Uh, Ma'am, Please Come To Shore...

The first North Shore Swell of the season arrived today so of course Scott and I went up to Sunset Beach to check it out. As he was walking toward the water, surfboard in hand, Scott mentioned that he had butterflies in his stomach! So excited! So cute! Like a kid on Christmas morning! I told him I thought there was something else in my stomach... duh. ;) So after he paddled out, I parked my big belly in this chair with my book.But then I got hot. And thought that a little dip in the cool water would be nice. And in the channel between breaks, it appeared that there was a calmer spot where waves weren't breaking (not pictured below), and I thought that this would be a fun place to water run. In the summer, the whole north shore is generally pretty calm, more like a lake, and this is where the majority of our swim races are held. So I've swam a lot in this water. I know there is usually a pretty decent current on the inside, but once you get out past the strong current, the water becomes more stable. In the winter (ahem, like today) it breaks like crazy and this is where they hold the Triple Crown of Surfing, etc. It's a great beach! (There are surfers out there past all this white water, my giddy husband being one of them...)Dangerous Shorebreak! Strong Current! Whatever. I ignored these warning signs and dove in for my run.

The water was awesome! I went out maybe 150 meters to a point where I felt comfortable. I figured out the current and started water running against it, checking my location against the warning flags on the beach. If I ran pretty hard and used my arms, I could run against the current and stay pretty much in one spot... and then between waves I could sometimes see the surfers on the break. Cool! This was water running at its absolute adventurous best! I figured I'd go for about 45 minutes and then swim in.

Much to my surprise, after about 15 minutes this lifeguard drove up the beach on his quad, got on his loud speaker, and issued a warning for me to come to shore. Who? Me? I was fine. It made me laugh because I figured he probably thought I was some dumb tourist who didn't understand the water out there, but as embarrassed as I was to be called to shore by a lifeguard, I complied without argument. (You're welcome, mom.) The whole time I was thinking to myself that even at 9 months pregnant I was probably still a stronger swimmer than he was, but I ignored my irrational pregnant hormonal urge to tell him that and kept my mouth shut.* That was sort of an accomplishment...I did actually walk down the beach for a while (in the opposite direction of the lifeguard tower) to see if I could find another spot that looked calm enough to finish my run. There wasn't one though- everywhere else there were waves and white water that would have prohibited my ability to safely and comfortably run. So I gave it up for the day and went back to the chair with my book.

In calmer news, we stopped at this little roadside stand and picked up some corn for dinner. Fresh off the farm. Time to eat... YUM!

*In the lifeguard's defense, he was dealing with all sorts of safety issues today. There were many surfers trying to get to shore with what was left of their broken boards, and on my walk down the beach I saw a surfer come out looking like he was a cast member in a horror movie... blood dripping all down his face from a massive cut to his head. It wasn't pretty.