In the summer I find myself swimming out to the buoys placed at different intervals from La Jolla Cove towards the Marine Room Restaurant. It's something I mostly do in the warmer months, when the ocean is calm and there hasn't been surf in awhile. My body will be bored, yearning for some surf, instead I give it a swim. It can be equally magical. I usually swim alone and it is the quietest time in my life, just the voices in my head and the slush of ocean and air around me. I don't go with any regularity, and have no particular course, I let myself be free to swim however far and however often just feels right. This is much the same as my surf routine, except with surfing I have the motivation of a very enthusiastic surf partner! Often I'll ride my bike to the Cove, I think of it as my personal triathlon: I walk my dogs first, then ride to the cove, swim, and ride back. It's quite a morning! I'll often swim to a tall yellow buoy that is farthest to the northwest, or you might call it the deepest buoy. Other times I'll swim towards the white buoys that line up towards the Marine Room, occasionally making it all the way to the sandy beach and back. When you get to the shallows over there it is not uncommon to see big schools of small sharks hanging out in the warm water, getting to know each other! Along the way I'll often see sharks as well, dark shadows cruising through the kelp caught in a glimpse as it heads deeper under water. When I tell others about my swims they often ask if I'm afraid, but really I'm not. I know that there is risk swimming in the open ocean, but I feel it is no greater risk than walking my dogs along the bike path, driving my car on the 8 or locking myself alone in a room with a stranger to give them a 75 minute massage! The ocean is my friend, a sometimes angry and cold friend, but if you try to understand her each day, even at different times throughout the day, she will share with you some of her wisdom, and you will feel more safe inside of her!
There are different events and organizations related to this beautiful activity, swimming at the Cove. One such venue is the La Jolla Rough Water Swim, a competition held every year at the start of September. For a while now I tell myself, This Year I'm going to Do IT! But I chicken out due to cost, my perceived fitness, anti-social attitudes, who knows? But this year I did it! I had been swimming a lot recently, due to crumby surf and warm tranquil oceans both at home and recently in Spain. So about ten days before I become definitive and took a few extra swims that week. I am fortunate to have a neighbor who is a world famous open ocean swimmer and she graciously accompanied me a few times and offered up a few suggestions and strategies. The days leading up to the race I got very excited and visualized the race many times in my mind. The day before I signed up for the race and got my number, wristband and anklet with computer chip to record my time, I was ready to go!
The Swim
It was a beautiful day, blue skies, calm and warm waters. The swim was exciting. I felt nervous waiting on the staircase for our time to step on to the beach. I was swimming one mile with women from the ages of 19-39. There were many college and university swim teams there gathered together in groups and I was impressed at the idea of swimming with them all! At the start of the race I was excited to be amongst so many fast swimmers and I found myself swimming faster than I was planning on and needing to breath at a much faster rate with my strokes. It felt like being in a school of tuna, so much splashing all around. And I could get a sense of my space in the pack by the view of the splashing of the group extending in front of me. The first buoy was much farther away than I expected and I was glad I had swam all the way to Marine Room the week before, that gave me confidence over the distance. I did the best I could to keep up and keep going! I finished the race in 32:26, finishing 7th in my age group and 102 out of 280 women who competed in the mile race.
The Vision
The race was exciting and only a positive experience. I'd like to swim again next year and I would like to improve! If I could get a little faster I might place in the top five and get a trophy! I'll use this blog to record some of my swims. Maybe you'd like to join me?
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