Open Water vs. Pool Swimming

I've just returned from an annual sojurn to the north country where a favorite past time is - you guessed it sports fans - lake swimming. No change in the hours - wouldn't want to break the routine - so it was up at 6am and hitting the clear waters of a steaming, glassy lake. It's far different than the pool. Positives: Gone were the 85 plus degree morning swims. Hello 75 - 80, perfect; unlimited distance swimming with no walls to break the rhythm - making for excellent opportunity to work on stroke timing; ability to creep up on nature - I enjoyed getting twenty feet from a large blue heron and her now-crow sized hatchlings. Negatives: a little seaweed between my fingers a time or two; opening my eyes under water and seeing large fish pass beneath me; no straight line in the bottom to follow - I lined up the rising sun in my goggles and kept it in the same 1:00 spot (this really works).