Stevie D. took these late Saturday afternoon..

when i asked him

to please post these on the blog

he said, "you do it". 

so here you go!

Later, Leopards and Leonard kind of Sunday...

Laura commands... I obey. POST.  Post? BLOG?  I'm not a real blogger or a poster... but if LFTC says do it, then we do...

Plus, I have to mention (subtle, right?) about yet another, BEST SWIM EVAR!  And so it goes..

Calm, glassy, wish-it-could-last-forever kind of day...

See Ya' Later, Steve, the MCs, Lyndee, Lynn, and Leonard (we've got some serious opportunities for alliteration here) were on deck at noonish on Sunday... more gorgeous (if that's possible) than Saturday -- you know, or EVAR.

Our mighty 6-pack darted out to the 1/4 to see the pumpkin (I missed it yesterday) and needed to get into the Halloween pumpkin mood since my uncarved pumpkin still sits blankly on the porch... not only was there the big orange floatee, but also, and YIKES!, a sawed off body part -- a hand, looking like a shark had chomped the remainder of the body and all that was left was a grisly hand and forearm... someone REALLY has a sense of humor at the cove!  Leonard kept reminding us to look for the rest of the body parts scattered along the route -- cheery thought!

Did anyone see that ghoulish appendage yesterday or last week?  Because if you did, you're holding back... wow... a great addition to the pumpkin buoy.

So, I digress... past the pumpkin buoy we headed to the big white boat and stopped at the 1/2 on the way, swam around that gazillionaire's yachet (you can see in the lovely photo below) and then headed to find those darn MIA leopards that Claudia kept seeing Saturday but only alluded the rest of us, especially LFTC and Cami,  too spooked by the murk... So, as luck and Leonard would have it (also the other L's, MC's and Steve) we found those illusive sharks -- there were bunches at the white house by the Marine room -- I was happy at last!

See white boat? 

Of course, MCb had to get back out there, anywhere, everywhere, fast, where it was even clearer than EVAR and we headed out west to the A... everyone voted the B down (both B's) because we all knew it was so beautiful and clear at the A (Leonard saw a school of 1000 fish!) and calm, glassy, and warm sunniness that it just couldn't get any better... so we mozied back in towards the cove where it was aquarium-like all the way in... yes, oh, yes, the very best, EVAR!

Except that you who weren't there were not there and were missed -- just sayin'.

Next weekend?

Oh beautiful, lovely photo... here:

murk, pity and dick.

swim report- saturday, october 27th, 11:30 featuring cami, toni, the mighty c's, beth and her new tattoo, ralph, claudia, al, kevin, me.  we swam out in glorious seas, flat, calm, inviting with the sun shining down upon us with plans to swim to the marine room to hunt for leopards but some of us didn't make it and some of us didn't even care about the ones that were ascared of the milky yet somehow brown murk that surely concealed ocean predators. so cami and i watched you all actually cavort at the marine room, romp, even! we bobbed in deadly murk wondering if you all noticed we weren't romping with you. and we are the best rompers! we got over this immediately and swam toward clearer sea and there you all come, streaming through the kayak flotilla, little colorful heads bebopping over to us only to torture me with plans for the a buoy. god, i was so tired today, weak! beth and bill try to trick me by saying the a buoy 'is on the way in'. i know better but i agree because..well, i don't know why i agreed, i just did. at the a they try to get me on board for the b buoy but i wasn't going to fall for their trickster ways and head in with cary and cami who claimed they were done anyway but i suspect a pity call on their parts. excuse me? pity swim? pity partners? okay! hey, pity has a place in life for a reason. on the trek from the a to the cove we found the 20 feet of absolute clear to the bottom clarity, i didn't care though and swam right through it because i was so done. and! i rode my bike over, i had to ride back and i parked especially far for the cardio burn like a dumb-ass and i needed to get on it. sigh. guess what? i forgot where i parked and rode to rush spin studio, where i usually meet sunshine to bike to the cove. i climbed some wicked hills to go the wrong way. good thing i already have a helmet.
all and all a very good swim with the best partners on the planet, even the pity is kind and doled out with love.
a couple of things: cary and cami are suggesting i blog for free crap, like reviewing swim gear or swimwear in exchange for swim stuff, a fine idea except cary says i have to clean it up, cami wasn't sure about his aspect. (you guys DO NOT EVEN KNOW what our sweet cami is capable of, language wise-be afraid is all i can say ) my thoughts on this was that if i can't say dick in my blog, i'm not gonna do it. i know i can use it creatively in a review for say, fins, right?
the other thing is regarding new neoprene swim caps from a company called www.pbearcaps.com, the owner is married to a hardcore, crazy, cold water swimmer and makes neoprene caps for swimmers, custom, colors, different sizes,  with an excellent guarantee. she makes them herself and knows what the open water swim people are like. i have two of her caps, one with a chin strap, one without, for anyone to try out. these are super soft and super bright, really beautiful. it would be cool to bring some color to our winter swims and we can paint them! i see 'no pants'! i am not involved in any marketing plan nor do i receive any money or discounts for these caps, i just like them and i particularly like the strapless version. i know i heard one of my girls say they prefer the strap on but i didn't catch who it was. good thing, huh.. if we order in bulk we'd get a ship fee break. check it out, if you like them i'd be happy to put a group order through or just get one on your own if you like them.
winter is coming and you all are going to swim right through it, do whatever it is you have to do, caps, wetsuits, club access, hot water, medication, whatever. don't be a dick, swim with me!
lftc-out

it's all about the weather, people..

swim report for thursday, october 18th, 11am, stevie d., toni, me.
we left grey skies, mist and cool weather on the east of the 5 to find warm sun shining down on the cove, flat seas in that there was no swell but say hello to wind. serious surface texture but i'll take anything compared to homisurf. my watch read 64 degrees the entire way, the temp is headed down. come on now, take it like a man and swim.   so, we head to the tower because steve likes it over there, toni is game for anything and i was wearing fins so i knew i had it. we dealt with a strong current all the way over, toni and i mostly stuck together, steve is a fast wanderer, big time. veer to the left, veer to the right, it's best to stay either in front (i cannot) or in the back and just let him go. we land at the shores and take a look back at the cove, it was so far away! how did it get so far? wind was up and man, it looked so far away! toni suggested we walk to the marine room and we all jumped on it. we had a photo op on the way over and look at that weather! we make our way back and even though we should have been with the current, we weren't, it was pulling hard to the north so say good bye to stevie d. and keep on going. at the 1/4 we decided to blaze in and there goes steve, right to take off, directly to take off, toni and i swim in correctly but steve beat us in anyway. here's my point with my title: i had already been to the gym, i worked very hard on my core (god, the horror) and i was kind of tired. i drank some carrot/celery/apple juice (god, the horror) to hydrate or whatever hoping for the best and i did okay, i held my own despite shoulder and lat exhaustion but did i complain? of course but mostly i swam. it was hard to get a beat going for the water slapping me around. this was a damn good swim, athletic and fast and to the point. awesomeness all over the place and when i texted steve to thank him for the bitchin' swim, his reply was 'i liked the weather'. what? what? the weather? i was speechless until now. i wasn't even aware of the weather for trying to get the swim down, was there even weather? of course there was weather but the weather? well, he liked the weather. some people are into it.  i really like stevie d., he's cool, funny and fast and a welcome addition to our badass crew. you all know i kid because i care. (in case steve is reading my stuff, no one is safe from my posts, not even me).
thanks to tftc and stevie d. for hanging with me today, for making my swim so much more than just a swim!
there you have it, my friends: my rant.
if you want to hear about the actual weather, give steve a call.

Add caption

lftc-out  

First Winter "Storm"? where?

The weather predictors were all giddy--"Listen up. It's our first early-winter storm of the season! Focus on my winning smile for the close up.  All eyes and ears on me, me, me.  It's the XNews featuring our WEATHERMAN!"

Some storm. LFTC, CRose and TFTC paddled around in flat-ish warmish water from the Shores today with a bitchin gray cloud backdrop and only a dusting of well-placed sprinkles to decorate our swim-cake.  LFTC saw a whale breaching in the distance, through her binocs, before CR and I arrived.  If that's not a good omen, I don't know what is! We paddled down past the white house, dipped and dove in the sea grass , before paddling back.  A lone sea lion escorted us along the way, keeping his distance, much to CR's relief.  And, as we were drying off, we watched the dolphins having a food fest out by the half.

So, next time the weatherman predicts doom and gloom on the horizon, I will once again head down to the  beach because obviously anything he says is exactly the opposite of what's goin down at the Cove.

Sorry for the delay, people, I have post traumatic stress!

Okay you swimmer people, Dave took my laptop to sea and when he brought it back I couldn't find my stuff, passwords, favorites, etc. I found some of his favorites though and let me tell you, we had a very meaningful conversation about it. God, I hate when that happens. But anyway, I can post now!
We are now in October, so much has happened as of late! The Mighty C's went to Franistan for months it seems, Cary came back tired but 5lbs lighter, I'm very interested in her weight loss method: 24 hour long flights, stomach woes, some rotten little pick pockets, emotional distress and fatigue. I am all over it.
On their first swim back, Bill declared an easy, low key day, we should not expect much given Cary's weight loss plan and you all know what happened, right? He hauled ASS from the marine room back, leaving us behind. When we Cary asked about the 'easy' day plan, he said he had to go race pace for the relay. I was not one bit surprised as you all do this. I guess my ladder days mean I'm guilty too.
We have new girls in our pod: Beth and Sunshine, both are hard core nut cases and fit in perfectly, please let's try to keep them in the loop all year. Use whatever methods work; guilt, best swims evar!, bribery, anything. Guile, people! Practice guile!
Let's see, what else? I received an unfair and unwarranted speeding ticket on Mt. Soledad to the tune of $200. I was technically speeding but there were extenuating circumstances! I was behind a hundred year old dude in a Caddy! Do I need to say more? Because I get ruffled when thinking about it.
In order to offset my guilt over the cost of this unjust fine, I got a job! Calm down, I already quit because conditions have been really good and I can't lose sight of my priorities.
I quit the athletic club! That's right, I left the uptown digs and relocated to the street. I'm sure I told you all about it, over and over. I told complete strangers. I told Toni, Cami, Sunshine and Beth about a hundred times, I bored Claudia to tears. The rates and policies changed, not in favor of my budget, so I had to make a stand! I really dislike principles, they tend to make me do things I find difficult. Thus my Post Traumatic Stress. I need to talk to Wendy. It's her specialty.  So Dave bought me a bike, now I park far away and bike in to avoid traffic, hills and no parking. I love riding my bike, I sometimes join Sunshine and together we cause mayhem on the streets. Sunshine, the girl, not the weather, is prone to sidewalk riding, weaving, riding on the opposite side of the street, no helmet riding and Speedo wearing riding. I follow her for the entertainment. She makes it all very cute somehow, she rides her bike exactly as her name suggests.
Mostly I have been swimming. Everything revolves around the swim and I'm sure more things have happened but the I can't recall right now.
I'm so happy we are all still together, more or less. No matter how far away one might wander, it's cool to know that the pod will be welcoming upon a return, it's all about the love and we love the swimmers. Say it with me: We love the swimmers.
lftc-out
p.s. Cami has new fins! Magic fins like Cary's! She loves them. Diana has new fins too! Exactly like mine, magic fins all over the place.