Sorry for my absence from the blog, but this account of comic relief took sometime to recount. So here is one for the crowd, but it is a personal experience so don't laugh too hard!
In my attempt to train for my triathlon this summer I decided I was ready to take my swimming to the next level. Not sure why I was so convinced I needed to do this three weeks into my training, but I think it is due to the steady progress I have been making in my fitness level and strength thus far. I spoke with the coach who is in charge of Masters Swim at my local gym to see if he thought I would survive the class and benefit from the workout. He assured me I would be fine and that there were other triathletes who were also in his class.
I showed up to class confident in my decision as the coach welcomed me to the pool. He asked me to swim some laps to assess my swimming and place me in the appropriate lane based on my speed. Well, on my last length of the pool during my warm up I collided with a bald man's head. Alarming to say the least since there was no one in the lane when I started. I came up out of the water with a sore upper lip and slighted bruised ego. Was it me that caused the crash or was it him?! I guess it was a little of everyone. The coach for not telling him I was on the other end of the pool, the bald man for not making me aware he was entering the lane and me for not swimming the designated circle pattern in the pool...ugh! I was off to a shaky start!
The coach, for good reason, separated the crash victims and then class began. He introduced to my lane members and decided it would be polite to shake hands with each one of the 6 people like it was some kind of board room meet and greet! Finally our heads were in the water and I could forget about all that had transpired so far. But with our heads in the water an entirely new set of challenges set in like keeping up with the swimmer in front! Paddle, paddle, paddle, gasp for breath, swallow some water, leaky goggle. What could happen, did happen. There were few things I was in control of at this point so I decided to address the one I could. I switched my sporty small goggles that were pinching me and leaking for my newly purchased kid's goggles that were larger than the common swim goggles, but so comfortable and with a fit that did not allow water in. Bliss! Except now I am the new kid, paddling for her life with the big kid's goggles on!
As the class progressed so did the challenges, from swimming short sprints to swimming longer sprints! And from the coach speaking English to him speaking swim-glish as I like to call. "Ok, lane 1, give me 8 x 150s with a 2:45 interval," he would say. Lucky for me, we had a member of our team who was partially deaf so the coach repeated the instructions a couple of times until the guy gave the thumbs up that he caught it all. Needless to say I was partially deaf as well with wax stuffed into my ears to keep the water out. Ok, so now picture, girl with the big kid's goggles and the wax in her ears and a perplexed look on her face staring at the clock like everyone else, but not knowing why I was staring at the clock! This is kind of how my life goes in and out of the pool in case you were interested. I can tell you about a similar experience with a calculator some other time~!
And off to the races we go, kicking, stroking, flip turning, never mind me counting my laps, I was just trying to keep up and figured I would know when it was all over when I saw legs standing still at one end of the pool. Well, I finished the class much to my amazement and really thought I had hit my stride during the warm down when I was able to almost swim the length of the pool without breathing. Great, I thought! That should do me a lot of good on my 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz!
Cut to the next day. I'm feeling good....until about 4pm when a sharp pain was felt in my neck that I couldn't shake. It was like a never ending charlie horse. I struggled into a meeting grasping my neck and five minutes in burst out in tears from the pain-I excused myself and headed to the closest thing to a doctor who could help me. A block away and conveniently located next to the closest pub to our office. I went and saw a chiropractor who "adjusted" me...or as I referred to it "cracked" me back into place.
Needless to say I took the week off from swimming and yesterday I found the courage to walk back out to the pool and tell, Dirk (of course that's his name!), the coach, what had happened to me and that I was perhaps in over my head with the masters swimming, but when they introduce guppy swim I am in! Somehow in the five minutes of me feeling pitiful for having been injured after one swim class he talked me back into showing up at the next practice! Either I am a glutton for punishment or I am a fighter like Alessandra! I will take the fighter role any day! Danda, if ever you doubt yourself, just remind yourself that we are NOT guppies! We are fighters!
In my attempt to train for my triathlon this summer I decided I was ready to take my swimming to the next level. Not sure why I was so convinced I needed to do this three weeks into my training, but I think it is due to the steady progress I have been making in my fitness level and strength thus far. I spoke with the coach who is in charge of Masters Swim at my local gym to see if he thought I would survive the class and benefit from the workout. He assured me I would be fine and that there were other triathletes who were also in his class.
I showed up to class confident in my decision as the coach welcomed me to the pool. He asked me to swim some laps to assess my swimming and place me in the appropriate lane based on my speed. Well, on my last length of the pool during my warm up I collided with a bald man's head. Alarming to say the least since there was no one in the lane when I started. I came up out of the water with a sore upper lip and slighted bruised ego. Was it me that caused the crash or was it him?! I guess it was a little of everyone. The coach for not telling him I was on the other end of the pool, the bald man for not making me aware he was entering the lane and me for not swimming the designated circle pattern in the pool...ugh! I was off to a shaky start!
The coach, for good reason, separated the crash victims and then class began. He introduced to my lane members and decided it would be polite to shake hands with each one of the 6 people like it was some kind of board room meet and greet! Finally our heads were in the water and I could forget about all that had transpired so far. But with our heads in the water an entirely new set of challenges set in like keeping up with the swimmer in front! Paddle, paddle, paddle, gasp for breath, swallow some water, leaky goggle. What could happen, did happen. There were few things I was in control of at this point so I decided to address the one I could. I switched my sporty small goggles that were pinching me and leaking for my newly purchased kid's goggles that were larger than the common swim goggles, but so comfortable and with a fit that did not allow water in. Bliss! Except now I am the new kid, paddling for her life with the big kid's goggles on!
As the class progressed so did the challenges, from swimming short sprints to swimming longer sprints! And from the coach speaking English to him speaking swim-glish as I like to call. "Ok, lane 1, give me 8 x 150s with a 2:45 interval," he would say. Lucky for me, we had a member of our team who was partially deaf so the coach repeated the instructions a couple of times until the guy gave the thumbs up that he caught it all. Needless to say I was partially deaf as well with wax stuffed into my ears to keep the water out. Ok, so now picture, girl with the big kid's goggles and the wax in her ears and a perplexed look on her face staring at the clock like everyone else, but not knowing why I was staring at the clock! This is kind of how my life goes in and out of the pool in case you were interested. I can tell you about a similar experience with a calculator some other time~!
And off to the races we go, kicking, stroking, flip turning, never mind me counting my laps, I was just trying to keep up and figured I would know when it was all over when I saw legs standing still at one end of the pool. Well, I finished the class much to my amazement and really thought I had hit my stride during the warm down when I was able to almost swim the length of the pool without breathing. Great, I thought! That should do me a lot of good on my 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz!
Cut to the next day. I'm feeling good....until about 4pm when a sharp pain was felt in my neck that I couldn't shake. It was like a never ending charlie horse. I struggled into a meeting grasping my neck and five minutes in burst out in tears from the pain-I excused myself and headed to the closest thing to a doctor who could help me. A block away and conveniently located next to the closest pub to our office. I went and saw a chiropractor who "adjusted" me...or as I referred to it "cracked" me back into place.
Needless to say I took the week off from swimming and yesterday I found the courage to walk back out to the pool and tell, Dirk (of course that's his name!), the coach, what had happened to me and that I was perhaps in over my head with the masters swimming, but when they introduce guppy swim I am in! Somehow in the five minutes of me feeling pitiful for having been injured after one swim class he talked me back into showing up at the next practice! Either I am a glutton for punishment or I am a fighter like Alessandra! I will take the fighter role any day! Danda, if ever you doubt yourself, just remind yourself that we are NOT guppies! We are fighters!
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