Warning: in this message, I mostly whine.

Today a friend of mine became a "fan" or whatever of our gym on facebook, so I checked it out. In the process, I found out that they announced the pool was closing for renovations. When I went to the gym today (to swim, basically the ONLY thing I do at the gym), I found out it'll be closed June 5 - July 12, or as long as it takes them to finish. Apparently they couldn't wait until fall, there's water damage to the drywall, probably some things they aren't telling us, and they're going to update the air circulation and some other things.

But, seriously, this is like a giant F U to anyone in the area that's training for Ironman (June 27). It must have been super serious for them to just up and close 2 weeks later and not at least wait until July when the temps are warmer and people have taken to the lakes. It makes me wonder what conditions we've been swimming in for the last... forever.

The lake temperature where Ironman is held is around 53-55 degrees, the local lake is shallower and probably warmer but still can't be much past 60 (technically, it's not really public access except through the county park, but I do cheat and use the boat launch). The only other pools in the area within reasonable distance (and open) are athletic clubs, with membership dues starting at a (reasonable) $28 BUT sign-up fees of at least $50. I can't pay $78 to another gym when we're already paying $60 to the current one and I'd just cancel my membership in a month, basically dumping $50.

Sigh... my swimming is already behind schedule. I have a strong base, but was hoping to really focus this last 3 weeks on swimming strong since the other 2 sports are strong and starting to taper and swimming seems to benefit more and be punished less from recent efforts. Unfortunately, it's the first thing to go when I get swamped at work - I can easily figure out how to run and even ride, but working around a pool schedule is harder.

I'm up for a $2-3 drop in fee, which would basically end up being $36 at most, or even a $5 fee (and I'd swim open water more), but most gyms don't differentiate pool drop-in fees from full access drop-in fees, which makes them more like $8-10. I'd only swim in them once a week at most and still feel like I was wasting money. Argh argh argh.

So, I guess it's open water time!