My second open water swim in the Pacific and this time it was at La Jolla Cove (in La Jolla, CA). My sisters and I had a wonderful weekend filled with surfing, eating and (for two out of 3 of us) running, that we wanted to cap it off with a half-mile swim on Sunday (April 25th). *wink*

Getting into my wetsuit was super-easy this time around — because it was dry! LOL. Of course, I forget to bring my Body Glide, so later into the swim, my neck was chaffing >_< But back to the experience…

If Bayshore was the obedient child that you take to church with you and not worry about them fussing or making a scene, La Jolla Cove (on Sunday) would’ve been that teen trying your patience for the next five years whilst they’re living under your roof! LOL. Having only taken one of Dave Mueller‘s swim clinics, we obviously did not cover the bit about getting into the ocean, i.e., when 4ft of surf are crashing into you! Sunday’s swim was literally getting our feet wet into the whole “how-to-get-into-the-ocean-from-the-shore-with-crashing-waves-without-drowning-first” I can’t wait for Dave’s actual clinic where he’ll give us tips on entering the water when waves are involved!

When my sisters and I finally got out into the open water, it was wonderful! You weren’t really out-there, out-there but it felt like you can just swim to Hawaii or something! LOL. Well, I take it back, my experience was rather pleasant but my big sis Annelle had a more harrowing time She was hyperventilating at one point and (my other sis, the experienced triathlete) Minel and I had to calm her down.  Poor sisy. We ended up swimming 15 to 25 strokes and stopping for a breather in-between so that Annelle can get her bearings. Hahaha did I mention she kept veering to the right? That’s one of the reasons why we also had to stop every 25 strokes — to make sure Annelle isn’t in Hawaii by the time we got to the quarter-mile buoy! ROFL. Later in our swim, we were just laughing and having a good time (not even thinking about the time cos by then, we were taking over an hour to finish!)

Some things to note:

• I psyched myself out!
  I told my two sisters that I was going ahead, to try and get my rhythm. I was able to do so but when I was about 150m away from them, I suddenly got scared and started thinking about sharks and stingrays and sea monsters that might come and grab my leg! ACK. I literally stopped and just waited for my sisters to catch up and then swam with them the rest of the way >_< Darn you History Channel’s “Monsters of the Sea” programme! I gotta stop watching those.
• My “Finding Nemo” swim cap was a hit!
  I’ll be doing a mini-review for this swim cap shortly, but I wanted to note that several people complimented me on my swim cap and one guy in the middle of the ocean took a photo of my sis and I in our swim caps! LOL. He said visibility underwater was poor so he’d rather take a photo of our cartoon-fish swim caps.
• Body Glide is my friend; if I remember to take him with me.
  I really need to just stick the Body Glide in my bag with my gear; or maybe get two sticks — one for my running bag, another for my swim bag!
• Swimmers in La Jolla Cove were Ironwomen
  Minel invited several of her former-Tri Club of San Diego friends and their small talk was like “Yeah, I’m just doing the half [Ironman - 1.2 mi. swim, 56 mi. bike, 13.1 mi. run]” or “Oh, I just swam from the shores to here [2 miles] and that’s my taper.” Whoa.