Santa Monica Ocean Swim

Workout 7/8: Santa Monica
2x 500yard swim
30 min run

These pictures don't seem to do the Ocean Swim speed circuit I attended this morning any justice...

I somehow managed to make it out to Santa Monica this morning for my first open water swim; thanks Mom for the ride. Me and about 75 other crazies met on the Ocean Park beach in Santa Monica at 6:15AM for their weekly ocean swim speed circuit consisting of a 500 yard out and back swim. Course found here. Upon arrival and assessing the sheer magnitude of the event, I got really nervous. I was ill prepared being a novice to this whole triathlon realm- I did not have a wetsuit OR a cap. Oh well, that meant I could just sit back and observe instead of taking part...

The group slowly makes their way over to the lifegaurd stand where an LA Tri Club group leader of sorts made some announcements about the circuit and encourages all to "have fun". At this point, I was pretty sure I was going to bail. I mustered up the courage to ask the speaker if...he had an extra cap? I knew for safety reasons, the club asked that all swimmers swim with a cap to ensure others are able to see you in the water. He didn't have one but was gracious enough to announce to the whole group that I didn't have one and asked if anyone had an extra. Sure enough, Sue, an experienced older woman was glad to loan me one. Great. That means I'm going to have to do this now...

Sans wetsuit, I made my way into the water. The tide was low so it was a smooth transition getting into the water. Surprisingly, the water was warm- A LOT warmer than the day prior up north in Ventura. Thank goodness. I started spazzing out pretty much right away and completely forgot how to breathe while swimming. I would bring my head out of the water to look ahead of me and would breathe out and then breathe in once my head was back in the water...umm obviously that's wrong. It took me sometime to find a rhythm and after I talked myself out of turning around, I was finished with my first loop! I was so excited! What a feeling of accomplishment. I decided to try another one just for good measure and this was a bit smoother but still encountered some rather large swigs of salt water; it was well worth it. Overall a phenomenal experience.

The group couldn't have been more inviting and the environment was exactly what I needed. After the swim, I joined a small group of runners for a 30 min out and back run down to the pier, across the bridge and down a nice dirt path. My feet felt ok but I was extra sore from the barefoot beach running I had attempted the day prior in Ventura. My calfs have yet to loosen up. youch.

I just can't get over the community of athletically inclined participants in the LA area. It is a beautiful thing to look around and see other people interested in the same things you are. Everyone I talked to was so supportive and super encouraging. I only hope to find a network of swimmers and cyclists like that in Baltimore.