California – Day 2, La Jolla

I finally managed to get in the swim I’ve been promising myself to do. I was able to leave right after the conference and head to Cove Beach. A couple of years ago, another business trip took me to this area and I strongly regretted not having my wetsuit with me. I vowed that if I ever return I would pack it so I can do what turned out to be a marvelous swim.

The water is very clear and you can see to a depth of at least 15-20 feet. There were many bright orange fish swimming around that looked like the Carp you see in ponds. The seaweed formations are also spectacular. There are these giant tendrils reaching up from the bottom like some crazy leafy cables. I swam into several large ones unexpectedly. It could almost feel like they were trying to grab you and pull you under. I swam directly away from the lifeguard station which is roughly parallel to the shore on the right. In the distance were a line of buoy markers that I swam towards. The water was relatively calm, but it did have the occasional swell that pushed towards shore. The air was very tranquil and the swimming seemed incredibly easy.

When I reached the furthest and final buoy marker, I stopped to rest and take a look around. A lifeguard on a large surfboard was paddling about doing his days training. We talked for a few minutes and remarked what a kick it was to be out in the middle of the water. It was exceptionally warm, around 67 degrees, and you were just filled with a sense of wellbeing. I decided to head back to shore instead of swimming out past the buoys. If I still felt like swimming after I reached the shore, I could always turn around and go back out. I had a work appointment around 4pm, so I didn’t have all the time in the world, but I made the most of my time. When I reached the shore, I turned around and headed back to the first buoy marker which was .25 miles away.

All totaled I swam for 49 minutes and about 2 miles. I was afraid I would be tired for the swim today, because I swam hard yesterday. That turned out not to be the case and I lamented that I had to head back. Perhaps I will get another chance to swim tomorrow morning.

I also got it a hilly 6.4 mile run. I ran from my hotel with a business associate to the beach 3 miles away. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera as it would have been nice to get a picture of us together by the beach.

As evening time fell, I started to get lonely and wished I had my family with me. I headed to a local sports bar that had the Yankee/Red Sox game playing and passed the time eating dinner and watching the Yankees take another from the Bosox. After, I head to the village of La Jolla to look for souvenirs for my kids. There was really nothing to be found that my son would consider cool. I finally found some loose head/bobble head turtles that I thought my kids would like.