Just Keep Swimming

 

For the past few Fridays I’ve been going to the gym to do 30 minutes of lap swimming.  I have a feeling only about 15 of that is actual swimming but as of last week I was resting less and moving more.  I only go on Fridays because I get off work at 3:00 PM and I’ve discovered that there are almost always empty lanes by the time I get in the pool around 4:00.

Prior to today I’ve been coming home from work, jumping on my bike, and riding to the gym.  I realized this was silly, though, because the gym is on the way home from work.  So, today I decided I would take the bus from my office to the gym and then from the gym home.   It’s a total of 3 miles.  1.5 from my office to the gym and 1.5 from the gym to my apartment.

So, I left work, walked to the bus stop, and waited.  I saw the bus I wanted coming so I got out my bus pass and stood at the curb.  The bus stopped a little further down the street than I was standing and let its passengers off, and closed the bus door.  I walked down the street, up to the bus door, and the driver totally ignored me.  Okay, I thought.  Maybe (s)he’s going to pull up closer to the actual stop.  I walked back up to the stop and the bus drove right on past.

Um. Okay.  I guess I’ll walk?

The 1.5 miles to the gym weren’t bad even though the air temperature is near 100.  Stay in the shade downtown and it’s tolerable. 

I got an empty lane in the pool and started my workout.

10 minutes with the kickboard to work on my breathing.  Still haven’t figured out how to exhale underwater and not get water bubbles up my nose or feel like I’m gasping for air when I turn my head for a breath. 

10 minutes with the pull buoy.  Or, at least, that’s what I usually do.  Today I felt weak and flailing after about 5 so I switched to the backstroke.

10 minutes of freestyle swimming.  Except I felt exhausted, bored, and frustrated after about 5 minutes so I called it quits.  I just can’t find my groove with swimming.   I know I won’t be great out of the gate, but it just feels so much more difficult than running or biking. 

Anyway, I went back to the locker room, showered, changed, and decided to walk home.  I mean, I already walked there, I could certainly handle another 1.5 miles.

Except, since I have ZERO sense of direction, I walked the wrong way for who knows how long until I realized I was actually going east instead of west.  Dammit.

35 incredibly sunny and sweaty minutes later, I made it home. 

Some days just aren’t the day, you know?  But I’ll just keep swimming.  Both literally and metaphorically.