Not that bad this time around!

Me, circa 1981, my first swim lesson. I didn't learn much!

Considering the fact that it's been 26 years since my last swim lesson, my first day as Master's swimming at Emory really wasn't that bad. The day started with me getting up at 5 a.m. after going to bed at 2:30 a.m. My initial response to the alarm clock was to turn it off and not get up. Then a voice of reason tells me that I can either get up and swim today, or drown in the Ohio River in August. I choose swimming today. Practice started at 5:45. I wandered around the Clairmont Emory campus and found the pool. I walked around and it appeared to be closed. It's a HUGE pool, 25 yards wide and 50 yards long, and it was covered in bubble. I was seriously upset that I was awake and wandering around in the freezing cold for nothing. Then I saw some steam coming from the pool and two little bodies swimming. It looked so weird to see this entire pool closed except for two lanes with two people swimming really fast in this steamy water. I made me way to them and saw a lifeguard asleep in her chair. Not good if she falls! I found the coach and introduced myself. She told me to jump in and promised that although it was 45 degrees outside the pool was very warm.

Going into this I was anxious/intimidated/excited all at once. I was glad that the Tu/Th morning practice doesn't have a big turnout. The other two swimmers just pulled back the bubble and made me a lane. Coach gave me an option of 3000 yards, 4000 yards, or 5000 yards. I choose 3000, but it really ended up being closer to 2850. She was very kind and gave me some critiquing that I knew was coming my way and some stuff that I didn't realize I was doing. I never got more than 10 seconds rest which made the set go by really quickly. It was cool watching the sun come up while swimming. I made a mad-dash to the locker room because it was still really cold outside. Refer to my last post if you don't know how I feel about the cold! I am looking forward to tomorrow morning, where there is supposed to be a bigger crowd.

The day ended up being really nice and despite being REALLY tired from getting up so early and not sleeping well last night, I still made it out to Stone Mountain for a two-hour ride with Olga. I love Spring!