Beautiful morning. Bright sunshine. Crisp October air, but flags at the beach whipping straight out at the water. Uh oh. A breeze from land pushes the warmer top waters out to sea, leaving the ocean brisk and uninviting. I thought about donning the wet suit, but it’s so confining and uncomfortable. I decided to hold off and at least test the water. As I started across the beach a leaf blew toward me, and then another. I turned back to see the flags had turned. The wind was swirling which was good news.

The water was cold. It always is cold. I relaxed into my stroke, fighting the adrenaline urge to fight the cold with rapid movement that would leave me exhausted, while noting that my head was not banging in pain. A good sign. There was just a dull ache between my eyes from the cold that threatened my temples, but then dissipated. At colder temps it moves from the eyes to the temples, where it bangs its way down to my jaw until it feels like my molars grow loose. Today the teeth felt firm and I could see the bottom. I could see the swale between two hills several miles ahead that guided my direction, as well as the perpendicular shore. There were lazy two foot waves that it was easy to get out past to where the waters were flat. Not much drama. Perfect conditions.

With nothing to worry about I could work on my stroke, spreading my fingers to reduce drag as I stroked into the water, synchronizing the stroke with the leg kick and kicking through the thigh. The landmarks that marked my progress seemed to fly by. My feet were cold as I approached my turn around spot at the hotel, my fingers were numb enough that it was tough to keep them tight as I pulled through my stroke, but nothing was numb so I powered through to add just a hundred yards or so because it felt to good to swim.