Warm Water

I got in at 2 p.m. for some kicking around at the Harbor Beach. It's just so nice here!

Waves up to a max of 4 feet every several minutes for 3-4 waves, but the shape wasn't very good for surfing--closed out. The south jetty was more popular than the north side. The water was very flat and calm out past the waves and I relaxed on my back, kicking easily. I got a bit inspired and kicked around the south rock jetty. It's a rough spot, the south side, and a kid could get smashed quickly and pulled out. 

I got two epidural steroid shots 2 days ago and I think the Dr. just hit two bad spots of mine just perfectly. Good reduction in pain and the lumbar felt very good this afternoon. 

I did forget my disabled placard and had to pay the $1.50 to the meter. It makes one happy to have a disability. I missed out on my free parking spot right by the sand. 

(but I'd trade it in for health).

No photos; I didn't care.

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

Before Sunset

Not an exciting swim today just before sunset. Ten minutes of kicking but I had no wind. A little bit rough with up to 4 foot strong waves outside. I didn't dare try to get through them due to a lack of breath. When one is old it is better to be cautious.

No photo. Forgot the phone.

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

Three Days Off

I got into the water yesterday after a few days of recovery time. Don't you miss your body when you were in your twenties and maybe into your thirties, when you could get out of shape but snap right back into fitness after a week of daily exercise?

I remember that youthful 'bounce back' ability. That was nice.

I can remember being in my early twenties and having a bad cold, a chest cold or something, that could be cured by going out on a hard 5-mile run.

Took that for granted.

I've been espousing the 'step-by-step' method of life for the last 20-30 years. 

Like Mao Tse Dung's quote: 'The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.'

Saturday in the water at the Harbor was perfect for me. Smooth waves 2-4 feet, decent shape, and a nice interval between waves. I was able to kick out past the several surfers and relax just kicking back & forth between the jetties. No, not the entire length, I'm talking 50 yards or so north, turn about, and 50 yards the other direction a few times. So peaceful, such gentle water.

This photo was of the south side of the south rock jetty. Is that beautiful or what?

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

Before Sunset, Tuesday February 18th, 2025

Damn, I wasted countless days sitting in my recliner chair--NOT GETTING IN THE WATER--feeling sorry for myself with my perennial antagonist: pain.

No, I have not had the gene of self-pity excised by "Ancestry" or "23 and Me."

This parasite has accompanied me in this life. But I have had my periods of time when I can locate the kernel of self-motivation hidden latent deep within my soul. 

The motivation is unearthed by fleeting physical pain, exhaustion, extremes of cold, and physical danger...the physical challenges that one lives in a young life, and throughout a life if a person is quite special, like Socrates, who propounded his idea of living a Stoic life in his Classical Greek age. I am not such a Stoic; perhaps I tasted a few years of that as a young man, without realizing the importance of it.

Wait! Isn't this a blog of swimming? 

This was yesterday:

This was me yesterday:

Fourteen years ago, this was me:

Not the build of a swimmer; I'm more of a plodder. I haven't been able to freestyle after 2 cervical surgeries, but...maybe...who ever knows.

Yesterday the Harbor Beach was rough, surging 2-5 foot waves without much of an interval to recover between waves. I was unable  to get to the big waves, much less through them and out past them, which is typically my goal.

I had 15 minutes of difficult, chilly fun in my Churchill fins. My lumbar is holding up well today. Fingers crossed. 

Surfers KNOW the secret of life. Cold salt water striving to achieve the adrenaline pump of speed and power. I envy them.

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

Sunday Swim Oceanside Harbor

About 3pm I was pleased to see some waves between the 2 rock jetties. The water was fine, the temp, in a wetsuit. Waves 2-4 foot maximum, poor-fair shape. Several surfers doing ok on both sides of the south jetty. 

About 2 foot visibility. Surfline quotes 56 F degrees but much warmer, I believe. About 62.

A decent number of folks enjoyed the area, lots of dog walkers, but no dogs on the sand. I'm a hard-liner on this: no dogs on Oceanside sand. Use dog beaches wherever they may be. Del Mar is one and I heard Orange County has a dog beach.

I tried wearing a hard plastic neck brace today to prevent neck problems and it did. Pretty uncomfortable though. I kicked out past the big surf and hung out a bit, then kicked in. My wind is poor. Legs and lumbar feel good with the buoyancy of the heavy salt water but something isn't normal in my right side of the diaphragm. It is pushed upward for some reason. Who knows. I don't even know if it affects my wind or if I just need to exercise more.

A very pleasurable day overall at the beach. We're lucky to have it.

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