Monday, June 4, 2012

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Inspired by my cousin, Alice, I finally got off my ass and went to the Y to swim laps today.  I have been saying I would do this for...sheesh...YEARS, I think.  However, since I started PT (that's Physical Therapy) for the ankle and the knee a few weeks ago, I have actually meant it.  Which is not quite as effective as actually doing a thing, but I think is closer than just saying it, if you follow me.

Anyway, it seems it was a few weeks ago that Alice posted a blog entry about her recent experience going the pool to swim laps.  I will try to find the link (if she says it's okay) and share it.  Well, after reading her blog about swimming, I thought, "I can do that."  So, I bought a new swim cap and a new swimsuit and...totally didn't do anything.

Well, that might not be entirely accurate.  I did a lot of things.  I worked, I went to physical therapy, I saw my acupuncturist, I watched my daughter perform with her orchestra, I served as P.A. on my other  daughter's film, I did some sewing with yet another daughter, I drove all three daughters to all of their various lessons, practices and other engagements, I had lunch with a girlfriend... I even went for walks, a bike ride or two, did my exercises every day (ish)... I just didn't swim.

So, last night, I promised myself I would head to the Y after I dropped kids at school and swim a few laps.  It seemed simple enough.  I announced my plan on Facebook, and asked my friends to hold me to it, so I would have to do it or risk losing face.

Then, #2 daughter remembered at 7 o'clock-ish that she had a major assignment due for dance class the next day.  So, I ran out and bought her a binder while she got to work.  Boy, oh, boy, did she work!  That kid constructed an entire dance term dictionary with illustrations for each entry and an section at the back about famous choreographers in one night.  Sorta.  She was up until Stupid O'clock finishing it.  Which means that I was also up until Stupid O'clock ~ 'though I will admit I dozed off once or twice.

As you might have guessed, I really didn't feel like going swimming after dropping off kids this morning.  I felt like going to bed.  To be perfectly honest, I didn't feel like dropping off kids this morning, but ~ whattaya gonna do?  Right?

Now, I thought I would be all packed up and ready, so I could drop kids and go straight to the Y.  Ha.  Instead, I raced home after dropping off kids, gathered all of my stuff, realized I could only find one flip flop, pinned up my hair, put on my suit, pulled on some sweats, stuffed a towel and my Y card in a bag (it was a Camp Rock bag, as provided by my husband, because I am just that cool) and headed up the road.

By the time I shed the sweats, showered, and entered the pool area, it was almost 8:25.  Now, lap swimming only lasts until 8:55 today, so I thought, Okay.  30 minutes.  I ought to be able to knock out 30 minutes of lap swimming, right?  I'll admit, I was even a little bit disappointed.  Like: shoot, if I had been here earlier, I could have gotten in more swimming.  

I am so, so silly.

Thanks to Alice's wonderful account of her first lap-swimming experience, I knew how to get in to the pool, at least.  That was helpful.  I decided it would be a good idea, however, to make sure I was getting in to the appropriate lane.  I approached the lifeguard on duty.

"Hello," I said, "I've never been here before.  Does it matter which lane I use?"

"It doesn't really matter," she replied, "but, generally, the farther to the right you go the slower the lanes are."

"Ah.  Okay."  I watched the other swimmers for a moment.  They all seemed to me to be going at a pretty good clip, so I asked, "Is there a remedial lane?"

She chuckled, and suggested I swim in the general area of the pool, to the right of the lanes.  She said there really was a lane there, but they just didn't have it marked today, because one of their lane markers was broken.  I didn't really believe that was true, but I thought it was kind of her to say so.

Armed with a plan of attack, I went over to hang my bag and towel.  I noticed that nobody else had their bags and towels hung on the set of hooks I had chosen, so I thought they must be the wrong ones, and moved them to another set.  Then, I noticed that there was no place near those hooks to leave my shoes where they would be out of the way, so I changed my mind and put all of my stuff on a bench, sliding the shoes underneath.  Because it totally matters where you leave your stuff.

I went back to the Remedial Lane and sat on the edge of the pool.  For some reason, I had decided it would be a good idea to enter the pool at the deep end.  It was closest to the lifeguard, which seemed like a good idea, and, by the time I got worn out from swimming, I might be in an area of the pool in which I could touch the ground.  I lowered myself into the water and took off for the other end.  So far, so good.

Covering the distance from one end of the pool to the other was not as hard as I thought it might be, so, my confidence bolstered, I turned around at the other end, paused for moment to catch my breath, and headed back.  By the time I got back to the deep end, I thought my lungs might collapse.  The funny thing is, I expected this to be hard on my legs, but they were feeling great.  My lungs, on the other hand, were pissed.  I struggled and sputtered my way to the wall and clung on for dear life.  The lifeguard didn't seem the least bit worried, so I figured I must be doing better than I thought.  Then, I looked back at the other lap swimmers.  No.  No, I was definitely NOT doing better than I thought.  But, hey, I was doing, and that's what really mattered.

I took a few more moments to catch my breath this time before heading back to the shallow end.  Then, a took a few more moments to catch my breath.  Whew!  What a workout!  What time is it?  


I glanced at the clock.

Holy crap.  Are you kidding me?  It's got to be closer to 8:55 than that!


Nope.  It wasn't.

So, seeing that I still had most of my 30 minutes ahead of me, I devised a strategy that might allow me to both swim my laps and survive.  I decided I would use a kickboard to go up and back twice, then I would go up and back twice without it...and so forth and so on.  In the end, I did 2 trips up and back without the board, then 2 trips with it, then two without, then two with.  And then ~ thank God! ~ it was 8:55.

I did it.  I won't say it was easy ~ especially when the lady in the zebra print swim cap decided to join me in my lane but kept swimming on her back directly into me...or on her front directly into me.  Really, she just kept swimming directly into me.  I think she swims with her eyes shut.  I changed lanes. ~ but I did it.

I'll do it again, too.  I'm willing to bet it will keep getting easier.

Besides, I need some excuse to wear my cute new swim cap.