Beach Runs and Jellyfish Attacks

What a nice weekend I just had. I trekked down to Lavallette on Friday late-afternoon to spend the weekend at my 'rents house and try and get in some much needed beach time. Father's Day was the last time that me, the wife and kids had been down there and I was really missing it. I spend the better part of my teens and 20s down in Lavallette, whether it be working at the Crab's Claw or B&B, or just spending weekends there once I got a real job. As the years go by, I am spending less and less time down there, due mainly to family commitments and the simple fact that we belong to a pool that is a mere four miles from our house. Regardless, it was great to be back down there.

Friday

Before heading down to the beach, I went over to the pool and did a 1,500 yard swim. I didn't have it in my schedule, but I though I better get in the water since I had only done one swim for the week. I decided to do a somewhat up-tempo work out as opposed to a simple long swim. I did a 500 yard warm-up and then got right in to 16 x 50yd with 15 seconds rest between. I averaged about 50-seconds per 50 yards, which is about the best I can do right now. I was happy that my times didn't drop off too much toward the last few.

After I finished up my swim it was time to wrap up work for the day and then head to the beach. The only problem being that we had to drive down in a monsoon. It poured pretty much the whole way down. We prayed for nice weather on Saturday.

Saturday

We awoke at 6:00am....thanks to my oldest daughter....to beautiful sunny skies. There wasn't a cloud around and the temperatures were already warm. I debated heading out for an easy 3 - 4 mile run but decided to put it off until later that afternoon. After a bit of breakfast it was off to the beach and was it every gorgeous out. The tide was on the way out leaving a healthy sand bar for the kids to enjoy. We all had a blast just playing in the water.

Around 1:00pm I decided that it would be a good idea to do a beach run. I haven't done a good run in the sand in ages and I thought that it could only help with my conditioning. I threw on some running shorts, my Garmin 305, Tifosi Q3 sunglasses, and off I went, running south towards Ortley Beach. It was slow going for the most part as running in sand takes a bit more effort than pavement to propel yourself. Regardless, it was great to be able to run along the sandbar, splashing in the water a bit, people watching and just having fun doing something different for a change. I ended up running two miles south, almost to Seaside Heights before I realized I should probably head back. The run back was a bit more difficult because the tide had begun to come in and the extremely shallow water (2" - 6") was now getting upwards of 6" - 12". In some places it was almost up to my knees which made for some very slow going. I still managed to finish up my 4 mile run in 38:00 (9:30/mile), which may sound slow, but when you consided the sand and surf, I am pretty happy with it.

After my run I just played with my daughters in the water. They both had so much fun bobbing around in the surf and playing in the sand. I really can't believe how big they are getting and how much more they do up at the beach. My oldest wants to be out on a boogie board or just swimming in the water. She has no fear of the water which is a good and a bad thing. My youngest is still a bit nervous, but she still loves to run in the water and jump over the waves. Saturday was just a great day.

Saturday night - The Attack

I decided to bring my wetsuit down to the beach for the weekend, as I hoped to get into the water for a couple long open water swims. Around 4:30pm my wife gave me permission to go for a swim in the bay. I was excited to get in the water and do a casual swim in Barnegat Bay; just get out and do something outside of the pool.

I threw on my wetsuit and goggles, waded into the water and then I was off. It felt great to be out there without any lanes lines or walls to push off of. I stretched my arms out and was feeling good. About a minute into the swim I felt a bit of a sting on the inside of my left forearm. I figured it was nothing and kept going. Then over the course of the next 15 minutes I felt stings all around my arms, on my feet and even across my nose and cheek. I started to freak out a bit and just wanted to get back to where I started. It seemed that with every stroke I was getting zapped and the pain was increasing. I couldn't do anything to avoid it. I was finally able to get into waist deep water about 50 yards from the shore and that is when I laid eyes on them. Jellyfish, fist-sized jellyfish every where I looked. I hadn't noticed them when I first went into the water, but now that was all I could see. About every two feet I would see another one, just below the surface of the water. I would later find out that they are called Sea Nettles and apparently they are a huge problem in the bay.

I basically hustled home and tried every Jellyfish remedy that I have ever read about. Meat tenderized, alcohol, vinegar, aloe....and yes even urine. Nothing seemed to really work all that well. It wasn't until about three hours after I was attacked did I feel any better. There was one small side affect or maybe it was an allergic reaction. My left forearm, which I think took the brunt of the abuse, seemed to be constantly sweating. Not matter what I did, my pores were constantly secreting sweat. It wasn't until I shaved bare the whole arm that the sweating went away. I think there must have been some stingers still stuck in my skin that I just couldn't see that just kept firing off toxins.

Sunday

My oldest daughter woke my wife and I up at 6:30am on Sunday morning. I would have been more than happy to of gone back to sleep by my wife thought it would be a good idea to get out and go for a walk. I then decided that I might as well get up and do my 8 mile run that I had scheduled. FYI, I am not a good morning runner.

After a bit of Gatorade I was off for my run. I felt pretty good for the first mile or so. I though that I might just be surprised and that it was going to be a good day. Well, at about the 2.5 mile mark that notion was squashed. It was hot out and the humidity was through the roof. I felt like I was moving in slow motion for miles 3 - 7 (Ortley and Seaside Heights and back). No matter what I did I couldn't get my pace below 8:50/mile.

It wasn't until I was back on the Lavallette boardwalk that I made the decision to finish strong. I don't do well when people pass me when I am out running. When I was about a mile from my 'rents house a guy passed me. I made it my quest to catch up to him and at least run at his pace. By the end of the boardwalk (1/4 mile from the house), I had caught him and managed to run an 8:13 mile. Thank God!!!

All in the all the run totally sucked, but if there is anything positive to take out of it, well that would be that I got the run done early and I was able to finish strong. I think the final numbers were 8 miles, 1:10:40 (8:50/mile). FYI, my clothes were thoroughly saturated when I got home, every article of clothing had to be wrung out.

The rest of my Sunday was spent packing, playing and driving in horrible rain storms. I am looking foward to putting in some quality work-out prior to my race this coming Sunday.