It was a wonderful surprise to swim this week in water that was in the upper 50s. The water was so wonderfully warm and clear. The wind has been up, though it is offshore so it hits the water different. It was a pretty light swim this week, but well worth it.
Workouts for the Week of May 11 - 17, 2020
Monday, May 11
It was hard to avoid the thought of sharks as I head to the shoreline today. Yesterday's fatal shark attack in Santa Cruz caught my attention, even though it was well over 100 miles north of my beach. There are sharks all up and down the coast. I thought about keeping to the buoy line today, but reasoned to myself that sharks also swim to the buoy line. So, it was the double triangle swim again. The water was a lovely 55F, a nice improvement over the 51 - 52F water temps of recent weeks.
Tuesday, May 12
My schedule was pretty crunched today so I went out for my short 3.3 mile run. I've lost a couple of pounds and could really notice that on my run. My foot has been mostly behaving and I do think I can work out the faint plantar fasciitis that plagues me. The run was lovely.
Total Distance: 3.3 miles
Total Time: 40 minutes, 58 seconds
I also did 30 minutes of stretching and some band work targeting swim muscles.
Wednesday, May 13
Today I played tennis with my best friend for an hour. I am so absolutely not a land creature and hitting a ball with a stick is not my strength. I'd much rather play a sport where I use my hands on the ball. Like Water Polo. Regardless, we had a blast and enjoyed a lot of laughs. I didn't realize how difficult it is to pick up 100 balls!
Thursday, May 14
Wow! The water has warmed up! It is amazing! I didn't swim too far today. I had thought about swimming long today, but the wind was already up and the water was pretty lumpy. My 450 yard bee-line from buoy 4 to the end of the pier took me 9 minutes, 25 seconds, compared to 8 minutes. As I head from the end of the pier to the creek mouth, the southward push was strong enough that I surrendered and just swam the pier. It was impressive how much push there was and I just didn't have it in me today.
Friday, May 15
Another run today with my morning packed with meetings. I'm starting to miss the opportunity to swim in a pool. It will be so strange to stare at the black line.
Total Distance: 3.3 miles
Total Time: 40 minutes, 11 seconds
Saturday, May 16
What a lovely day! The water was wonderfully clear and clean and almost warm. I wasn't sure what kind of route I was going to do when I waded out into the surf. I decided to just start with my usual triangle. Midway between buoy 2 and 3 I ran across fellow swimmer, Tom. He was going to swim the triangles (he calls it the fortune cookie route). I decided to give him a chase since he is much faster than me. He got to the creek mouth far ahead of me.
At the creek mouth I decided it was calm enough to swim to the Cal Poly Pier. I aimed for the second crossbeam, but the outgoing tide pulled me around 50 yards out from it. The conditions seemed ripe for a end-of-the-pier swim, so I went for it. I really enjoyed the clean and clear waters as I went. Out at the end of the Poly pier I did a couple of under water shots. That was fun.
The trek from the Poly Pier to the Avila Pier was directly into the wind on an outgoing tide. There were several endless pool moments. My average pace during that stretch was 2:21. I decided to just head to shore once I got to the Avila Pier. That, too, took forever against the tide. Overall, an excellent swim.
Sunday, May 17
Rest day! I almost forgot to take a rest day this week.
Totals for the Week
Swim Distance: 7,365 yards
Swim Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Run Distance: 6.6 miles
Run Time: 1 hour, 21 minutes
A somewhat light week for swimming, though it was certainly a most enjoyable week for swimming. Onward!
