Thursday, December 22, 2011

Gorgeous, Freezing, After-Work, Sunset, Oceanside Pier Swim

I'm not ready to swim yet because my neck is still jammed down from my own stupidity.  I used to be 5'10" but presently I'm 5'8".
  But, I miss my ocean.  I drove to a store at lunch and bought a cheap bathing suit ($9) so that I could swim today.  The beach was so doggone beautiful that I had to swim.  The water was a rich blue and totally flat.  A mild offshore wind was blowing that lifted the curl of the 1-2 foot waves up into a beautiful mist. 
There were about fifteen surfers out getting some action on the smallish waves-the shape was great, albeit small.
I wore fins and shorts, with my good swim cap.  I took a relaxed swim around the pier and the neck felt pretty good.  My swim was 29 minutes and I haven't been that cold in a very long time.  But what a swim; the sun was setting so I had a great view as I swam.  Also, not a cloud in the sky.  Wow.
I put the car heater on as high as it could go and was still freezing after getting home.  I wrapped myself up in two blankets over my clothes, hat, and jacket; and started to warm up after about half an hour.
Surfline.com says the water temp was 58 degrees at 1 PM but no way at 5 PM.  For the first time this year my face hurt when I got in the water from the cold.  To me, face-hurt cold is about 55 degrees.  Too bad I didn't have my camera.  Anyway, I loved the flat ocean, the solitary swim, and even the deep-freeze.  It makes one feel alive. 

"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

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