www.tanstaafl.co.uk

Almost two full weeks since my last swim, and I am not very happy about it. The boiler at the pool I swim at broke down on the day I last swam and has taken some time to repair. Whilst there are other pools I could swim at, they don’t have public sessions at particularly convenient times for me.

My plan for this week therefore is just to get some lengths in and get back into the swing of things. I didn’t make the best start by being told off for being (just) outside the changing room entrance two minutes before the public session was due to start. There’s a school session running prior to the public one and they don’t like that apparently, though it’s the first time in the three years I’ve been swimming at the pool that anyone has said anything about it. Unfortunately making it quite clear that you’re waiting for them to leave is the only way to ensure that they do actually attempt to leave the pool when they should rather than hanging about eating into the public session 🙁

USRPT distance this year: 54,250m
Total distance this year: 138,300m

A novel experience for me today. I had to visit the dentist this morning and the pool is on the way home, so it seemed silly not to take advantage of the opportunity. The anaesthetic used by the dentist was still very much in effect when I got into the water which made both breathing and having my head under water quite strange. It doesn’t feel entirely sensible to go completely under water without being able to tell if one’s mouth is closed 😀

Anyhow, I didn’t drown so I clearly did an ok job. I did nearly skewer someone during the underwater phase off a push though. It was fairly quiet at that time of day so there were no lanes, but the four of us in the pool were each swimming lengths down separate lane lines. Then someone else got in and decided to walk to halfway, after which he repeatedly crossed the pool at right angles to the lanes regardless of what anyone else was doing. During my underwaters I’m face down, arms out front, one hand on top of the other with the upper thumb hooked over the lower hand. And that was how I hit him. He did apologise for getting in the way, but didn’t stop crossing the lanes 🙁

Anyhow, more tumble turns. If I feel good on Monday then I’ll try to get back to the USRPT.

USRPT distance this year: 52,700m
Total distance this year: 134,450m

Another day of tumble turn practice. Not really feeling up to USRPT yet.

USRPT distance this year: 52,700m
Total distance this year: 132,950m

Back to the pool for my first session in a week 🙁 Work has interfered with my swimming somewhat, but so have Better. They don’t do paper pool timetables any more; we’re told to use the website for the centre. But recently the website has been a total disaster with either no sessions showing or multiple incompatible sessions showing for the same time. I phoned last Friday to check, was told the pool was open when I wanted to swim, only to be told it was closed for life guard training when I arrived. Not happy.

Anyhow, I wasn’t feeling too bright today so I just carried on working at the tumble turns.

USRPT distance this year: 52,700m
Total distance this year: 131,450m