I went to my first swim practice with the Salton Sea Triathlon Group and this is where I met Cristina. Just before leaving, I mentioned to her that I wanted to do an open water swin and omg! It was like God put her in my path! She told me she and other people were plannig to go swim in the ocean and she asked me if I wanted to go!!! I didn’t think twice about going! 

We all met at Marks house at 6:10am on Saturday (Oct 16th, 2021) and off we went to the beach. This was the first time I  met Mark, Fernindan, and Michelle. Super nice people! After we all parked our cars, we all met at the beach that moring. We put on our wetsuits and off we went! We all swam with fins, except for Michelle. By the way, if you meet this lady, she is so awesome! She started doing triathlons this year on mother’s day and her first triathlon was the Alcatraz swim in San Francisco! What? I mean, who does that!?? Lol I started my first triathlon swimming in a Lake ha! 

I was excited and a bit nervious but not scared. I think having to swin in a lake before, helped me not to panic this time. The first time I swam in a lake, my heart rate was so fast and I felt I couldn’t breath! 

I tried to swim next to Cristina the whole time but she is a faster swimer. Sometimes I was left behind and that made me feel a bit nervous but I kept on swimming. We would stop a few times to wait for everyone and continue swimming together. This was helpful because it kind of helped me catch my breath and continue swimming with ease.

Then, the scary part! As I was swimming, my hand hit something. I freaked out! I started to swim like never in my life! I was so glad I had my fins on! Lol I felt I was never going to reach Cristina! Then, I  yelled out loud like in a horror movie: “Cristinaaaaa!” Hahaha! Cristina was like, “What happened?” Well, to make the story short, they told me there are plants underneath the ocean that grow big and tall and that I probably touched one… Oops! Then they said, “didn’t you see them?” I told them I was swimming with my eyes closed everytime I put my head underneath the water.  haha! They didn’t belive it! ha! As we were getting closer to the Cove, Fer told us to keep our eyes open so we didn’t hit any rocks and we could see the little fishes, plants, sea lions.  I had no option but to open my eyes! I didn’t want to hit the rocks!   I finally opened my eyes! It was just so B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L! The water was so clear. Michelle told me there was a baby sea lion behind me!

I saw a lot of people snorkeling, hiyaking, paddle boarding and diving too in that area!  

On our way back, I had my eyes open the whole time! When we were almost done swimming, Fer told us there was a little shark underneath us but not to get scared!! I was like “Oh great!” I put my legs up! Hahaha!  He went on to explain it was a Leopard shark and that it is safe to swim with them. When I heard that, I went underneath the water to see and follow the little shark! 

By the way, when I was done swimming, I realized I had a few wetsuit rashes on my neck and the back of my arm.  I forgot I had to put Vaseline…but now I know!

After swimming, we all went to have lunch then went running for a 5 mile run later that day. (I forgot my tennis shoes and my bike water bottles ugh!)  We stayed over with one of Michelle’s friends. The next day, we went for a 30 mile bike ride, then we went to have lunch at the Bernardo Heights C. C. The vegan food there is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. (Michelle loves Vegan food and we all ordered everything that was vegan ha!) 

It was definitely an amazing weekend! It was like an intense boot camp/retreat kind of weekend!  I finally faced the fear of swimming in the ocean and opening my eyes underneath the water ha!!! 

I took the following week off from any workout!! I had tons of work and felt I needed a little break. I also didn’t end up going to Laguna Beach. There was a warning of big tides and well…I wasn’t sure about going. Christina, Mike and Fed did go. (I regreted later for not going) But, it is ok. More open water swim will come!