Oceanside Harbor Choppy Before Sunset 1-29-11

The water was nasty and very choppy this afternoon at Oceanside Harbor. No problem getting a parking spot. The tide was low with a cloudy sky, for a change. I couldn't swim very well in the chop. I went about a half mile or so and it got dark on me. In my mind, that's when the sea monsters come out to eat. Instead of worrying about them incessantly, I made my way in with some effort and jogged back to my car, wading through the mucky water at San Luis Rey Creek.

I was disappointed to see the water looking nasty and choppy this afternoon.

Friday Swim Oceanside Harbor to Pier

After work, I thought that I would spread my wings a bit and try a longer swim. I have recently been inspired by this Rob D fellow after reading about his swimming routines in the ocean near San Luis Obispo. I say San Luis Obispo because I go there to visit my daughter at college, and that is how I heard about Rob when he was doing his 10K New Years Swim.
So, it's nice to read about a person pushing the limits, and since I swim in the ocean, his story struck a chord within me. I decided that it was time to step it up a bit in my routine and increase my swim distance and speed. I use the term "speed" quite loosely and inappropriately, since I am a very bulky, heavy, slow swimmer.
So Rob motivated me to swim without my treasured Churchill fins. So far it has been a good experience. I have been out three times sans fins, and each swim was fine. I still am using my webbed gloves, though. I'm a step-by-step kind of guy.
I started at Oceanside Harbor and swam south to the Pier. I made it comfortably, albeit much slower than a "real" swimmer. Then I jogged back up to my car. The water was about 59 or 60, smooth, beautiful, with a breathtaking sunset. Typical weather again. Wow! Aren't we glad that we live here.
While swimming I was trying to concentrate on my arm stroke-the catch and pull, the angle of the elbows, keeping the elbows high, and keeping my stroke smooth. I did ok. Driving home I could feel that I had worked my triceps.
I need to try to figure out how Rob D puts that BING map on his blog posts that shows his swim routes and distances. Bit-by-bit.

Wednesday Swim After Work Oceanside Harbor

Smaller waves today & chilly water. Surfline says 54. Maybe a couple of degrees over that because my face didn't freeze. Waves 2-3 feet. Not too many surfers. Mr. G. and I went in at Oceanside Harbor between the jetties and swam southward for about 1/2 mile. We jogged back up the beach to get the blood flowing again. It was fun. Nice and mellow.
The sun was setting as we swam, always nice to see. We had to wade about three-feet-deep across the San Luis Rey Creek to the parking lot and...yuck...nasty stuff floating down that creek. I'd call it floating, foamy fecal matter.

Tuesday, Jan 25, 2011 Oceanside Harbor Swim

This afternoon after work the tide was low but the waves were still big with great shape for the surfers. The water was chilly-about 58 degrees. I wanted to see how I could swim without my Churchill fins, so that's what I did. I was comfortable swimming horizontally southward without the fins. I've been feeling that I'm cheating with my permanently-attached swim fins, so I need to wean myself off of them. Sunday after my swim I was reading up on the internet about kicking technique in ocean swimming: 2 beat kick, 4 beat kick, style, etc. on multiple web sites. I had e-mailed a fellow named Rob at www.robaquatics.com with a question about fins vs. no fins.

He responded amiably with good information for me, which got me counting my number of kicking beats per stroke cycle on Monday. Rob suggested pool training techniques to improve and strengthen the kick but I really am not a pool guy. So today, without the fins, I counted that I have a natural 4 kicks per stroke cycle (2 arm pulls), which was quite comfortable and effective for me.

I am sore today in the shoulders and back so I must have been doing something better yesterday. Tomorrow I'll go for a longer no-fin swim and see how I hold up.

Monday, Jan 24th Oceanside Harbor

Just took a relaxing, slow, thirty-minute swim at Oceanside Harbor after work today. A decent number of surfers out there enjoying good waves, good shape. The water was flat and glassy past the breakers so I swam back and forth a bit. 59 degrees. Not much to report for today.