December Fish!

[Bike Chick]

1200 meters tonight but the pool will be closed Thursday, Friday AND Saturday for the holiday I think I'll swim again tomorrow since it will be Monday again before I can get back in the water.

[Selkie]

1200 meters tonight but the pool will be closed Thursday, Friday AND Saturday for the holiday I think I'll swim again tomorrow since it will be Monday again before I can get back in the water.

That's a bummer. Go for a longer swim, since you'll be missing a few days. It was tough missing my long swim this past Saturday and my Monday swim due to the inclement weather pool closure.

Fortunately, "my" pool is closed Xmas and New Year's Days but is open the rest of the holiday (w/extended hours, since the kids aren't in school!).

Susan, I feel your pain about rebels swimming in the wrong lanes! My problem is opposite: speedsters with tons of equipment get in the slow lane with me. If a third person doesn't want to join us, it's not a big deal. However, I am pretty outspoken about asking a speedster to please switch lanes if someone slow wants to circle swim w/us.

[GLC1968]

I think I might join you ladies in this thread. I started swimming a little over a week ago, and so far, so good. I'm not doing nearly the distances that you all are working on, but at least I'm swimming, right?

Last night the pool was nuts. First of all, as I'm exiting the locker room, I run into a guy from work who was waiting for his young daughter. Ugh - it's a bit of a shocker to see a work face while I'm in a bathing suit!

Secondly, there were TONS of people about. Luckily, there were only 4 of us sharing the two lanes, so that was nice. Until the lifeguards changed and the new one was a wimp. She seemed to look the other way when about 6-8 teenagers started goofing off in one of the lanes. My H was getting out, so the only serious swimmer in that lane came over to join me. I was glad that I only had a couple of laps to go at that point because it seemed to be getting out of hand in there. Gotta love it when school is out...not.

Anyway, I'm improving. This was only my third lap swim since 8th grade and I'm slowly getting the hang of it again. I managed 12 laps with only short rests at the wall. I'm also getting better at breathing on my weak side because a couple of times last night I had to stop and think to myself 'wait, which side is my strong side?'. I've got a long way to go, but I REALLY like that when I get out of the pool, I feel refreshed, a little tired and not the least bit sore. No pains like there is with biking or running - I can see how swimming appeals to the older folk...it's so easy on the body!!

The only downside is the snot. OMG, I was up for almost 2 hours in the middle of the night last night trying to stem the flow. My sinuses do NOT like chlorine at all. I hope that I can adjust but if I don't, I'm willing to try and learn to swim with nose clips to solve this issue.

[katluvr]

GLC, I am not an expert in the swimming, but about the "snot".
Took me a while. Mostly it is HOW you breathe out and you do need to also forcefully breathe out your nose. That helps. I tried the nose plug and it TOTALLY made me feel like I COULD NOT breathe at all. I found I got used to the pool, but first time in OW --salt water that is--my nose burned and burned. So I think you will get used to it. But try the nose plug and good luck w/ that!
My worst part was water in my ears. So I use ear plugs...thank goodness for those!
Glad you are swimming. Maybe I'll start back soon. Oh yeah, that is my "new years GOAL"--to start swimming again!

[Susan Otcenas]

Susan, I feel your pain about rebels swimming in the wrong lanes! My problem is opposite: speedsters with tons of equipment get in the slow lane with me. If a third person doesn't want to join us, it's not a big deal. However, I am pretty outspoken about asking a speedster to please switch lanes if someone slow wants to circle swim w/us.

We have a lifeguard that I call The Swim Nazi. Heaven forbid you don't circle swim in the prescribed direction (varies by lane) - she'll be on your @ss in a flash. And she will not permit lane splitting, even if it's just you and one other in a lane and you both want to do it. Total pain, but it also means that when it's busy, there's no ambiguity about what's OK and what isn't. The place runs pretty smoothly.

Thankfully, speed variances aren't usually a big problem at my pool. I start swimming between 5am and 5:30 am, and there just isn't a whole lotta people in the pool at that hour. I often have a lane to myself for at least part of my workout. But yesterday I didn't get there until almost 6, and by 6:30 the place was packed.

Tomorrow's workout is 2200 meters, so I'll get there right when they open at 5. It takes me a little under an hour to get through a workout that length, so I should be through before it gets busy. I'm thinking that it might not be too bad regardless, since it's the 24th.

GLC - Glad you are enjoying swimming! Three workouts and you're already gaining strength on your weak side. WooHoo! It'll all come together for you, faster than you expect. It has for me. My coach has been having me keep track of my times, and it's fun to watch the progress. Very motivating!

[HillSlugger]

Our life guards don't get involved at all and people don't seed themselves with regard to the speed signs or try to match up with other(s) in the lane. It can get pretty chaotic at times!

[colby]

The only downside is the snot. OMG, I was up for almost 2 hours in the middle of the night last night trying to stem the flow. My sinuses do NOT like chlorine at all. I hope that I can adjust but if I don't, I'm willing to try and learn to swim with nose clips to solve this issue.

Mucinex and a sinus rinse do it for me when my sinuses aren't enjoying the chlorine. The more chlorinated the worse. Sometimes it doesn't seem to bother me, sometimes it's really bad. The mucinex helps dry up the mucous and the sinus rinse helps to get rid of what's in there. Make sure to drink lots of water, though.

[Selkie]

GLC - Glad to hear you're in the water. Don't worry about someone seeing you in your swimsuit---it's amazing how unselfconscious you become about it after awhile. Swimmers come in all shapes/sizes, and the pool seems to be a pretty "no judging" sort of place (unspoken rule of swimmers). By the way, I made two batches of your gramma's pumpkin bread--added chocolate chips to it--for Christmas. Husband has already demolished a loaf. Thanks so much for sharing that recipe.

About the snot, the plus side is that I haven't had a cold since swimming. Dunno if there's a correlation but... Your body should adjust to it, in the meantime, keep the hankies handy.

I've found that if you ask the lane "interlopers," very politely, to go elsewhere if they would rather goof off than swim, they will let you have the lane. It really becomes a safety issue, too.

I like Susan's Nazi Lifeguard, speaking of safety. It's nice to find that there are some who actually watch what's going on and will enforce the rules. Don't understand the reason she won't let you split lanes---at my pool, splitting the lane is a "rule" when only two are sharing a lane.

[Susan Otcenas]

I like Susan's Nazi Lifeguard, speaking of safety. It's nice to find that there are some who actually watch what's going on and will enforce the rules. Don't understand the reason she won't let you split lanes---at my pool, splitting the lane is a "rule" when only two are sharing a lane.

Maybe they think it discourages others to join the lane? The way it is now, you can just slide right in and start swimming. If you had to get in and warn both other swimmers you were there so that the 3 could circle, maybe that would be disruptive? I don't know. But I've gotten used to it over time.

Unlike Tuesday, the open lap lanes were nearly deserted this morning. The swim team/masters swin lanes were busy, but not the open. Started out sharing a lane with a gal I see there all the time, but she left and the lane was mine until I was through. Yay!

[GLC1968]

Heh - the work guy I saw was actually way more out of shape than me AND he is European, so for some reason, it made me think he'd be less judgemental. I actually didn't really think of my body so much as I thought about the fact that my worlds were colliding! It just felt odd. Actually, at my last job, the locker room was mere steps away from my desk, so I snickered every time I showered there after a ride. It was always funny to think that I was just naked at work!

Thanks for all the snot recommendations. It was really, really bad after the first swim, not a problem at all after swim #2, and slightly less of a problem after swim three than it was for the first one. I think it may be due to fluctuating chlorine content as well as my body getting used to swimming.

Susan - I think I'm not so much improving or getting stronger as I am just slowly remembering what I used to know. I know muscle has memory, but I wasn't sure how good of a memory it has! Apparently, even 30 years isn't long enough to completely erase what I used to know!

I'm off today, so I'm heading out to swim late-morning after I run a few errands. Hope it's quiet in there.

[tribogota]

17 days of no swimming, am in withdrawal.
Snot, I swim five days a week and sniffle five days a week, it's annoying to other people now, but I am used to it.
Unfortunately, the 17 days I haven't been swimming, the lat 10 I have had a headcold, stuffed up nose, phlegm in the lungs, and boy would I take the sniffle over this.
No pool until January 12th, eeeeeek!

[Jones]

I swim at noon and it is extremely rare to have to share a lane. I don't think I would like it, but I bet it is a good way to meet people.

tribogota, I saw in another thread you are in the bay area. Did you decide not to swim while on vacation or are there no pools by you? What about taking your bike on Bart to a pool. I know the Concord/Cowell pool is easy biking from the Bart station. My high school boyfriend (28 years ago) was a life guard at the Albany pool but I looked it up and it is closed for remodeling. Walnut Creek has pools too but I know any of the names.

How about the Cal Berkeley pool? You could swim with Natalie Coughlin.

[HillSlugger]

I swim at noon and it is extremely rare to have to share a lane. I don't think I would like it, but I bet it is a good way to meet people.

I always try to think of it as good practice for triathlon swimming. Any contact I've had while sharing a lane is mild compared to what I've experienced while racing.

[tribogota]

ahhh, the pools of Oakland, well, actually I do swim in the cold nights of 48 degrees outdoors, but the majority of the pools are closed due to budget cuts and the ones that are open, are on obligatory furlough days, ahhh, the joys of the budget of the state of california. Now, riding my bike to Bart and then to a pool in some other city, (min. $10 trip including pool fee),
I AM NOT IN THAT MUCH WITHDRAWAL

[Bike Chick]

Back in the pool tonight for a 2000m swim.
2 x 200m
4 x 400m

DH took a video of part of my swim tonight. Interesting to watch. It showed how I really cross over on my stroke even though I felt like I was entering the water straight as an arrow. It's causing me to swim in a zig-zag instead of a straight line. So much energy wasted! I would recommend having someone video you swimming if you've never done it.

[B]GLC[B]-Good for you getting back in the pool. I just learned to swim last year so I'm still a beginner and very slow. As far as the snot, I struggled with that too until I learned to exhale under water. It makes a huge difference.