Evanston, September 27

Awesome! After our last Lake swim the weather just got colder. Water temperature in upper 50's, morning air at 45, just not swimmable. Jody and I did not even contact each other. My Lake swim gear was put away for the winter.

But suddenly the weather changed. A week of highs in the upper 70's, mostly sunny skies and a light easterly breeze. Reports of Lakeshore water temperatures in the 60's, even the crib reported 60's. Independently Jody and I realized we had to go. We had both, separately, volunteered to work at a local running race this morning, so we agreed to leave directly from the race at 9AM for a later start. For logistic reasons we picked Evanston even though it might be colder than Ohio St. But with time for the sun to warm the air the conditions looked perfect. Although the water felt very cold it was probably more our two week layoff rather than actuality. In fact the water averaged about 66.8 There were low trochoidal waves at the beach which I explained to Jody could indicate trouble, see this blog or Google , but they were so harmless looking we didn't give them a second thought. The swim out to the wall was pleasant, and we were actually surprised to see 2 foot waves which were more like large chop, but each peak was smooth. Swimming back we realized we should have paid more attention to the trochoidal waves, it was a much tougher swim than the way out. So we came right into shore somewhat shaken up, rather than hit the near wall.

But still, to have a swim this nice this late in the season is a rare treasure not to be missed. Awesome!