I swim in the open sea for about 30 minutes, braving the mild waves and stroking to cover the planned distance. I have to alter my head positioning in the freestyle stroke. Unlike swimming in a standard pool where there is a black line at the bottom for me to follow, I have to tilt my head higher to occasionally spot my marks. In this open water swimming, my marks are the tall buildings of Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) on my left. The water is very salty. It is clear. Once I have seen a fish about 12 inches long that looks like a barracuda, supposedly a lonely barracuda, an outcast of its school. Most of the time there are small fish swimming away as I get closer. The sea bed is not as even as I thought. For safety reason, I always ensure that I see a clear bottom; but there are some parts that sink in almost suddenly, where I don't see the clear bottom. The clue to this, is the sudden creepy coldness that I feel before I realize being in this zone which I called the 'bed of bottomlessness'. My Nike goggle has been a great help. So far it hasn't allow a drop of water to seep in, so I can see and navigate better during the swim. Still, I am at the stage of seizing the contour of the sea bed of Jumeirah (in front of JBR) and familiarizing with the water conditions and its tidal timing, before I can proceed safely with 1 hour swim.
After the short swim, I change into my running short for 1 hour beach run. I run bare-footed. It beats all other running experience. The sand is so soft that the knees and ankles don't complain. Landing my feet on the sand over and over again, leaves my feet with the same sensation after a good feet massage. There is no blister, no damage to the nails and when I touch my heels, I am proud to tell that the callous is gone now. The only setback is at certain some part of the beach, there are scattered shells with sharp edges that sting, but it is not too bad.
It takes some time to dry myself up from the sweating after the run and to get rid of the sticking sand on my feet. It is the time to sit and see the sunset. The best sight of the sunset is brief but beautiful. Ca fait mon affaire.
Lucky is parked next to the red Jeep Wrangler - the meeting of the Jeeps in front of JBR
The sunset as reflected by Lucky
The sunset and its admirers
The sun is out of sight, hidden in the pocket of the peaceful horizon
5 comments:
hej! Jumper...there's uneasiness reading the part of bottomless swimming even though i am good at swimming, still have phobia when i could not see the sea bed/pool bottom...don't dare to swim alone...so you take care while swimming in the open sea...
swimming and running?? gosh i envy ur stamina :)
Ever since you told me about swimming, I planned to do the same. I don't know how to swim in a proper technique. So last night I took a swimming course with my visiting friend who is a certified life guard. Once I passed the course, I will join you to see the bottomlessness zone mate.
I thought Lucky was a dog.
hak ah i'm with danial-ma, i get a wee bit panicky in deeper waters, like as if something's inside there waiting to pull me down or rip me off from my body.
i think when i was small i watched way too many piranha and jaws movies.
Danial,
You've got a point there of not to swim out alone. I wish there is a crazy guy out there just like me to do the same. In the meantime, I will try to use all my senses to swim safely. But if you don't hear from me again, then I might've died and met a mermaid...
Inah,
You can do it too. It requires only practice.
Syam,
Let me know when you're ready. Since you're an avid reader, try to hook on to books about skin diving (the natural alternative to SCUBA) which give you tips on how to hold your breath longer in the water just incase you have to and also to build more stamina and confidence under the water. I have one book, "Manual of Freediving" by Umberto Pelizzari & Stefano Tovaglieri, which you can borrow if you like.
RKM,
But you look comfortably cool terapung apung in that Tasik ;-)
Post a Comment