAAAHT. People here spend the summers going from air-conditioned cars to air-conditioned houses and office buildings, spending as little time in the oven outside as possible.
Yes, we are weak.
There must be ways to get used to it. Look at all those insane runners who do the Badwater Ultramarathon, 135 miles through Death Valley in the teeth of summer, when the temperature reaches 130 degrees. Those people must have figured out a way to acclimate their bodies to that kind of heat. Maybe they even learn to enjoy it after a while.
So maybe the thing to do is a reverse-Lynne Cox. Once May rolls around, start wearing only boots, ski pants, sweaters. Probably a fleece cap. Drink hot chocolate and eat nothing but stew.
Maybe the heat is getting to my brain, but this sure sounds like a winner of an idea.
Off to take a hot bath.
Technorati Tags: Lynne Cox, Swim, Swimming, Badwater, Badwater Ultramarathon