Yesterday marked my second trip to the pool for exercise...ever! After last week's eventful trip I made sure and called to myself to see if the gym had an indoor pool! Funny thing is, it was actually nice enough to swim outside yesterday, lol.
I show up a little less intimidated than the time before, prepared with some youtube instructional videos still playing in my head, determined to make this happen. I get to the pool and as luck would have it, there was one lane open...just for me! I do my warm up and when I finish there's a man standing at the end of my lane in a speedo asking me if he can share my lane. I was actually kind of shocked at first. I mean, couldn't he tell I sucked and that his life might be in danger if he were to share with me??? So, as politely as I could muster, I informed him that I was a novice and that he probably didn't want to share a lane with ME...and looking around, there were plenty of other lanes he could share. However, I felt obliged by pool etiquette to say "but if you really want to it's ok with me." And apparently that's all the permission he needed. He plops in and says, "just stay on your side of the line". DUH! Didn't he hear what I just said? So I jokingly reply, "Ok, swim at your own risk!" And to that he says he will just avoid me if it comes to that. Fair enough. We swim for a bit with no collisions thank God! And a few laps later a lane frees up and he's out of my space.
Thinking I'm in the clear, I continue on with my workout, and no sooner had I completed 50 meters do I look up and, you guessed it, another man, thankfully not in a speedo, appears at the end of my lane asking to share! "What is it with people?" I think to myself. Why do they insist on sharing with me when there are all these other people to share with? I'm getting a little agitated, but again try to put on a smile. I then proceed to give him the same spiel as the last guy, but to no avail. It's even worse...this overweight grandpa, who used to swim in college, lol, is set on my lane. When I thoughtfully tell him that I may run into him, he replies, "Well, it's been so long since a pretty girl has run into me that I'm sure I won't mind." EW!!! Really...did he just go there?
At that point, I just gave a pity laugh and submerged myself into the ice blue water hoping to evade this DOM for a few minutes. After a couple laps he starts giving me pointers, which normally I welcome, but this guy was hard to take serious. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt and headed his breathing technique for a few laps, without much success.
This swim routine was much more on par with my skill level, after the first one about killed me, my coach pulled back a bit. SHOCKER of the day: I actually think that I could start enjoying this whole swimming thing at some point. One thing I became acutely aware of is my need for speed. It's really hard for me to slow down and focus on breathing and technique b/c I'm wired to just get the workout done as fast as possible. But fast doesn't always equal efficient, so that's what I'm going to start working on.
The swim practices ended with a somewhat pleasant surprise! The Y had a hot tub, sauna and steam room! Eager to get some good muscle relaxation I head for the hot tub right after my swim, only to find gramps already in there soaking it up :( I couldn't really just walk away when I saw him so I proceeded with caution, staying on the perimeter. Then low and behold, Speedo guy comes and sits right next to me. Really?!? All this made it pretty uncomfortable, but the kicker was the cloudy water and hair floating in it! I almost vomited and excused myself from my misery. After the Hot Tub Fail, I locate the sauna, which is actually nice, clean and serene. I tend to avoid steam rooms at all costs because breathing in other people's sweat just doesn't do it for me.
All in all a successful, yet comical day at the pool. Here's to hoping next time is more swimming and less talking!
I show up a little less intimidated than the time before, prepared with some youtube instructional videos still playing in my head, determined to make this happen. I get to the pool and as luck would have it, there was one lane open...just for me! I do my warm up and when I finish there's a man standing at the end of my lane in a speedo asking me if he can share my lane. I was actually kind of shocked at first. I mean, couldn't he tell I sucked and that his life might be in danger if he were to share with me??? So, as politely as I could muster, I informed him that I was a novice and that he probably didn't want to share a lane with ME...and looking around, there were plenty of other lanes he could share. However, I felt obliged by pool etiquette to say "but if you really want to it's ok with me." And apparently that's all the permission he needed. He plops in and says, "just stay on your side of the line". DUH! Didn't he hear what I just said? So I jokingly reply, "Ok, swim at your own risk!" And to that he says he will just avoid me if it comes to that. Fair enough. We swim for a bit with no collisions thank God! And a few laps later a lane frees up and he's out of my space.
Thinking I'm in the clear, I continue on with my workout, and no sooner had I completed 50 meters do I look up and, you guessed it, another man, thankfully not in a speedo, appears at the end of my lane asking to share! "What is it with people?" I think to myself. Why do they insist on sharing with me when there are all these other people to share with? I'm getting a little agitated, but again try to put on a smile. I then proceed to give him the same spiel as the last guy, but to no avail. It's even worse...this overweight grandpa, who used to swim in college, lol, is set on my lane. When I thoughtfully tell him that I may run into him, he replies, "Well, it's been so long since a pretty girl has run into me that I'm sure I won't mind." EW!!! Really...did he just go there?
At that point, I just gave a pity laugh and submerged myself into the ice blue water hoping to evade this DOM for a few minutes. After a couple laps he starts giving me pointers, which normally I welcome, but this guy was hard to take serious. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt and headed his breathing technique for a few laps, without much success.
This swim routine was much more on par with my skill level, after the first one about killed me, my coach pulled back a bit. SHOCKER of the day: I actually think that I could start enjoying this whole swimming thing at some point. One thing I became acutely aware of is my need for speed. It's really hard for me to slow down and focus on breathing and technique b/c I'm wired to just get the workout done as fast as possible. But fast doesn't always equal efficient, so that's what I'm going to start working on.
The swim practices ended with a somewhat pleasant surprise! The Y had a hot tub, sauna and steam room! Eager to get some good muscle relaxation I head for the hot tub right after my swim, only to find gramps already in there soaking it up :( I couldn't really just walk away when I saw him so I proceeded with caution, staying on the perimeter. Then low and behold, Speedo guy comes and sits right next to me. Really?!? All this made it pretty uncomfortable, but the kicker was the cloudy water and hair floating in it! I almost vomited and excused myself from my misery. After the Hot Tub Fail, I locate the sauna, which is actually nice, clean and serene. I tend to avoid steam rooms at all costs because breathing in other people's sweat just doesn't do it for me.
All in all a successful, yet comical day at the pool. Here's to hoping next time is more swimming and less talking!
1 comment:
Hi there-just stumbled on your blog. This post cracked me up. I was just going to sign up at YMCA b/c I want to be a better swimmer, but I am sooo intimidated by the speedo wearing, competitive swimmers! I'm glad I am not the only one.
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