Wednesday, September 02, 2009

California Living

Paula and I headed over to California for a bit of relaxation and my sister's wedding. Aside from the crazy traffic and wildfires, the highlight of the trip was swimming in La Jolla cove. Holy schnikies, that was a good time.

For those of you who haven't been there, go. La Jolla has a beautiful marine preserve that is used daily by the locals for open water swimming. There is a dedicated swimming channel with lifeguards and distance buoys. From beach to beach, its 1 mile.

I made sure to check out the La Jolla Cove Swim Web Page. It has a bunch of good tips for swimming in open water and how to swim in the cove.

I was a little scared of the swim. There were a bunch of studs and studettes going in and getting out of the water. I made sure to use a bright colored swim cap, so the life guards wouldn't have trouble finding me. I also threw on the wetsuit. For the first swim, I planned on doing a mile. But, instead of swimming out to the 1/2mi marker and back, I went out to the 1/4mi marker twice. I did this, just in case I couldn't hack it out there.

It took me 16 minutes per half mile that first day. I navigated kelp and other swimmers. It was such a blast. It felt great. I worked on my sighting and form. I liked it so much, I did a straight mile the next morning. Second mile took me 30 minutes. Slow, but I didn't want to tire out in the middle of the cove. Also, word of advice, don't even think about thinking about sharks. Bad idea.

La Jolla is a great time.

Oh yeah, San Diego is nice too.

2 comments:

Paula said...

You mean the highlight of your trip was not all the time you got to hang out with your wife? :)

Podium quest said...

sounds awsome. I now plan on going there!

Those times aren't slow. they are faster than mine, so please, they are not slow:)