First Swim in ForEVER

So I have a new job.  And the new job provides me low cost access to a gym with a VERY nice outdoor pool that is open year-round and is about 2 blocks from said job.   This is no small thing, since I think it is well documented how much I looooooove to swim, how well it helps me control my weight, and did I mention how much I love it!!??

What I do not love, however, is going to a new gym.

So last week I girded my loins and made it in the door, took one look at the line at the overtaxed front desk, and turned around and walked out again.

Hey, I never said I was proud of my social awkwardness.  I just... couldn't.

So this week I packed all of my lonely swim stuff, tried to think of all the variables, and committed.  Thank goodness when I walked in, there was no line.  So I walked up, said I was new, and asked to be shown around, and THANK YOU to the super friendly girl who did just that.  Then I changed and armed with my success, walked out to the pool and up to the lifeguard to asked about the unwritten rules of pool use.

Because - have I mentioned? - that was my experience at the Y.  It was all unwritten, but it was a 4 lane pool, inner two lanes were for the fasties.  Outer two were for the pokies.  There was often lane sharing, and if there was, you were to keep to one side if there were two peeps, but if you went over two, you began circling.  And on and on we go.

Now I'm not convinced that I know everything about new pool.  BUT it wasn't super mega crowded at 3pm on a Tuesday, I didn't have to share a lane, I had a lovely swim, and I know enough things hopefully now not to make an idiot of myself.  That'll do for the first outing.

Oh, and did I mention that my swim was simply lovely?  It was a beautiful sunny day.  The water was cool but not cold.  I was having some goggle issues, so my first 500 took 12 minutes, but really that isn't bad for not actually really training in... years!  And then I lost count.  I swam for 30 minutes and I didn't care about counting and I just went back and forth until my mind was nothing but 1-2-3-breathe and it was juuuuuuust glorious.

I am so very happy to be swimming again!

(Oh, also, I don't know if I've mentioned, but my body has been surprising me.  I've been shocked, literally shocked, at how well my body is adapting to the cycling training.  I am always same-day sore, but by the next morning, I'm simply tired but not sore.  That is seriously cool, given that running for me is a 48 hour soreness.  Additionally, this first swim, based on all the other first swims I've had in my life, should have been pretty rough in terms of breathing.  Normally when I've been off for a long time, I can just barely eke out 500 and I spend half my time clinging to the wall gasping.  Now I wasn't trying to break any speed records the other day, and I was in deficit, but it was never to the level of gasping, and I reckon I got in AT LEAST 1200 before throwing in the towel and frankly I think I could have kept going.  So my guess is all the cycling, even though I don't think of it in that way (because it doesn't kill my aerobic system like running) has been doing good things to my fitness level, and that is just very cool.  I love it when I can see real progress!)

Gym Membership(s)

I'm thinking about dropping my YMCA membership.  There, I said it.  Blarg.  I really don't *want* to drop it.  But let's face it: I'm paying people $50 a month to NOT USE their facility.  Mostly because of timing.  My Y opens at 5am, near work, and far far away from my home.  I have to *finish* exercising at 5am, near home, to take the baby to daycare.   That means that I can basically go one day a week, Fridays, when I work a half day.  But let's face it (again), if I have spare time on Fridays right now I'm using it to clean and/or sleep.  Even if I went every single Friday, I'd be paying more than $13 per visit.  If I park at work and walk over so I don't have to pay for parking.  It just isn't worth it any more.

I've hung on to the membership this long hoping that maybe when my parents move down here I could start going back... but who knows when that will be?  And how much money am I blowing in the meantime?  And even then I'll have to work around the hours, which means I'd be going to work later than I wanted because they just don't open early enough for me.

Plus, our neighborhood pool (that we also pay for) is open for the summer right now.  And they have a weight room open 24 hours year round.  So the Y is really *just* for the pool.

Annnnd, I'm really not going to be doing any triathlons until AT LEAST next May.  I mean, I love to swim, but right now I'd just be doing it for the love and the weight loss, not for the training.  And it is way less time consuming to do other forms of working out at the moment.

I think I'm going to do it.  I think I'm going to drop the membership.

In the future, even when my parents move down here, I might think about a 24 Hour Fitness so the timing issue isn't a problem.  There is one a few miles from my house.  I just checked their website, and at least right now, a membership is actually *cheaper* than my current Y membership.  Maybe I could watch Groupon or something to try and get a deal, too, since I'm in no rush.  And they're open 24 hours a day!  Something tells me that I'd actually have the pool to myself at 4am, which'd be pretty freaking sweet!  They've also got babysitting services, so moving forward that's something I could also consider for the weekends.  Yeah, I think I'm sold.  I'm dropping my membership at the Y.

This is not a declaration of a lifestyle change (away from the healthy).  This is just an acknowledgement that what I have isn't working for me.  I need to search for better options.

Gym Joining

Well, we finally pulled the trigger and joined the local homeowner's "recreational facility". It is actually an incredibly good deal: $20/family/month. They have an outdoor pool (with one always-designated lap lane), 8 tennis courts, and a weight room will all of the machines that I've so dearly missed. According to the guy we spoke with, they are also building a park with a mile track!! (The local high school actually locks their track up!) Yay!!! Although I joined for the pool this summer, I know that the weight room and the mile track will keep us enrolled for a long time to come.

This morning: tae bo. This evening: swimming.

I'm excited!!