twain wrote:
lightheir wrote:
twain wrote:
Interesting notes:
- Have OWS at a place called Redwood Shores 9 times since shut down so 9 times in 11 weeks. The last time we ran in to a bunch of Jellyfish; gross and disturbing hitting them feels like a wet Nerf ball.
Hah - I just swam at Redshood shores (I posted earlier - has been my only water swim since COVID, but have been on a Vasa erg), and I was wondering what I hit in the water at one point. Really freaked me out, since it felt like a volley-ball sized pliable latex ball of some sort, but then I hit a few more of them. No stings of any sort, but I thought it was some fish that was aggressively trying to attack me! Glad it was 'just' jellyfish...
If you have any tips on best times (or times to NOT) go OWS at Redwood shores, give me a shout. I don't' get there barely at all, but I may try and go again a few more times if pools stay shut down.
Did some research; these are Moon Jellies and are supposed to not have stingers strong enough to pierce human skin. That said one of my team mates did get stung; she said it felt like a bee sting. She wasn't wearing a wet suit. We noticed a ton of jellies swimming by the building at the end of the channel, specifically, in the shadow of the building. I hit one then two then three within ~15 seconds. Third time I freaked out; overwhelmed! Turned on my back for a while.
In any case, they congregate as the water warms; late Spring/early Summer. So now is peak time. If you swim there, stay away from the shadows I guess.
There is a place nearby, Gull Park in Foster City which reportedly has a nice sandy beach and they treat the water with some blue green dye to make it look pretty or reduce algae blooms. Other teammates say that there are no Jellies there.
http://www.fostercityfun.com/gull-park-foster-city/ (The official site seems to be down right now for some reason.)
Also, the police patrol Gull Park a lot and have kicked out team mates for gathering.
In the weeks since have been primarily doing OWS in Redwood Shores with team mates. The jelly fish are getting worse! But it's funny how having someone else next to you makes it tolerable. I've been able to swim in a few local pools and have been averaging around 23:45 for the 1.5k, better than I would have thought. 1 min off normal swim conditioning shape but not a horrific drop (~4-5 seconds per 100 yards).
A bonus has been that by swimming less, I don't have "swimmer's elbow" - had modified my stroke prior to focus on longer reach but it resulted in pain at the elbow and, sometimes, even dropping things from the pain.
This said, trying to get reservation to swim at local pools has been increasingly difficult. To this end, today I swam at Gull Park in San Mateo for the first time; man made lagoon where they treat the water with blue dye to help prevent Algae bloom. Actually quite a nice setting but sort of repugnant how man-made and artificial it was. I actually prefer the other location in Redwood Shores, with the Jellies.
It's interesting how we adapt to the new normal. And how we took pool swimming for granted forever before.
*sigh*