cold plunge

I went in the ocean at China Beach around 8:30am today. A friend was celebrating her birthday with a cold plunge in the Pacific!

The bay by my house was glassy. As I drove past, I glimpsed the sun dancing across the surface. It reminded me of Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe. For years, I swam there in the summers, screaming as I jumped in the 55 degree water, and getting the best feeling afterwards once I was dry & warming back up. My friend & I called it The Feeling.

I love fully alive feeling I usually get in the Pacific. This morning, it was 55 degrees outside & about 53 in the ocean. Most of us stayed in for 5 minutes. When I was almost submerged, an intense headache came on. I said, “I’m getting an ice cream headache!”

I floated on my back for a bit thinking that might help. My headache remained.

We all chatted while getting dressed agreeing how exhilarating & fun it was. As we hiked up the stairs to our cars, my head pounded & I felt like I might throw up. I took deep breaths trying to calm the mouth watering nausea.

As we said goodbye, I considered using a beach parking lot porta potty in case I needed to throw up…but when I opened the door & the smell hit me, I could no longer consider it.

I got in my car, rolled down the windows & drove through Sea Cliff taking deep cleansing breaths. I made it over the Golden Gate Bridge. Driving on the freeway felt dangerous. What if I needed to pull over? Frontage roads felt safer.

In Mill Valley, I pulled into a gas station. Over by the air pump, I emptied the contents of my stomach into the bushes. It was mostly my morning tea. Anyone watching might think I was hung over or pregnant. I doubt anyone would guess I got a cold headache from the ocean & the pain made me hurl.

As a bonus, I peed a little each time I heaved after there was nothing left in my stomach to purge. So humbling.

I had to pull over once more a few hundred feet down the road, but I made it home, took a nap, & now feel better.

I remembered how some guys I knew in high school called it a boot & rally when you threw up & then kept partying. I did that today, but it had a whole different meaning in my late 40’s.