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Writer's pictureSLOGoing

Just Gonna Swim

With a pulled calf muscle, there isn't much to do besides swim. So swim I did.


My new wetsuit arrived and I'm the envy of the group with my bright arms and legs. I'll have to make sure I'm swimming straight because it seems I'm the new thing to sight off of. Add to it my new white and blue goggles and I'm as visible as I can get.

 

Workouts for the Week of June 29 - July 5, 2020


Monday, June 29

Well, I gave my calf a week off from running and it wasn't long enough. I went out for a very easy run and turned back quickly as my calf started to ball up again. I didn't even break a sweat.

 

Tuesday, June 30

Last swim for June! With last week's shark sightings, there is some hesitation to getting out in the open ocean. So, our group did two laps of the triangle. This, to me, is rather boring. But, it is a swim. I focused on my kicking and stroke and how my body position is with my new wetsuit. In all, it was a nice swim. My new wetsuit scored the back of my neck pretty good, so I'll have to adjust how I lube the area and let it leather. It just hits me lower on the neck than my old wetsuit.

 

Wednesday, July 1

Just a rest day. With a busted calf, there isn't much cross training.


 

Thursday, July 2

Today was a great swim. While we had fog, there was a lot of texture on the water and some reasonable swell push. We busted out of the confines of the San Luis Bay buoys and swam over to Fossil Point. It is always so interesting to me to see it so close up. It is a big heaping rock with caves that the waves have carved out.


From Fossil Point we swam to the end of the Avila Pier and then to the third cross beam at the Cal Poly Pier, a span of 1.5km. It was a nice stretch and it was good to have a good, long straight distance to cover. The wind chop and swell were coming straight at as. The tide was incoming as well, thought the effect of that was not pronounced. From the Cal Poly Pier it was a surprisingly difficult swim the the creek mouth. I thought we'd be pushed right in, but we sure had to work for it.


My second swim in my new wetsuit scored my still sensitive neck, despite a very heavy application of Glide. Ouch. It stings!

 

Friday, July 3

Our group decided that we would avoid the holiday crowds and swim Friday morning. Neil, our fearless leader, wanted to go long on the swim and I was certainly up for it. The water was cooler than it has been, probably around 57°F (down from 60°F). It still felt very comfortable and my new wetsuit kept me nice and warm.


It is sure handy that Neil is exactly the same speed as me. Frustratingly the same speed. But, we swim in sync, each of us crooked in our own ways and adapting to the currents, tides, and wind differently. So, Neil and I plodded along, the rest of the group zipped ahead. We picked up one of the faster swimmers, Dave, as we head to the end of the Cal Poly Pier, since he wanted to add some distance.


As we neared the end of the pier we came across a patch of sea foam. Fortunately, it didn't smell or have a toxic look to it. However, the water was immediately warm, going up to 76°F right in the foam. On the other side of the foam the water stayed warm, at around 61°F. We enjoyed this warm water all the way from the Cal Poly Pier over to about 100 yards off the Avila Pier, when we crossed back through the sea foam into the 57°F water. Such a stark distance in temperatures in such an immediate transition. I haven't experienced such a wide swing like that. Sure, plenty of warm pockets or cool pockets, but this was almost as if there was a wall between warm and cold water. Amazing.

 

Saturday, July 4

Happy 4th of July! I spent the day preparing for an upcoming backpacking trip and fixing up my truck so that I could open the back doors again.

 

Sunday, July 5

More backpacking prep, namely, preparing my meals and dehydrating food. Also, more work on my truck.


 

Totals for the Week


Total Swim Time: 3 hours, 32 minutes

Total Swim Distance: 11,322 yards


In all, the week was pretty good for swimming. I would have like to swim one more day, but the holiday madness at the beaches had me deterred. Next week will probably be light since I leave for backpacking next weekend.

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