I swam!!!

I am really on a roll this week!!!

First, I headed out to the Botanical Garden for a run and to test Garmin. I must say, Garmin rocks. I kept checking my pace and how far I'd gone, I am loving this. Anyway, the Garden was beautiful.

However, I wasn't in as good a shape as I thought. I ended up walking a good portion of the way, but I had a good time. It's 5.1 miles from the front gate to the back gate over rolling hills. I went up 441 feet and down 515 feet - rolling hills. It took me 1 hour 28 minutes round trip. This is probably the best time I've gotten in here in a long time and I wasn't going very fast at all, so I am getting faster.


Then it was time to face the ocean. I have not been in the water in 7 months. Since I do freak a little in the water I knew I had to get back in before it became an insurmountable problem. So once I was done with the run/walk I headed to the beach. It was only 9 in the morning and there was no parking. I almost used that as an excuse and went home, but I had to really try. I headed to the secret parking lot, which was almost full, and finally found a spot. I got my stuff ready and headed down to the water. There was a lot of wave action, I think the tide was coming in, though the waves weren't very big it was just choppy and not so nice.

I found a spot to put my stuff and headed to the water. I was at Kailua Beach. This beach is regularly voted one of America's best beaches and it's usually crowded. Today was no different. I got in the water, it was cold, and started swimming. I was so proud of myself for just doing it!! So I swam out to the "No Wake" buoy and back. I decided to do it again and headed back out. About 1/2 way there I ran into some unwanted swimmers.

The Portuguese Man of War. Those purple tentacles contain stinging cells, just like a jelly fish. I apparently swam into a school of them. As I was swimming along I suddenly felt pain along my arm and hand, on my stomach, and down my leg. Although I couldn't see anything I quickly figured out what it was. I turned around and headed back to shore. When I got there I rubbed the area with some sand and then a towel. Whether this works or not, all I could think about was the firing action of the nematocysts and that I needed to get them out of my arm. By the time I got to the car the pain was all gone and I knew I'd live. By the time I got home this is what I found on my arm.








This confirmed what I had thought it was. That straight line of bumps is typical man of war. I had those lines all over my body. Luckily they had stopped hurting and now, 2 hours later, they are gone completely. I'm really lucky in that I'm not highly sensitive to this poison. I know people who get stung and it burns and is red and angry for days. They are very sensitive to the chemical.

So that was my morning. Even with the man of war sting I'm very happy with my day. I plan on doing this every Sunday, my long run and an ocean swim. I have got to back into swimming and this is a great way to start.

Okay, my housecleaning is all done. Laundry is in the washer. I've got nothing left to do today except eat lunch, watch soaps, and relax. A perfect Sunday.