Exhilarating.

Refreshing. Brisk. That'll wake you up. All euphemisms to describe my morning activity this morning: a half mile swim in Lake Michigan without a wetsuit.

Twice a week, I swim at the gym -- doing a drill and lap set provided by an instructor -- with a couple other people. Of the three of us usually in class, I'm the only one not doing a triathlon this summer. So, our instructor suggested that we take class to the lake this morning so they could practice their open water swimming. I wasn't too excited about the idea -- I didn't have time to get an appointment to get the preventative course of antibiotics that I think is wise before getting in that water.

Nonetheless, I borrowed a bike and a hot pink helmet and rode down to the gym and beach. We were standing on the beach, the surf just touching our toes when I began to realize just how "exhilarating" this was going to be. By the time we walked ten feet into the surf, my feet were already starting to go numb. But, once the numb was done, getting into a rhythm was fairly easy and before I knew it, I was at the turn around. On the way back, I even passed someone in a wetsuit. (In my mind, wetsuit = serious swimmer and/or triathl-freak, so passing one seemed like an accomplishment. As I later saw, dude was probably late 50s. Oh well.) The swim wasn't so bad. And, it felt good to get a bike ride and swim in before work. Good and hungry. I can't even imagine how hungry Melissa must have been -- she biked twenty miles before meeting up for the swim. By the time I was walking back through the sand, the water actually felt warm.

Of course, its two hours later, I've had a hot shower and hot coffee and I'm still chilled. But very wide awake.