No Swim Thursday, Just Pictures

I was kept out of the water today by low back pain and muscle spasms.  I stood at the sand and wavered between going in or not.  The 'not' won out.  The water was sloppy--no waves, a choppy surface, and the sky was totally overcast. 
I thought about wearing fins to exercise the back, but I didn't have any with me; I had cleaned out my trunk a week ago.  Oh, well.  Maybe it's better to rest up?  I'm guilty of contradicting my post-script this day.

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

Jellyfish Sting Oceanside Pier

So I was watching the Olympic Trials in swimming this afternoon and looking at the difference in kicking beats per stroke in the 1500 meter swim heats.  I noticed that all the top 1500 swimmers were kicking their butts off continuously in what I think is 8 kicks per 2 strokes; the other swimmers were kicking at 4 beats per 2 strokes-I think.
Flash to 7 PM and I am in the water swimming around the pier with a continuous 8 beat kick per 2 strokes around the pier.  I think that I'll be swimming faster than before but it didn't seem to help much.  I got around in 29 minutes in calm, great swimming conditions.  I guess I need to keep working on it.
The exciting thing is that on the way in I brush against what I think is a pink/purple shirt which startles me.  Instantly I realize it is one of these 2 foot jellyfish and it starts to sting.  It got me on my left arm, left underarm, left leg a little bit.  So I swim in and keep thinking that I'm going to have an asthma attack or something on the way in--but nothing happens--except the stinging hurts some more.
I get home and rub the sting spots with Adolphs Meat Tenderizer mixed with water and it stops the stinging.  It has papain in it--an enzyme that breaks down the proteinaceous toxin in the jellyfish sting.  I also took a Benadryl to play it safe.

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