Excitement Today. Dolphin Encounter.

Today I had big plans for my swim.  I wanted to do a long swim, but I didn't get it done.  The ocean was like a washing machine on "medium agitate."  Conversely, the day was beautiful.  We cooled off to the upper 70's outside temperature.  Light clouds--the puffy, pillowy kind-- were scattered around the sky, along with wispy, light, paint-brush-stroke clouds across parts of the sky.   
But the water was kind of a mess.  The one-foot chop was difficult to swim in.  Visibility was five feet and that five feet view was cloudy.  Water temperature was 69 degrees.  Lots of bits of broken-up kelp were dispersed in the water and tumbling on the sandy bottom in close. 
So, I'm building up to bit of excitement.  Picture me swimming slowly off the end of the pier, having difficulty breathing in the chop, and I look down and what looks like a big fish (think shark) slowly appears about 2-3 feet below me from behind and swims from below my feet to below my head.    I have an instant "Holy crap, there's a big shark right under me" moment before I see the tail and realize that I am looking at TWO small dolphins, side by side, about 3-4 feet long, now swimming ahead of me and disappearing from my view.
That was neat!  It really was.  Then I start looking around on the surface for a few minutes because I expect them to surface--but nothing. 
So I round the pier about fifty yards past the end of it and I get brushed and tugged at.  Holy crap again!  I think bad stuff until I realize that I am tangled up in a guy's fishing line.  Now, I don't know what giant kind of fish this guy thought he was going to catch, but this fishing line was THICK.  It was like twine.  And he must have had a heavy weight on it which accounted for the tugging I felt.  Oh, boy.  This was great stuff today.  I get the crap scared out of me twice on one swim.  But the thrill of the close dolphins really was amazing (after I knew a big shark wasn't below me). 


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

Late Afternoon Swim Wednesday

It's been a long time since I got in the water and it was a bit colder today.  I went around the pier north to south.  There were warm spots and cold spots, and 67 degrees for most of the time.  The water was flat and beautiful--great for swimming.  Lots of surfers out on the south side because the waves were 2-3 feet, and occasionally a larger set.  On the way in, past the surf looking in at the back of the waves, I was surprised to see a few good-sized waves.
My swim was a relaxed swim at 31 minutes around.  My photo card won't read so I am waiting for a reader to upload my photos again.


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

Sadly, No Labor Day Pier Swim for Me

Labor Day Pier Swim North County Times Coverage



Above is a link to The North County Times covering the swim on Monday.
I was on the DL,the  Disabled List, in football parlance.
I got a new treatment for low back nerves the prior Thursday.  The Dr. did injections of something, I'll guess Marcaine, because I heard him say to another Dr., "I'll need a little more of that 0.25%."  He did an injection into the joint between my right L3 and L4, which has helped somewhat.  On the other hand, the left side is now giving me even more grief.  I think the left side has always been an issue but that it has been overshadowed by the worse right side. 
I know this is a bunch of uninteresting info but I felt that I should write something about the Pier Swim.
They had the strong inside rip current to the north, as usual.  The surf had picked up from 2 feet to a more powerful 3-4 feet. 
There has been a change in the management of the Oceanside Swim Club, which sponsors the annual swim, but thankfully the swim continues.
Since I am not swimming, I think that I may start another blog.  About nothing.  Kinda' like the Seinfeld Show.  We'll see. Congratulations to you Labor Day Pier Swimmers.  Life is better 'Out Past the Breakers.'


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

Repeat 2.5 mile Swim North of Pier to Wisconsin St and Back

I took some pictures but my camera cord isn't working.  The sky was a clear blue yesterday evening.  I went down at 5:30 PM and it was quiet at the Pier.  The tide was low to medium, with small waves and gentle surf.  I did the same swim as a few days ago.  My time was very similar; I did the route in 1 hour and 49 minutes.  The water was flat swimming out and got a bit choppy before the end of the pier and beyond the pier.  Visibility was about 7 feet.
I'm thinking about how to describe the swim south to the Wisconsin Pole and back north to the pier.  The ocean was calm but with a constant 1 foot ripple of a wave over and over the entire way.  It wasn't a chop, like a washing machine up & down, but a defined, constant, small, formed wave that I tried to time my breathing with as I swam.  I was taking more strokes per breath and breathing on both sides as I felt which stroke would put me at the apex of the small waves on the surface to breathe easier.  There was also a mild current moving south again, as is mostly the case in the area.
I started the swim at tower 2 on the north side of the pier, and hit off the end of the pier at 14 minutes.  Then I swam parallel to the shore out at that distance from the shore to the Wisconsin pole.  I checked my watch after I circled the pole and started back; it was 51 minutes.  I hit the end of the pier at 1 hour and 33 minutes, and the beach at 1 hour and 49 minutes. 
I was starting to get tired about a quarter-mile south of the pier.  Swimming in to the beach was hard for me; I didn't had any gas left in the tank.  The warm water lulls you to laziness:  70 degrees.  I personally need more misery to make me pull harder and kick more.  I prefer my misery in the form of wet cold. I was also lazy with my kick yesterday evening.  On the swim northward it was nice to get a repeating view of the full sun descending to my front and left.  I brushed against a big, white blob with just my feet; I think it was a big jellyfish because I looked back at it--but it seemed to be chasing me, so I got the heck out of there.  No stinging at all though.  Maybe an overactive imagination?
After I was out of the water, there was an almost-full moon shining in the southwestern sky.
A good swim, but I paid for it when I woke up this morning.  I have epidural nerve block injections this afternoon to try something else for the low back.

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

Marine Convoy

This post has nothing to do with ocean swimming but I'm branching out to other topics.  Yesterday I was driving from Temecula, CA to Oceanside, CA on Interstate 15.  This is part of the route that the Marine Corps drives when they go out to their desert training base at Twenty-Nine Palms, CA.

Temecula temperature was 101 degrees and these Marines were returning from temperatures in the neighborhood of 110 degrees. They may have been out there for two weeks or two months--who knows, but 29 Palms is a miserable place.
As I drove along at 60-70 miles-per-hour, being passed by most cars going faster, we all passed this slower, long convoy of 8-wheel military vehicles with Marines in full combat gear sitting on top of the vehicles, hanging out of the vehicles, standing inside with their upper bodies outside getting fresh air, etcetera. 
The vehicles were traveling at 50-55 miles-per-hour. 
Now here is what what special about this encounter: At least 3 of every 4 cars that passed by EACH armored vehicle (I'm going to refer to them as LAV-25's--the top picture) slowed down and waved to the Marines aboard each LAV-25, and ALL of the Marines waved back to all of the cars.
I personally passed by about 16 LAV's in the rear portion of this convoy, and I waved to all of them.  I saw other drivers switching lanes to get to the lane adjacent to the Marines to give then the 'thumbs-up,' a smile, or a wave. 
I was struck by a very deep admiration and respect for these men, and I got goose bumps as I drove along. The striking thing to me was that most of the drivers on the highway were hit by that same feeling of patriotism and an appreciation for the work the Marines are doing for us. 
These men are the best that we have, and to see them being thanked and appreciated was quite touching. 
(And I do hope that they get a swim in when they are in Oceanside)


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