Is it worth it to go to jail to complete a workout......

This past Saturday I was supposed to complete my final long open water swim of 8 miles prior to "To the bridge and back".  So around 9am I gathered my wetsuit, body glide and nutrition and headed to Ohio Street Beach.  While getting a late start is never ideal for Lake Michigan conditions (as it usually gets waver the later in the day it gets), I wanted to wait for the sun to come up since its been getting cool at night.  On my walk from the car to the beach, I saw the following:

• A man in a puffy coat with a toque
• A women in a knee length Northface jacket and Uggs
• Several people in gloves and winter hats
• Many people shivering in hoodies (with the hoods up)

So in other words, while I was going to swim, the rest of Chicago was hunkering down for winter.

I arrived at the beach to find less than ideal conditions.  The waves were rolling in and the swells were crashing above the seawall and onto the running path.  And there was no other swimmers to be found.  However, its been my experience that you never how bad it is until you get in and try to swim.  So I decided that I had come along way and needed to at least give it a try.  While getting on my wetsuit, a fellow swimmer rolled up on her bike.  It was through discussions with her that I learned there was a rip tide warning that was predicted to expire in about 30 minutes.  We shared some general ramblings about weather, conditions, training, etc.  And then decided we should at least try a 1/2 mile, since we came all this way.

It only took about 3 minutes of swimming to realize that conditions were worse than they looked.  Crazy swells that couldn't be predicted and a side current that pushed you all over the place.  I did lots of self-encouragement as tried to make my way to the light at Chicago Avenue (the 1/4 mile mark).  I was happy to have fellow swimmer in the water as just seeing her red cap gave me a sense of security that I wouldn't have had if I was alone.  We slowly made our way out to the 1/4 mile turn only to find worse and worse conditions the further we got from shore.  After completing the turn, I found slightly better conditions as we definitely had a headwind on the way out but the swells and side current were still pounding.  After what seemed like forever, I made it back to shore (it was really just 5-7 minutes slower than what my time would have been in decent conditions). 

My new found friend and I griped about the conditions for about 5 minutes but decided to give it another shot.  The second 1/2 mile was no better than the first.  My swim buddy decided to call it a day and I decided to grab some fuel before deciding if I should head back out knowing that I would be alone.  I was standing at the lockers when a police officer walked up. 

Officer:  Are you finished for the day?
Me:  Nope, just trying to talk myself into another couple of miles.
O:  You do realize that beach is closed, conditions are terrible and there is a riptide warning?
Me:  Hmm...
O:  And we do have pools in Chicago.  You do go to a gym with a pool, right?
Me:  Yes, but my race.....
O:  That sounds horrible.  But since I would rather not fish you out of the lake in a few hours, how about you head to the pool.

Since I decided I didn't need to get taken to 26th/California in my Team SFQ swimsuit and wetsuit, I called it a day, packed up my stuff and headed to the pool.....