Goin' swimmin'

[DirtDiva]

I would rather get up at five in the morning and walk through ten feet of snow in bare feet (uphill, of course) than even think of going to the pool on a Thursday evening again. Hell, I'd get up at four and wait outside the Leisure Centre for an hour until it opens at six, wearing nothing but a paper bag to stave off frostbite.

Turned out that Thursdays are women only night rather than adult lane swimming, but I figured "oh well, I'm allowed to be here." It was so hideous. Firstly, it was so busy that I had to wait for over half an our before they'd let more people in. Then, I get into the pool area. It's a 25m, eight-lane pool. They have a lane rope down the middle and one half of the pool is free-swimming. Reasonable enough. The other half is divided into two double-wide lanes, one marked "slow" and the other "medium" with signs clearly showing to swim clockwise. Not ideal, but I can totally live with that. I'm a confident swimmer, but let's just say my form could use a little work: "medium" is my comfort zone for laps. "Medium" does not mean that you doggy-paddle on the wrong side of the lane and stop half-way for a rest. "Medium" does not mean you zig-zag along doing some weird kind of backstroke/butterfly thing nobody has ever seen before. "Medium" certainly does not mean the lifeguard has to haul you out of the pool when you let go of the wall at the deep end and promptly sink.

The pool was kinda dirty that late in the day too... *barf*

GRRRRRR AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHH!!!

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[Running Mommy]

WOW! Sounds like the Ymca in Santa Rosa or Marin, or come to think about it- any "Y" that I know of!!

[Brina]

I promised myself that I would go swimming today. Sunday D was sick and Tuesday L was sick and apparently, today was my turn. But I was not going to be a wuss, I was going to swim today. I got my bag packed, the boys in the car and headed to the health club - only to learn that it is closed for three days for the annual spring cleaning.

[DirtDiva]

It is the equivalent to a Y, really. I've never had it be so bad like that before though. Usually there's just someone in the medium lane who can swim, but should be in the slow lane, and they tend to get the hint once you've mowed 'em down a couple of times during those first few laps when you're still fresh.

I think I'll just save the swims for days I don't end up working so I can go in the middle of the day.

[Lise]

I know, I know, I started this thread whining about swimming. And I was SO MAD that day about my stupid goggles. But the tri is in 8 days, and I needed to SWIM! So I threw all my running and swimming clothes in the car before work, remembered to stop and buy a new padlock (how do you lose a padlock?!?), did come home to get my IPOD and post all over TE land, then went to the Y. I ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill, not bad. Got in the pool with my smaller goggles, which leaked and fogged just a smidge bit, but it was bearable. My swim distance in the tri is 400m = 8 laps in the race pool = 10 laps in my Y's pool. Last year in the same race, my swim time was 11:38. Today I swam that distance in 12 min, more or less. Including stopping and panting for 6 breaths after each length.

What's so cool is that by lap 7, it started to feel easy. I couldn't believe it. I was focusing on my form, and it just wasn't so hard any more. My right shoulder was the only thing that didn't feel fine. Oh, yeah, and panting as soon as I stopped. But it was kind of cool. I never, ever felt that way swimming laps before. I know some of you were/are competitive swimmers, so this must sound slow and strange to you, but I feel great.

In complete contrast to tlkiwi's swim from h*ll, when I got to the pool, family swim was still going on, but it was just two moms with three little kids. Two lanes were roped off for laps, and I was the only one swimming. Heaven. tlkiwi, I am so sorry you had to endure that BS at your pool. "women only" should not mean "feel free to be inconsiderate and irresponsible".

I feel much, much better about doing this tri in 8 days. If I could swim that well (for me) after a hard week of lots of work and little sleep, and a 2.5 mile run, then I'll do just fine in the tri. YAHOO! Wow, do I wish I'd known you women last year. It would've been much more fun. L.

[DirtDiva]

Glad you had a great swim, Lise. The thing that made my swim so frustrating was that the lifeguards had set the pool up so poorly for the number and type of swimmers. Why not have a double-wide slow lane for people who can't swim a length but seem hell-bent on trying, a single medium lane for the folks who can manage 25m, even if it does take them an hour, and a single lane marked "tlkiwi"??? I will concede, a number of the folk there may not have been able to read English very well (there are a few multi-lingual signs in the place, but not all of them for some reason), but mostly it was poor management and poor enforcement by the guards; it is a saftey issue, after all.

[Lise]

...mostly it was poor management and poor enforcement by the guards; it is a saftey issue, after all.

That's what I was thinking as I read your post. Let the Center management know--you may not end up with a "tlkiwi" lane but they will end up with injured swimmers and a lawsuit from somebody if they have unsafe conditions. You may even get a decent "medium" lane in the end. Good luck.

The pool is certainly the most frustrating part of swimming. Oh, and the fact that when I take off my small goggles, it looks like some giant squid was sucking on my eye sockets!!! Getting new goggle/mask today. L.

[DirtDiva]

No tlkiwi lane? Bummer. How about an antipodeans only lane then?

[Lise]

How about an antipodeans only lane then?

Ummm...people from the other side of the earth (ie NZ) only?