The Winter’s Winter
I leave at 10:30 today and skies are completely overcast. The temp isn’t warm but it’s really not too bad in the upper 50s.
The last two days have had heavy fog almost all day long at the Strand and have not been good swim days. I wasn’t really planning on swimming today because the surf was expected to peak this morning. It was only predicted to be 4-6 which is not that big but I’m just not motivated to manage both the cold and larger surf.
Well it was down to 3-5 this morning and from the view of the webcams it looked pretty minor and also the break looked pretty mushy. Given the fact that it is supposed to rain the next two days, I want to get a swim in if I can so I change from running attire and into my swim suit and head to the beach.
From the parking lot, I can hear the waves breaking but it looks quite benign just as it did on the web cam.
When I get to the beach, the sand situation looks about the same as it did last week. The tide is less than two feet and there is still not a lot of shore to walk on. I get my feet wet and the temperature dial does not feel like it has moved at all.
I make my way out. I walk up to the inshore gravelly ledge and step down on to a mix of sand and large boulder. It’s a bit more walkable today but not by much. I switch to swimming pretty quickly.
The waves are still breaking far off shore. I get to a point where I think I am finally past the surfline and in comes a larger outside set. It’s not really that big but I just wait out the handful of waves until they all roll over me and then proceed to continue west. Finally I am past the line. I look towards shore and it feels like I am way out.
I head south and the water looks pretty cloudy. It also looks like there is a bunch of “stuff” in the water - just free-floating organic debris. I like to think this is some kind of life extending elixir because I am ingesting a fair amount.
I am definitely moving with the current here. I feel like I am being pushed along. The water is pretty bouncy but when I turn around to head back north, I don’t feel that “victory at sea” level of activity against the current which I often get on a strong current. The wind isn’t that strong today. However, it feels like it just takes forever to make my way back up the beach.
The water is getting cold and I can feel my hands “claw” up so I decide to cut the swim short today. As I just mentioned, it feels like I am never going to get to my starting point which is also my finishing point. Of course I eventually do and I do my swim all the way to the shore maneuver and then pull myself up to my feet.
Later when I review the timestamps on the pictures, I notice that this swim took over an hour. Usually it is more like 50 minutes. Could be the current, could be the fact that I swam so far out or I was tired (didn’t feel tired) or all of the above. It would explain why the cold got to me before my northern leg.
Today I make sure to grab my pack and then walk it down from the rocks to solid sand before toweling in order to avoid losing my balance on the unsteady rock floor like I did on Thursday.
As I make my way back up the stairs I have no regrets today on the premature end of the swim. It was totally the right thing to do. One thing I have noticed during the month of March over the three years since I have started swimming is that my mood and perspective starts to enter this sort of weather worn demeanor. That shimmer of the “Oooh this is the ocean and it is so wonderful” starts to fade and it all just feels like a lot of effort. This doesn’t really bother me. I know warmer water is not far away now. This is the Winter’s Winter. It is a reflection of life on land. There are times when it just feels like things will never turn a corner - but they do. Just have to keep swimming and we will get there.
