Perpetual Child... that's me ;) I am an Aquarius, after all - we are known for this quality... as well as personifying the 'fine line between genius and insanity' bit... (seriously... look it up)
I have loved this silly swim cap since I first saw it last year and vowed that one day I would wear one!
When I saw it last night, in the display case at the community pool, I decided that I would 'reward' myself for swimming my greatest distance to date, by donning that swim cap for my 'victory lap'.
I was meant to swim 2300m (a lofty goal for me although I was not nervous - I actually believed I could do it, so long as I didn't waste any time - the swim session is 1:15 in length).
I arrived 45 minutes early, and sat down to watch the junior swim team at their practice... I love watching these kids - they amaze me! After watching flip turns on GO-Swim on my lunch hour, I was avidly watching these youngsters to see if they were doing what the woman on the the video was recommending... and trying to figure out if I could do that without getting water up my nose.
Somewhere between my spectator spot and the pool, I lost my earplugs (aargh!!! I have a tube in one ear - I can't swim without a plug) and wasted precious minutes retracing steps to find them again...
I jumped in and, vowing not to panic about finishing and end up thrashing my way through, I systematically followed my swim plan. This was the first time that 10 seconds actually felt like enough of a break after a drill... this was promising to be a good session ;)
The pool was quiet last night - only 4 of us at the busiest point in our double-wide lane - and it dwindled to 2 of us for the last 30 minutes. The sun came in through the windows and it felt glorious to be swimming in clear, cool water with the sun on my face.
I saw my 'pool buddy' Angela and found out that she is training for her first Ironman - IM Arizona in November 2010! Wow!! I am so excited for her! (This is the same girl that I vowed to beat in a 25m freestyle race SOMEDAY... I should mention that it's a friendly competition that exists only in MY mind) Oh darn - I wanted to talk to her about IM but... arrrgh - look at the time!!! Sorry - gotta swim!!!
Eric (hubby) was scheduled to come and meet me (I was certain I was going to swim 2300m and wanted to celebrate afterwards!) and he was there - waving from the upper deck as I just kept swimming...
Three bathroom breaks later... I knew that I was not going to reach that goal of 2300m... (Why does my bladder always seem to be roughly the size of an egg when I am in the pool???) there simply was not enough time left and the lifeguard was going to haul me out soon if I did not exit willingly... I could see the masters swim group gathering on deck for the next session. I kept my head down so as not to make eye contact with anyone and I sped up my stroke and squeaked out an extra 100m, thereby reaching a new swim distance of 2100m - my longest swim to date. Ha - I broke my 2000m record!
It was disappointing but since I did hit a new record distance, decided that 'half' a celebration was better than none, so I showered and changed and then donned the 'GOLDEN FIN AWARD' cap to meet Eric in the lobby before we went to dinner. I explained that each time I swim a greater distance than ever before, I will proudly wear my 'reward' cap. Sadly, I did not get to wear it in the pool...this time...
The staff at the leisure centre in Milton likely think I'm a nutjob and they are probably right... but life is short and meant to be ENJOYED!!
- just keep swimming
- glub
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