Another sunny and mild morning. I took an 8 mile run to start things off and the temperature climbed from the low 50s to about 60 degrees. There was a Coast Guard vessel anchored off of Doheny. Yoga and dog training happening in Lantern Bay Park (separate events).

Left my house for the beach just a little before 10. Driving in to the parking lot it looked like there was some kind of pro life/christian/yay America rally happening at Strands park. I tend to find these super annoying. They just strike me as angry tribalism preaching to their own choir and generally turning everyone else off. I am super pro Jesus and think his message has a ton of hope to offer and it seems like these people just ruin it for everyone when they rub the message in others’ faces using language that no one but themselves could possibly relate with. That said, I don’t know these people and I am sure I would find many of them pretty great if I got to know them.

There is a pretty good breeze blowing but the ocean surface is fairly clean and glassy. The horizon is looking quite hazy. There are a bunch of surfers in the water that don’t strike me as regulars. It looks like some kind of organized surf school event. Looks like they are having fun despite some epic wipe outs.

Water feels cold on my feet. I’d say the water feels just a touch cooler today than yesterday. Still quite nice. I’m gonna say 59 degrees. Visibility was down a tad from yesterday as well but today did not have any of those cold, swirly patches. Surf is also down a notch.

Overall its a good swim. I empty my mind of thoughts as I stroke the water and move forward. I try to just relax into what I see and feel. No hurry to finish. No need to be anywhere else right now.

As I emerge and reach the shore, this really friendly and enthusiastic woman says to me, “That was awesome! I watched you the whole way down the beach.” I smiled back and said it was pretty great.