Short Swim to Get My Ability Back

The children with the yellow rash guard shirts and yellow, hard-foam surfboards were on the north side of the Pier attending Oceanside Surf Camp.  This is great fun for the kids, and occurs each summer.  The lifeguards are great here in Oceanside!  They also run a Junior Lifeguard course of 2 weeks for kids which is great stuff for the kids.  The pictures on the south side show water a bit calmer with more surfers.  Both sides had lots of beachgoers enjoying the day.  The water was distinctly colder than 2 days ago--about 64.  The air temp was about 67.  The sky was overcasy mostly at the beach.
I only swam for just 16 minutes.  It was very choppy--about 2 feet of washing machine chop on the north side.  I swam a ways out, took a look around at the chop, and swam in to the sand. 
I wore the tight elastic back support, which helped greatly holding my back snugly together.
A short swim but a fun one.  Now I need to increase my endurance over time.  I'm in rehab mode again.

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

I Got a Swim Done Today in Oceanside, CA

     I got in for a swim of 1/2 mile or so this afternoon.  The day was beautiful, water warm at 67, and air temp mid70's.  People are still on vacation enjoying the beaches here.  I put on a pair of compression shorts, then I wrapped an elastic back support snugly around my low back.  To cover up the white, I put a thin pair of trunks on and wore a rash guard t-shirt.  I felt well-wrapped.  I am rusty.  There was a one-foot washing machine chop everywhere.  Also the current was moving to the north.  I did a 24 minute swim.  Out a few hundred yards, south a hundred yards, then north and in which took me 10 minutes or so.  My back held out well with the support.  I'll use it again next time.  I feel good.
     Back on the sand my back immediately started hurting as usual, but that's ok if I can swim. 


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

I Tried

     After I wrote this morning's post, I drove to the beach to swim.  I didn't swim.  Walking the three blocks to the sand tweaked my back and then I saw rough water in the surf zone.  It was nice out with an overcast sky, the temperature was cool, about 72 at the beach.  Water temp 67.
     Past the surf the water was beautiful and flat.  However, I didn't have my "edge" that I need to do my thing out there.  I didn't feel confident that my body would hold up today so I did an about-face and went home.
     These pictures were not taken of the bigger, four-foot swells, but of the two-foot swells coming in.  Normally I would be saying that it was an amazing day in the water with this water.  There were extra lifeguards out and the yellow lifeguard boat was also out there.  Lots of surfers.  I think I'll go again on a mellow day since it's been so long.


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

Over One Month Without Salt Water

     I have not been in the water since early June.  That's crazy.  I'm not quitting, but my low back pain will not let up.  I just go to doctors, physical therapists, the out-patient surgery center, and take meds.  I was put out to pasture by my federal job due to my inability to stand for long without mucho pain and spasms.  I also had to bend and reach down in slow motion so I didn't have something slip out of whack.  I had to request to use a telephone headset because my neck is fused.  My work was hustle-bustle, run around like crazy, reach over two customer counters that I served, and bend over repeatedly to get products.  Then they raised my countertops so that I would not be able to sit down and stand up as needed to give my back a break.  Chairs were disallowed.  Silly, but that's what happens when you get old.  Too much for me anymore.
     I did two "requests for accommodation" for disability, which is required by law, but the government puts you through the mill and grinds you up with their paperwork requirements.  You can't win, or if you win your job duties will be changed to break you down.  This was my experience.  By the time I got a lawyer the disability retirement was welcome.
     But let me return to the ocean.  My last swim messed up my back for a week.  Since then I have experienced four separate trips to the out-patient surgery center for lumbar pain nerve blocks and also radio-frequency nerve ablation injections.  They have only helped decrease the pain by one-third, I'd say.  I want to go swim but I know that I'll suffer for it for a week afterward with the meds, ice packs, TENS unit, and pain.  Raw deal.
     Actually, just writing this is motivating me a bit to get my lazy butt to the beach.  I read a few swim blogs and I'm jealous of the swimmers.  Aghrrr...  We'll see.


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

Friday Afternoon Oceanside Pier Rough Water Swim

     I got in the water today early afternoon.  The area was crowded with folks enjoying the beautiful day, warm water, and positive energy (ha ha).  The water looked rough and I took a long time trying to figure out which direction to swim.  I was wrong. I went north to south (right to left) and the current was strong south to north.  The mile swim was more like a mile-and-a-half with the current in my face.  The chop was big or here--a solid two feet all the way. 
     The green water was probably 70 or more, but the lifeguard's chalkboard had 66.  No way.  It was actually too warm on the south side of the pier.  The swim was up and down with timing my breaths with the surging and splashing of the water.  Even bringing it in to finish and swim through the surf was difficult.  Crazy.  A surprising swim that challenged me.  It took me 47 minutes to touch sand.  That's ten minutes more than typical for me.  I'm going to bed early tonight and dream of green, gentle water.  Not really.  I loved the surprise rough water conditions.


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