swimming

Ogasawara Islands: Snorkeling paradise

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Ogasawara Islands was a snorkeler’s paradise.
On the boat trip they took us out to a special spot where all the fish are. Didn’t get as long a time that would I have liked here, but that’s only because we were lucky enough to see dolphins and spent more time dolphin watching which cut into snorkeling time. I ended up going back out this to snorkeling spot on another boat trip on my last day.

The snorkeling was amazing! So much fun.

From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling

Snorkeling is awesome.

Some cool cloud photos:

From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling

Onjuku OWS 2014

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I finally got to swim the Onjuku open water swim race.
I entered in this a few years back but it was cancelled because of a typhoon. They still sent us a race t-shirt though even though the race was cancelled. Wanted to do it last year as well but was back in Sydney when the race was on. So finally got to do one of the few Japan swim races left on my bucketlist.

Onjuku is a great beach. Probably one of the beaches most closest to an Aussie beach.
The swim was 3.84km but was a bit over 4km.

The swim was the entire length of the beach and swimming into each of the fishing ports on each end of the island.

Nice swim. Long though. A little bit choppy.
Sighting and navigation is still really difficult for me. I think I swim way more than I need to.

Was a good day out with a bunch of us doing various distances throughout the day. A handful of us did the 3.84km, a couple of others did the 1.5km and the guys did the relay as well.

My overall time was 1hr 25min for about 4km. Was happy it was under 90minutes but still a slow swim for me.

Check out this crab on a wall:

From Onjuku OWS

A great day for a swim:

From Onjuku OWS

Beautiful white sand beach:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

Onjuku open water swim:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

The course around the whole beach:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

Lifeguards ready:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

Post-race, enjoyed some SUPping!

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

Wipe out!

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

We tried to tandem SUP:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

The end of summer.

Snorkeling at Hirozohama

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Have been on a bit of a snorkeling spree lately. Here are some pics snorkeling at Hirizohama (southern Izu peninsula) taken a couple of weeks ago.

From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling

Travel Notes:
Went for the weekend staying overnight at Yumihahama. Access to Hirizohama is difficult without a car as public transport is limited and infrequent.
At Hirizohama area, you take a boat to the snorkeling spot (1500yen return). The snorkeling spot is super crowded in peak summer period and everyone brings their tents. It is very rocky. But plenty of sealife.

Shonan 10km OWS: Race Report

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My first DNF in a swim race.
Sadly, after 9 months of training and lot of hours spent in the pool, I was pulled from this 10km open water swim race.
Honestly, it was a race that I did not want to do. I refused on principle simply because of its location, but was talked into by the housemate. He’d done the race before a couple of years ago, and was prepared to do it again. The swim was a point to point swim – from Zushi beach to Enoshima beach in the Shonan Area. The last time I swam at Shonan, this happened to me. I vowed I would never swim in those waters again. Before you know it, I’ve gone and signed up for it.

This was to be my first actual open water marathon swim race. I’d already done an 8km ows, and a 10km pool race (which was probably about the equivalent of 8km in open water). This was going to be one reluctant swim. And 3.5 hours in which to do it.

Tough conditions this year though. I was stung by jellyfish, eaten alive by sea lice, and battled currents. I was unable to make a lot of ground. There was 1km cut off at 20minutes, and then another 5km cut off at 1hr 40min. Water was about 22-23 degrees but felt warmer.

From the get go, it was not a comfortable swim. I was getting stung by sea lice for much of the swim.
Despite being pulled from the swim, I still swam for about 2 hours. I think I got caught in currents and basically either kept going in circles or zigzagging between the buoys. Just shy of the 5km mark, I was stopped. I pleaded to continue, but a pack of us were put onto jetskis and then hauled onto boats. So for about 2 hours I had been swimming and had only covered about 4.5km of the course. I am taking solace in the fact that about over 25% of starters were pulled from the race or voluntarily retired from the race. There were about 100 non-finishers of those that started. The official statistic from the race organisers was that there was only a 73% finishing rate. It was a very tough race. I even know of someone who was pulled at 3.5 hours in. Disappointing for us. JC however did well and finished in just over 3 hours with a time of about 3hr 2min. His previous time for the same race was 2hr 36min. And JC is one of the top swimmers I know.

The race time limit was 3.5 hours. Last year everyone was within that time limit. This year, there were over 80 people with times between 3.5-4 hours, reflecting a much tougher race in tougher conditions. Well done to all those that finished. So many people bore the marks of jellyfish stings. You could see all the jellyfish and another nasty crap as we swam in the water. Do not swim in Shonan waters. Dirty, dirty, dirty.

So what’s it like to be pulled from a race?
I didn’t want to be pulled. I wanted to at least finish the race, no matter how long it took me. I knew I wasn’t yet at the 5km mark, but I also didn’t know how long I had been swimming for. When I was stopped, I had asked what the time was. Ugh. At that rate, I was going to be just over 4 hours. I still wanted to finish, coz at the end of the day, no one wants to retire voluntarily. I had spent months training, so many hours at the pool, paid over 20000yen for the race entry alone, had travelled all the way, gotten up really early to do the race etc. But a little part of me was also relieved, coz I was also suffering from bites and stings. At one point I couldn’t even kick properly because I had gotten stung between the upper thighs so that every time I kicked, it irritated. I basically did a waddle kick with my legs apart for a short while until the stinging wore off.

So we got dragged along in a jetski 2-3people at a time and then hauled onto a boat. There were a couple of packs of swimmers, and two boatloads of people at this time that were brought into shore. We were offered water, blankets etc. Handed in our ankle timer chips, and taken to the port. When we alighted from the boat, they had laid out over 30 pairs of thongs/flip flops for us (only in Japan ay), and provided us with some blankets for the walk back to the finish line where all our luggage bags were located.

I was gutted not to have finished, but it was an extremely tough race that would have taken me over the race time limit.
I don’t plan on a redemption swim for this particular race.

Am sporting a nasty itchy sea lice rash at the moment:

From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS

And that’s just the PG-rated photos.

Below is the pictorial race report:

Friday night-pre race registation centre:

From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS

I was amused on the race disclaimer, that in the absence of a hanko (name seal/stamp), they wanted us “foreigners” to give a fingerprint instead:

From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS

Because it was a point to point swim, it meant that all our gear was transported from the start line to the finish line. We were given race souvenir bags to put all our gear in. I had been worried about the size of the bags we would be given. I carry a lot of crap to races. The bag was satisfactorily spacious – 55cm x 45cm with backpack straps.

From Shonan 10km OWS

I even paid for a race t-shirt, and I didn’t get to finish the race:

From Shonan 10km OWS

Unfortunately, no finisher’s medal for me.

Weather forecast conditions:

From Shonan 10km OWS

Saturday morning:
Up very early to prep and fuel. It was a 7am registration kick off for a 9am swim start.

From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS

Conditions at Zushi beach looked deceptively calm:

From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS

We basically had to head for this island at Enoshima, but then swim into shore:

From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS

There were a lot of rescue and lifeguards on hand. It was a well supervised race – plenty of lifeguards, rescuers on paddles, jetskis, and boats out there.

From Shonan 10km OWS

The bouys were pretty much a km apart throughout the course, marked with numbers, counting down the remaining km’s.

From Shonan 10km OWS

Looking optimistic:

From Shonan 10km OWS

Warm up swim:

From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS

At the finish line: unfortunately I didn’t get to run across it:

From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS
From Shonan 10km OWS

Oh well.

Have another shorter swim this Saturday at a much cleaner beach. Let’s hope I make it to the finish line.

Oshima Fuji open water swimming

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Went to Oshima a few weekends ago. Finally got to tick that one off the list. Of the seven Izu islands, I only have one more to do. Was in Oshima for a triathlon – not an individual one, but rather a team relay. Naturally, I’d be doing the swimming leg. Unfortunately, and to everyone’s disappointment, it rained. A lot. The race was cancelled. And, of course, the next day was a perfectly sunny day. Oh well, hiked a volcano on the Sunday instead so all was not lost. In the absence of a swim on Saturday, some of us got up early for a pre-breakfast swim. Gotta love a 6am swim on a Sunday. Who needs sleep, right? It was worth it though coz we got to see Fuji.

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

Mount Fuji in all its glory. Was a drastic change from the previous day of rain and cloud.

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

This particular spot was called Akinohama (on Oshima Island). We jumped off from a small rocky point.

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

A fine morning for some wild swimming. In we jumped. Everyone wore wetsuits except me. Triathletes are such wimps in the water 😉

From Oshima tri day 2

The water was cold. I’m guessing about 19 degrees. Definitely made the heart stop beating for a second when I first jumped in. Took me a while to get my breathing right. Water was chilly and it was surprisingly choppy. Felt a bit seasick out there. Didn’t help that I was seasick the day before on the boat from Tokyo to Oshima island. We had had some wild wet weather the day before.

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

This is open water swimming at its finest. Refreshing cold water with Mount Fuji looking over us. C’mon in!

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

The pensive swimmer:

From Oshima tri day 2

 

Oshima Fuji open water swimming

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Went to Oshima a few weekends ago. Finally got to tick that one off the list. Of the seven Izu islands, I only have one more to do.
Was in Oshima for a triathlon – not an individual one, but rather a team relay. Naturally, I’d be doing the swimming leg. Unfortunately, and to everyone’s disappointment, it rained. A lot. The race was cancelled. And, of course, the next day was a perfectly sunny day. Oh well, hiked a volcano on the Sunday instead so all was not lost.

In the absence of a swim on Saturday, some of us got up early for a pre-breakfast swim. Gotta love a 6am swim on a Sunday. Who needs sleep, right? It was worth it though coz we got to see Fuji.

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

Mount Fuji in all its glory. Was a drastic change from the previous day of rain and cloud.

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

This particular spot was called Akinohama (on Oshima Island).
We jumped off from a small rocky point.

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

A fine morning for some wild swimming.
In we jumped. Everyone wore wetsuits except me. Triathletes are such wimps in the water 😉

From Oshima tri day 2

The water was cold. I’m guessing about 19 degrees. Definitely made the heart stop beating for a second when I first jumped in. Took me a while to get my breathing right. Water was chilly and it was surprisingly choppy. Felt a bit seasick out there. Didn’t help that I was seasick the day before on the boat from Tokyo to Oshima island. We had had some wild wet weather the day before.

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

This is open water swimming at its finest. Refreshing cold water with Mount Fuji looking over us.

C’mon in!

From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2
From Oshima tri day 2

The pensive swimmer:

From Oshima tri day 2

OWS swim #1 2014: Minami-Atami swim (1.5km)

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It’s that time of year again – the open water swimming season, that is.
I’ve been training hard, or at least training, for the last 6 months or so.
Miles make the champions, so they say.
This year will be the year of some long-distance swims for me, so stay tuned for some hopefully interesting swim race reports.

Swimming has been consuming much of 2014 so far.

First race of the season was last Sunday. Just a baby one of 1.5km. It was technically an aquathlon event, but they did also have a 1.5km swim only option which I signed up for, but only because I knew a couple of other people were going to be there as well. It was a long way to go for 1.5km. Down at Minami-Atami Nagahama beach. Took over 2 hours to get there. But I wanted do at least one open water swim in race conditions before this weekend’s big swim. I also need to practice swimming with gels in my cossies.

The day was warm and humid despite being a little overcast. The water was flat as.

From Minami-Atami OWS 2014
From Minami-Atami OWS 2014
From Minami-Atami OWS 2014
From Minami-Atami OWS 2014
From Minami-Atami OWS 2014

Here is us testing out the water:

From Minami-Atami OWS 2014

The water was surprisingly cold. A chill 19 degrees. I had gone to the beach the day before at Onjuku, and whilst it was refreshing, I was not prepared for how cold it would be down Atami way. Water felt a lot colder. I struggled with it at first.

Our little swimming posse:

From Minami-Atami OWS 2014

I have an extremely high kick in this photo:

From Minami-Atami OWS 2014
From Minami-Atami OWS 2014
From Minami-Atami OWS 2014

The 500m distance was up first, and then they moved the buoys out for the 1500m. It was supposedly a 750m course of which we were to do two laps.

Number 502 is ready to race!

From Minami-Atami OWS 2014

I felt strong and fast through the swim. Everyone went hard out to the first bouy and it felt like I was back of the pack, but come the second buoy I was lapping everyone. And kept lapping more people as did the second lap. I felt fast. But the course also felt short. Really short. It must have been less judging by our times. For a supposed “1.5km”, I got a time of 16min and 39 seconds. My guess is that it was only about a 1km or so. I had a gel pack with me (not that I was going to drink it) and I lost it before I even got to the
first buoy. Must tuck it fully into my cossie. Lesson learnt.

Lisa and I were the only two females in the swim event. She took out 1st place and I took second. She had beaten me by a minute. Such a shame that it was not a proper 1.5km course. How do they even measure these distances? They were basically just riding out jet skis and moving the buoys. But how do they measure the course?

From Minami-Atami OWS 2014

I got a second place female medal. And came 5th place overall (male and female) for the 1.5km swim race.

The water is open: spring swim

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Braved the cold waters again for a pre-summer swim training session. Headed down to Hayama Isshiki beach (more like a bay) with a couple of other brave souls.

From Hayama April swim

It was another early start to the weekend. Why do I find myself getting up earlier on weekends than I do on weekdays (work days). It’s almost as if I look forward to Mondays purely for the sleep in (the luxury of getting up between 7:30-8am).

After the Polar bear dip on New Year’s Day and nearly dying, I donned the wetsuit this time. A summer wetsuit (sleeveless and short legs) but a wetsuit nonetheless. Air temperature was 10 degrees. I’m guess water temperature between 13-15 degrees. Stung like ice and your chest constricts making it hard to breathe. Legs are numb and your arms feel like lead pushing through the water. It takes a good long while (about half an hour) to warm up and not feel numb. Makes breathing really difficult. We managed a loop around the bay and swam about 1.2km all up which is not bad for my first open water swim training session, considering it’s still only April.

Perfect conditions for it though. Flat as. Just the way I like it. Was a bit hard to get into a good stroke and breathing pattern and my sighting was terrible. There were quite a few people out there on SUP boards and in dragon boat boats.

From Hayama April swim
From Hayama April swim
From Hayama April swim
From Hayama April swim

Perfect conditions to SUP:

From Hayama April swim
From Hayama April swim

Am soo looking forward to SUPing again this summer.

From Hayama April swim
From Hayama April swim
From Hayama April swim

It was a struggle getting down there early in the cold temperature, but it was totally worth it. Will be needing to get in a few more open water training sessions.

Last night, I did a really good solid training session in the pool. I’ll share my set with you – good for building endurance and speed and kills the boredom of a straight 5.5km swim:
1km warm up (1km). No rest
10 x 100m sprints (1km). 2min turnaround (ie 100m sprint + 10-15 second rest + start the next set all within 2min)
5 x 200m sprints (1km). 10-15 second rest between sets.
10 x 100m slow/easy (continuous 1km alternating between sprint down 50m, recover 50m swim back). No breaks.
1 x 500m sprint
1km cool down/recovery swim
Total Distance = 5.5km

Bucketlist swim: Coogee Wedding Cake Island Swim Challenge 2013

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One needs to work off all these high teas, so I timed one of my trips back home last year with an open water swim race back in Sydney – a mecca for open water swimming, or as we call it “ocean swimming”. It’s pretty big in Ostraya.

Sydney is where I did my first open water swim race back when I was a wee uni student. I went along to a beach race on my own having decided to enter it without ever having done an open water swim ever. I’m not really sure what possessed to try open water swimming given that I didn’t really grow up near the beach.

My first ows race was the Cole Classic – a then-2km swim from North Bondi beach to South Bondi beach (and back?). They have since moved the Cole Classic to a different beach. I’m glad I got to swim the original Cole Classic swim at the iconic Bondi Beach before they changed venues.

One of the things I’m really looking forward to when I come home (on a permanent basis), is all the open water swim races available in Australia. We have quite the ocean swimming scene, and a lot of beaches and races I’d love to swim. So I’ve got that to look forward to.

One of my bucketlist swims has been the Coogee Island Swim Challenge aka the Wedding Cake Island Swim, and I got to tick this off last November. This particular swim is pretty popular. They actually hold it twice – once in November (beginning of Oz summer – the cold water challenge) and again in April (end of Oz summer – the cool water challenge). The difference is degrees.

The last Sunday in November last year was a beautiful sunny clear day. Water temps about 19 degrees, but air temp was in the low 30 degrees.

The race was at Coogee Beach and it’s a 2.4km swim from the beach out and around Wedding Cake Island and back inland. Wedding Cake Island is a rocky reef. The crashing white waves over the top of it makes it look as though it’s icing…hence Wedding Cake Island….I think. It is a challenging swim. Conditions can be tough. And in some previous years, they’ve had to change the course bypassing the Island loop….which kinda defeats the challenge of this swim.

Picturesque Coogee Beach:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

This is a typical Sunday in Sydney:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

From the beach out to Wedding Cake Island, around the island and then back in.

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

A big turn out for this race. About 800 people or so, with wave starts – mixed gender by age group.
Ocean swims in Oz are very different to those in Japan. In Oz, you have to deal with waves and the surf. Most swims in Japan are very flat and tame.

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

2.4km course map (there was also a 1km option as well):

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

Aerial view:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

Here are some pics from the previous wave starts:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

And now for some action:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

It’s a battlefield out there:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

It’s nearly my turn to swim.
Swim essential: Check.

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

I was a little disappointed that the race-issued cap didn’t come with a race-feature logo. They often make a nice memory-sake. I keep all my swim caps from races.

Preparing to swim:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

And my purple wave starts. I’m somewhere in the pack:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

Now, I thought sharks would be my biggest worry because the swim involves going out further past the shark nets. And I have actually done a training swim here and seen a wobbegong shark here at the beach before. I saw this “thing” at the bottom of the water, and it wasn’t until afterwards I was told that “thing” was a shark. Argh freak out. Ignorance is bliss. Kinda glad I didn’t know it was a shark whilst swimming over the top of it.

Turns out on race day, my biggest problem was the gazillions of jellyfish I would be swimming through. Never have I seen so many jellyfish. Gah, my worst nightmare. I was nearly going to pull out of the race because I was not coping. They weren’t the stinging kind, but every hand stroke through the water, you felt them. They gave me the heebie jeebies. They were kinda going in my cosies. And made very sure to keep my mouth closed in the water. There were so many jellyfish that it got to a point where I refused to put my face in the water and basically was swimming freestyle with my head above water.
The majority of the course was jellyfish infested. Just making it to the finish line was going to be an achievement. I was so close to pulling myself out the race. Just mentally was not coping with the smacks upon smacks of jellyfish. (Did you know the collective noun for jellyfish is “smacks”?)

You don’t really ever see the island at any point even though you swim around it. I had been told that one should take a look at the reef island as you swim around, but even then it’s hard to catch a glimpse of. I was too preoccupied with jellyfish.

I felt only a sense of relief, not a sense of accomplishment when I finished this race.

That finish line could not come soon enough. Was so glad to be out of the water:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

About to cross the finish line…hooray:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

Swam terribly slow.
A time of a flat 51 minutes for the 2.4 km swim. So so slow. But glad to have just finished considering this is a race that I was prepared to pull out of. I should add, that my dad also entered this swim. His longest open swim distance race and was only a few minutes behind me time-wise. I need to lift my game! (I came 523rd out of 822 people. Was 134 out of 248 females. And 33rd in age group. Not great stats). Although I am glad to have finished, I can’t even say it was an enjoyable swim really. The jellyfish really bothered, even though no one else there seemed bothered by it all. It was a beautiful day though. The sun was shining, and I survived the swim. So win-win.

It was nice to enjoy the scenery. Bucketlist swim complete. Got a few more up my sleeve though.

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

The best part about finishing is eating.

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

And I have to say, a good ol’ Aussie meat pie beats a Japanese onigiri as a post-race snack anyday!

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

This pie sums up how I felt:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

And a mini sausage roll as well:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

Ahh, beautiful Coogee Beach:

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

Look how clean and clear the water is. You can see Wedding Cake Island to the right of the photo. And to think I swam out there and back!

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

Coogee Island Challenge – complete! Got a heap of merchandise – the hoodie and the towel to commemorate.

From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim
From Coogee Wedding Cake island swim

2014: Day One

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Happy New Year!
May 2014 be a good one for you. Good lord, I need it to be.
2013 was a shocker of a year (hence the lack of posts over the last few months. You wouldn’t believe the lousy times I went through). Here’s hoping this year is going to be a lot better.

Anyway, what better way to see in the new year than a New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim! You could say it was a “cool” way to see in the new year. Quite literally. It was freezing.

More like a polar bear dip for me though. Air temp was about 10 degrees. Water temp about 16 degrees and plunge into the water we did. Mind you, I was sporting a severe hangover from the previous night’s New Year’s Eve festivities in Roppongi. Probably hit bed around 3am and had to be up at 8am to make the trek to Hayama Beach in Kanagawa prefecture. I was throwing up on the 1.5 hr train ride down there. Not a pretty sight.

A couple of trains and a bus ride later and a few more throw ups along the way, we made it to the beach.

Crazy windy and freezing. And quite the swell. The waves were rough.

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Ax7KyGH821c6npappSAvTNEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4XfAM_8cM8s/UsUAke5g6ZI/AAAAAAACdFo/rX2r9UBblbA/s640/IMG_6414.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ojxAumCfeh3Anp7J8EvW59EAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lcYUpHaPhb8/UsUAkTPaLXI/AAAAAAACdFk/0ir-5p7PS38/s640/IMG_6412.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JHPDiSmW-whD3jQrEDh8z9EAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1p99TCiZoy0/UsUAkdSygXI/AAAAAAACdFc/j5r__K7hMH4/s640/IMG_6413.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

A few of us braved the cold temps, <em>sans</em> wetsuits, of course! The boys got in:

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/XeQiPuTQHF0BwdkWUx1cNtEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-po_mTGuaveY/UsUAvxwZSOI/AAAAAAACdIA/tlIwy9kzOCo/s640/RIMG0702.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4VugJRsKO5PiprjMzgnsrtEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9HJnX_qnQ_U/UsUAw8lsiZI/AAAAAAACdIQ/RemnG9Fgmwo/s640/RIMG0705.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

Meanwhile, at the water’s edge….(I’m the one in the pink cap):

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/EryuDmFIBPXBEUJ5r_ztfNEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1xkySEvKBtg/Usj34XlHG9I/AAAAAAACd9k/TaLjPKOHmjw/s640/polar.jpg&#8221; height=”427″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

Am still not convinced about going in:

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/gWKz2OOjSW7EQHl_ONS8UtEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XnbpBZRp6vg/Usj2bm8LUsI/AAAAAAACd9A/Ch5VhJGwCHI/s640/dip.jpg&#8221; height=”626″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

C’mon in the water’s lovely.

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Mv7N_7Hv1leJX92C3fri9dEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-EQDxy6kxkSU/UsUAmw2BS3I/AAAAAAACdGc/8BAAAkXSDRk/s640/IMG_6420.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;authkey=Gv1sRgCObBn4fm9fei6QE&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

I finally muster the strength to take the plunge. Might help rid the hangover, me thinks:

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Mie8jtnd7tqFqhp10mbRJNEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-s98EZkfeGjA/Usj2eTohRZI/AAAAAAACd9I/agPM4ViAZTw/s400/plunge.jpg&#8221; height=”400″ width=”313″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;authkey=Gv1sRgCObBn4fm9fei6QE&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

Oh holy crap it’s cold!
I couldn’t breathe. I cannot breathe.
I had to get out of the water. Because I couldn’t get in proper breaths, I had to get out of the water. Know your boundaries.
Survived the polar bear dip, but not the swim sadly.
My body did not take kindly to the water especially in the state I was in.

The others did well, and we’re in the water swimming away for at least another 20-30 minutes.

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Vc_PL5I8D_LwzlyVMeMlq9EAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-WdzlVbsVmYI/UsUAmZryNkI/AAAAAAACdGM/GW4Jzt69t90/s640/IMG_6418.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/V_AQgpKNfnCjQ18j_x_W7dEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-uvuIXdhUNk4/UsUAlal2YUI/AAAAAAACdF4/ludcYkXFsBw/s640/IMG_6415.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;authkey=Gv1sRgCObBn4fm9fei6QE&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Hxut6mlTye9itlz_4BNVMNEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-71GXI8iLeHs/UsUAloZFOXI/AAAAAAACdF8/6qQkPLSqZbo/s640/IMG_6416.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;authkey=Gv1sRgCObBn4fm9fei6QE&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6ZuffkCVJ8FnaPYU5vo36NEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HbjRF6i3EIk/UsUAmG-kLkI/AAAAAAACdGE/dL0BBFLJTZo/s640/IMG_6417.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;authkey=Gv1sRgCObBn4fm9fei6QE&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

Cold, cold, cold:

<table style=”width:auto”><tr><td><a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-KFnu2DRSc7A0zGgsXECMtEAJXZdkKLe2njuguxH8bw?feat=embedwebsite”><img src=”https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9KFJqL_c4sE/UsUAnksYEdI/AAAAAAACdGg/_KWXjzrYU44/s640/IMG_6421.JPG&#8221; height=”480″ width=”640″ /></a></td></tr><tr><td style=”font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;text-align:right”>From <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/116032719585350311356/PolarBearDip?authuser=0&amp;authkey=Gv1sRgCObBn4fm9fei6QE&amp;feat=embedwebsite”>Polar Bear Dip</a></td></tr></table>

It then took a few hours to get warmed back again. But a breakfast of pancakes, soup and muffins and cups of tea helped. My head and liver still not in good shape though.

Was a very cool thing to do though on New Year’s Day. I’m glad I did it, even though my body didn’t really hold up to the challenge. Still, I went in and took the plunge.

Here’s to a swimmingly hopeful new year!