We watched a few swimmers and I checked out just how rough it was. It wasn't. The only thing I did not like was the stench coming from the seals and the birds on the rocks down below us...considering there was a restaurant right behind us too made me wonder how on earth they could eat. Blech.
We headed in the opposite direction to grab something to eat, was starving by this time. Our packet pick up was at Chase bank not far from the Cove at all. Bacon and eggs. Om nom. nom. nom.
We ate at a place called Cory's. They had these T-shirts that said on the front "Where the customer is rarely right". Thought that was pretty funny.
So we toddled off to get our packets and walk off breakfast. La Jolla is a great little town, lots of touristy shops, cafe's, restaurants and bars. I could see myself living there quite easily. After packet pick up we headed back to the cove to do a test swim. I was sooooooooooooooo nervous!
We started talking (well I did) to this Lifeguard near the cove. I asked him about Sharks etc and that I was nervous about swimming in the cove. The 1st thing he said was "Well, they are out there" next was "Just remember that everytime you get in the water you're bait". Oh fer God's sake! I had to laugh. He was extremely funny, and really cute. Hehehehe. It's a great place to snorkel here and they have an "Underwater Park", to which an eldery asian lady asked why it was called an underwater park at which point sarcastic lifeguard replied "Because it's underwater!!!!". Good times.
After donning my swimsuit we head towards the stairs down to the cove. Tide is starting to come in and people are out there swimming, snorkelling and generally faffing about. I am pooping my pants. As a child I rarely swam in the ocean because I hated the feeling of sand and seaweed between my toes. I've also been bitten by many crabs and stung by a lot of jellyfish, and I hate deep water. We decide to go as far as I want. I get in and swim with my head above water then I do the unthinkable. I look down. It's really not that bad. That's when I notice all the fish. I mean FISH! GIANT COLOURED FISH!!!!!!!!!!! The Garibaldi's are the most noticeable being bright orange. Just gorgeous. I float about for a few minutes admiring the view before realizing that I am looking down at 30 feet of water below me. I care not a jot. I should mention that of course that the water is freezing. 63 degrees. Brrrrr. We swim to the 1/4 mile buoy and back, then floated about a bit more watching all the fish until my friend got too cold.
We head back up towards to the lifeguard and toilets (to change) and tell him just how much that was, then we talked about sharks - again.
After that Shannon takes me to Mission Beach so we can lay out and sunbathe and take a nap. Utter bliss. It's been too long since I've done this. Since 1996/97. Seriously. Now I want a vacation, big time.
For some reason I didn't take any pictures of our hotel. It was really pretty outstanding. 15-20 minutes from La Jolla and downtown. Apparently a lot of famous actors stayed here during the 40's and 50's. It had a GIANT pool, very unlike most of the other hotels around the area. We stayed near Balboa Park (Somewhere else I never got to go to)
Dinner was at Olive Garden. Yes you may laugh but unlimited pasta bowl, bread sticks AND salad for $8!!! I'll take it. Was delicious! Headed back to the hotel extremely full and watched TV until I crashed!
Oatmeal and coffee later we headed back to La Jolla and got lost a little, but found a great parking spot near the cove.
At this point I start to poop my pants. We are watching some of the kids start on their swim. We weren't set to go till 11am! Sunshine was still not out however, disappointing!
Our turn to line up. Euch. Shannon was in the group after me. I was in the 18-39 AG. I stayed all the way to the back as there were almost 200 people in this wave. Great Ironman training, right? The water was much colder today than it was yesterday, I swear. The 1st few strokes I kept my head above the water until everyone started to spread out. The thing I still don't understand about OWS is that no matter how big the area someone ALWAYS manages to swim into you.
The 1st buoy seemed so far away, but I kept my head down and just kept going. did have to stop a couple of times to fix my goggles. The swim to the 2nd buoy was hard. Giant wave swells. Swallowed a lot of water at this point. Blech! Just nasty. Some women from the 2nd group started passing me at this point, after reading last years results I had a feeling this would happen.
They had this flashing giant sign back on the shore, so it made it really easy to spot the way back in. I kept swimming through giant kelp forests, was just amazing. I would occasionally worry about sharks, occasionally :) Only made me swim faster. I kept my sights on this one girls in a pink suit and cap and tried to keep up with her and hopefully eventually pass her, but I couldn't. As hard as I tried I couldn't pass her. Could have tripped her up on the way out but I didn't (Should've though..hehe) Saw all the garbaldi's again on the way in. I've never felt so delighted with myself.
Took me just over 37 minutes (37:40), I was expecting an hour at least.
Overall I was: 217/251
Age Group I was: 21/26 Not too shabby considering it was my 1st ocean swim. Will definitely do this one again. Such a cool experience.
This is my finishers medal.
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