Swimming through sea lion attacks
The alarm beeps at 4:50am and I jump out of bed. I pour coffee into a travel mug and slather peanut butter on toast. At 5:10am, I’m out the door and on the road, trying to beat Bay Bridge traffic into San Francisco. I arrive at the Dolphin Club at 5:45am with enough time to set-up my toiletries, towels, clothes, and tea near the sauna. Everything is done to minimize the amount of time it takes me to shower and get warm after exiting the Bay.
At 6am, I meet my pod of swimmers. People just as crazy as me that jump into freezing 52-degree water without any light, just the glow of a green bike light attached to each of our goggle straps. We swim for close to an hour, watching the sunrise above the SF skyline. It’s truly breathtaking.
As we approach the beach at the end of our swim, we find another swimmer has been bitten by a sea lion. The ambulance arrives and she’s taken immediately to the hospital. The 4th attack in the past month. Our swim route went right past the attack. It could have been any of us.
Even with the insurgence of sea lion attacks, I must power through because I’m 6 months away from the Channel. I need to stay acclimated to the cold water. This is the period when I start ramping up — swimming 6 days/week and averaging 30k/week. At my peak of training (~May-June), I’ll need to get up to 40k/week. My shoulders are sore at the thought.
And finally, how to survive training on vacation? Recruit your husband to venture out in -5 degrees to jump into a pool. That’s love.
