I Got in the Water Monday After Long Layoff

 

 

I think that I've been sidelined for a good three weeks; Monday I got a Pier swim in.  Surprisingly the water is still warm at 68 degrees.  If one were just looking at the water Monday afternoon, the view was absolutely beautiful.  The ocean was glass, unbelievably glassy.  The waves were outstanding, with sets to five feet.  There was a light wind, but the appearance of the waves gave the impression of a mild offshore breeze, although I don't believe there was one.  The reason that I say this is because the tops of the breaking waves had that beautiful spray up and backward like they do in a Santa Ana condition.  Many surfers were out and they were getting repeated one-second tube rides in these waves.  I heard one surfer on the cell phone to his pal saying, "I'm just saying, if you can get out here, get out."  That says it.
Now for swimming.  In one of these photos you can see a ship that has been pumping sand from offshore to replace lost sand in the Buccaneer Beach area and north of it.  The negative effect of this pumping is that crap is stirred up from the bottom and reaches far north and south of the area being pumped.  Oceanside Pier water quality is lousy, dirty, silty, no visibility, and smells of oil and fuel.  We had this incredible scenic water yesterday but the water quality really impacted the experience negatively.  But I have to say that the glassiness was amazing for swimming.  So rare!  I actually had some concerns about being able to get out safely through the surfers strung out along the beac and the big waves crashing in.  I took five minutes or more to think about an entry spot; the surfers were getting long rides so I had to account for their potential movement as I swam through the surf zone.  I got lucky and waited for a good time to get out.  Between diving under a series of waves and swimming hard to reach oncoming waves and get under them before they broke, the surf passage was exciting.  And fifty yards back from the water one had a totally different idea of the surf conditions.  It looked so calm, sweet, and beautiful from afar; but the water had the potential to crunch you and drown you up close and inside it. 
I swam a big arc around the Pier in 32 minutes.  The exit through the surf was totally mild; I swam far south of the big waves.  Since the doctors shot up one nerve area of my back last week, I was able to run about a quarter to half mile on the beach afterward.  I did have to stop briefly four times to catch my breath but the back held up. 
I'm writing this Tuesday morning and I paid for the swim with some heavy duty neck pain and back pain after the swim and through the night.  Worth it?  Definitely!  The words below I really take to heart these past couple of weeks.


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

Nerve Ablation?

I'm getting a procedure called "Radiotherapy Pulse Nerve Ablation" tomorrow to decrease pain from one spinal nerve.  Then, hopefully I'll get some more spinal nerve blocks followed by ablations.  Just can't get myself in the water at this time with all this low back nonsense.
It's all a step-by-step process; they want to make sure they get success when they block a nerve; then they kill it or ablate it if the block is successful.  I am looking forward to it. 
Hard to live with chronic, bad back pain.


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

Glassy Water at the Pier & I Didn't Go In

The water and the weather at the beach today were just stellar.  Warm water, glassy ocean, small but decent waves for the surfers stretched out along the coast, no crowds, and blue sky.  I strolled a bit on the Pier to take my photos but am not up for swimming at this time.  It would have been a warm, flat,  swim had I done it.


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

Tiki Swim and Relevant Water Conditions

I've been thinking about this weekend's upcoming Tiki Swim and I swam part of the course today to offer some information for those who have not swum this piece of water.  I am not swimming Tiki; I'm not really up to it and $100 is too much for me to pay to go swimming.
Yesterday I swam from Surfrider Way north to the south rock jetty and back. This is one segment of Tiki. Today I swam from Surfrider Way north to the south rock jetty and then on to the north rock jetty.  This swim took me 1 hour and 3 minutes.  But water conditions is what I want to cover in this post for those swimming Tiki.
The current again today was running north to south. The water was mildly choppy to the south jetty.  The seaward drift was cool to experience today, because I was paying attention to it today.  What happens is a little north of the pink Roberts Cottages, the ocean takes you seaward as you swim forward. It's kinda' cool.
Now the tough part. My swim today from Surfrider Way to south jetty took 29 minutes. The leg from south jetty to north jetty (where you will turn into the harbor channel) was TOUGH. The chop in the water was about 1.5 feet continuous. The surface water continuously hit me in the face. The current was mildly moving north to south.  I did this leg in 34 minutes and my arms were tired. 
This really is a good rough water ocean swim.  The water was too warm; it was actually very warm in the area from south jetty to north jetty.  I'd guess 72 degrees--uncomfortably warm. 
The water was dirty, visibility nothing--a couple of feet.  I am a slow swimmer (5'10" & 235 pounds) and my overall time I predict would be just under the 2 hour and 20 minute cutoff time IF I did this swim.  People who do good times in this swim are darn good rough water swimmers. 


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

Surfrider Way north to South Jetty & Back

So late afternoon came and I wanted to swim.  I got to thinking about the water currents for that upcoming Tiki Swim and I wanted to swim northward.  I swam out in some warm water not too far--about 100-150 yards. I stopped briefly to look for currents; it was a mild current running southward.  This remained the same throughout the swim.  So off I went north, and I do not care for the sight of those iconic pink cottages: Robert's Cottages.  Why?  Because I always seem to swim stationary in that spot and have to look at them far too long. 
When I got past the cottages, the ocean took me out another hundred yards as a surprise--gently.  I then remembered that with the varying currents in that area, I usually do end up far out without realizing it.  I swam along, today enjoying a minimally choppy ocean surface.  When I got to the first rock jetty, I was past it and far out, so I had to swim in a ways.  I was at 33 minutes.  I stopped and checked for currents--still mild and moving south. 
The water was dirty today. Visibility 3 feet and lots of silty dirt dispersed throughout.  Who knows why.  On the way back I did a lot of thinking about timing the breathing and strokes with the movements of the surface water.  It seems that it's worth holding your breath for another stroke or two until the time feels right to breathe.  So, to wrap up, I finished in 1 hour and 7 minutes and had a nice swim. 



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