We have had offshore winds for a few days now, which upwells the cold water from deep in the ocean. The water temps have certainly not warmed up to summer temperatures yet. The air temperatures, however, are wonderfully warm in the mid-80s.
Workouts for the Week of April 27 - May 3, 2020
Monday, April 27
Coming off the weekend, my feet and legs were pretty achy from all the hustling we did. I was looking forward to a cold dip to not only get some swim time in, but to chill out my cranky legs. I got what I asked for! As I entered the water, one of my swim mates was just finishing up. She is a die hard cold water swimmer. Her first words to me were, "it is pretty cold out there."
Yikes. I figured it has been cold all of last week. How much colder could it be?
Well, it was so cold that I only went for 30 minutes. My original plan of a 60 minute swim was a NO WAY, so I warmed up (if you can call it that) for five minutes and then did buoy sprints, working on keeping my head down and in line and doing three count kicking. My pace showed improvement with this as I averaged 1:52 up until I floated in to the shore.
Tuesday, April 28
The water was a degree warmer today and it mattered. I was able to get out mid-morning so the winds were minimal. I decided to focus on some stroke work and see if I could straighten out the hitch I have mid-torso. Overall, it felt better.
I decided I wanted to get a little more distance in so I swam to the middle of the piers in an attempt to make a square. I was glad that I extended the swim a little longer. I was pretty chilled by the end of the swim.
Wednesday, April 29
Today was a rest day and work day. I wanted to get out for a swim, but just didn't have the time available.
Thursday, April 30
What a frustrating day. I hustled through my morning work and got to the beach around noon. I got the prime parking spot and quickly greased up, slopped on my sunscreen, got half dressed and ran across the piping hot asphalt and sand to the shoreline. As I pulled my arms through my wetsuit, a woman approached me to ask about swimming in the bay and what to expect. We chatted a few minutes. I was beginning to overheat, so I quick put my caps on and headed in. At chest-high, I realized my goggles were just gone! I spent 10 minutes looking for them in the surf and the sand to no avail. I did have them, but my interrupted routine caused me to lose track of them and my swim was torpedoed. I wasn't particularly happy. I went back to my car with my dry hair and sticky face and changed back into my street clothes and went home. Not deterred, I did some work and then got several more goggles from my stash and head back to the beach.
My resulting swim redeemed my day. It was pretty windy by the afternoon (I didn't get in until 3 pm). I decided to just do laps along the buoys and work on my stroke. It was time well spent and had some breakthroughs in my stroke. My pace had some good improvements as a result. I got just under an hour in the ocean and it felt great and made my mood much improved.
Friday, May 1
After yesterday's long swim I was a little sore and tired. I decided to try and log a little more time regardless. I could feel the fatigue but pushed through. The swim turned out pretty good with the exposed areas being just a little bumpy.
I am getting a little wetsuit rash along my hairline and that doesn't feel great.
The water might have been one more degree warmer and felt quite tolerable. The air temp was rather warm and the sand was hot hot!
Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3
No workouts this weekend. We were working on the bathroom remodel all weekend. It is very close to being done.
Totals for the Week
I got 4 swims in during the week and am looking forward to logging a long swim next week.
Swim Distance: 8,650 yards
Swim Time: 2 hours, 49 minutes