Back in the Water

 The perfect Job?

I had a day off for a doctor's appointment, so at about 1 PM I decided it was time to try out my old, creaky body in the water again.  Jan 2nd was my last dip, so that's a 7 day gap without ocean.  The beach at the Oceanside Pier was freakin' fantastic.  About 15 surfers, beautiful sky, mid-sixties air temp, big waves gone, 2-3 foot inviting waves, and a pretty flat outside ocean.
Let's check the water temp at surfline.com.  57-59 degrees.  Hmmm...On the low end of that-or a bit lower.  I checked my watch and at 6 1/2 minutes I was still COLD.  I hit the end of the pier at 14 1/2 minutes and had just gotten used to the water.  But no face-hurt pain, so maybe the 57-59 was accurate.
I wore my fins because there has still been talk of rip currents and rough water leftover from last week, and I like to play it safe.
There was a guy way out there stand-up paddling that I thought I'd cross paths with, but he was nowhere in sight when I was off the end of the pier.  I guess he was paddling pretty fast!
I can't really breath to my right well, except in flat water.  There was a small (up to 1 foot) chop, and breathing to the right hurt today.
My hand touched the sandy bottom at 29 minutes.  I was good with the water temp and my temp at the time.  I found a few shells worth bringing home for the collection, and that was that.  Let me just say it again, "Are we lucky or what..."

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

I missed out on the big waves this past week.

Check out this video link of the big waves at the Oceanside Pier.


http://camppendleton.patch.com/articles/oceanside-pier-surf-micah-lee-marshall-carlos-jordan#video-8852280

I've been unable to enjoy the big waves because my neck and back are giving me lots of grief.  It's a bummer, because I would have loved to put the fins on and gotten out past these waves.  The view from the backside of the wave is something that I crave.  Right in the break watching the surfers is great, too.  Maybe I need a waterproof camera to get some pictures and share the beauty and power of the surf better.

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

Rougher Swim Today Than Yesterday at Oceanside Pier

OK. I was significantly colder today than yesterday.  I checked my watch a few times to see how long I had been in the water and was still freezing.  Instead of 4 minutes to get used to it, I was at about 12 minutes when my skin got sorta' used to the cold.
At about 15 minutes I was off the end of the pier-same as yesterday-but just getting comfortable with the cold.  I got in at 30 minutes.  The water was rough with a one-foot chop.  The chop was a pain for breathing to either side.  I'm swimming along thinking that the people on the pier must be thinking 'That guy swims like crap' out there.  So, I decided to really PULL with my arms for a while-and to my mild surprise in the rough water-it helped my speed significantly.
So, I had an epiphany of sorts this afternoon: swimming is HARD.  No, really-I mean it.  I'm used to hard or difficult swims but the difficulty of sustaining a hard arm pull stroke after stroke after stroke is something that maybe never sunk into my thick skull until today.
Surfline.com has the temp at 57-59 again, but today I'm with the 57.  I feel like I got my money's worth of cold misery in today's swim.  Oh, by the way, Oceanside doubled the parking meter price from one dollar per hour to two dollars per hour.  Bummer.  Still a good deal for 2 bucks, though.
So I need to PULL HARDER when I swim.  My time today was a full minute faster today-even in rough water-than yesterday in flat water.
The fog has been rolling in late afternoons lately, and as I was leaving the fog was developing.
Visibility and water color was good today.  I saw a bunch of tiny fish just off the beach when I went in.  And that's my report for the pier swim for Monday, the second of January, 2012. 

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

Penguin Plunge - Related Story - Cold Water Swim

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/del-mar/del-mar-ocean-plunge-offers-wet-start-for-new-year/article_6553849d-7087-5aac-8719-ba6ac904e4f7.html



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

Chris O'Dowd Wins 2012 First Annual Oceanside New Year's Day Pier Swim!

Oh, I should say that I was the only participant in the First Annual New Year's Day Oceanside Pier Swim, in the interest of full disclosure.  The air temp was 62 and surfline.com says the water temp was 57 to 59.  I'm guessing it was about 60 degrees.  I did my New Year's Day Pier swim without fins and in trunks.  I wore the warm swim cap.  The water was excellent:flat as a table out past the breakers.  The shape of the waves was excellent.  About 3 dozen surfers spread out along both sides of the pier.  Swells up to 4 feet.  Beautiful shape.  Visibility about 8 feet but the color of the water was a sweet greenish-light blue.  There were lots of beachgoers strolling around enjoying the beautiful day under a cloudless sky. 
I had the swim to myself; I like it better alone anyway.  I didn't feel very cold at all really today.  I was concentrating on my arm movement and a 4 beat, relaxed kick.  32 minute swim; I hit off the end of the pier about 100 yards at 15 minutes.  Just past the breakers coming in I had to swim south parallel to the beach to find an open spot between the surfers to sneak in.  Excellent swim day.

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