8 Swim Catch-up: Last Monday thru this Monday

So I swam every day since the last post. It's been great! I swim 50 lengths, 75 feet per length. 70 lengths equals a mile. I'm so delighted that nothing has interrupted my swimming. No colds or necessary engagements.

Swim Myth: In my opinion, it is a myth that you cannot swim if you highlight or otherwise dye your hair. I'm a brunette who highlights blond, and I don't have a problem. Of course, I wear a swim cap every day but water gets inside it. Also I use the shampoo and conditioner provided by Equinox, no special product for colored hair.

Swim conversation:
A man joins another woman and me in the pool. We start circling. Then I start stretching at one end of the pool. The woman swims up next to me. She looks around and says, "Where'd he go?" Her eyes dart around the water. I answer with a swim cliche: "Oh, well, let's just be glad he's gone!" She giggles.

4 Swim Catch Up: Tu, Wed, Fri, Sun

I had a great swim today in the Village. I have a new routine in which I swim the first thirty laps underwater. Then I swim ten difficult back strokes, then ten easy backstrokes. It adds up to 50 lengths and takes me thirty-five minutes with five minutes of stretching afterwards. It's a fun routine because it gets progressively easier. I had a funny encounter in the locker room today:

Scene: I am in the locker room getting dressed, and a petite, fit, tan thirty-something woman walks in to the locker room in her work-out clothes (s/p her workout) and looks on the bench at another woman's wet swim suit. I am at the other end of the bench and quickly want to clarify that the suit is not mine, because the woman has a look on her face that's angry at that wet suit on the bench.

Me: "That's not mine! I don't know whose it is!" This is a lie because I just swam with the girl whose suit it is.

The lady shakes her head like it is just awful, that wet suit directly on the bench.

I want to exchange some locker room banter, so I say, "I don't know why people do that!" The truth is that I don't mind the wet suit at all.

The girl whose suit it is gets back, and I get excited about the possible upcoming confrontation which I plan to stay out of entirely.

The angry lady says in a sarcastic tone, "That's really considerate of you to put your wet suit there so that no one can sit down."

The girl wipes the bench with her towel and stammers a quiet apology. She's a great swimmer. She goes off to change in a changing area instead of with us.

Then the angry lady gets on her cell phone even though it's a cell free zone in the locker room. I am all about gym rules, so I'm thinking over and over, "She's breaking a rule! Someone should call her on it!" (No pun intended).

She connects to a hotel employee on her phone and says, "Put Liz on in Room 421." Then there is a pause and says, "We were just talking. She knows who this is." Then she says, "Liz, I want you to meet me in fifteen minutes at the corner of Washington and Horatio. WASHINGTON AND HORATIO. I'm want to photograph you with some grafitti that I found." Then she pauses and says, "Wear those gym shoes. I like those gym shoes." She pauses and then asks me for a pen. I am quick to give her one, and she is thankful. I love it when mean people are nice to me!

4 Swim Catch-up: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Mon.

Thanks for all the help in the previous post. Everyone had great ideas and was very supportive. I'm happy to say that I am well again. I took seven days off from swimming (torture) but my cough went away completely, and now I am symptom-free. Oh, I hope that I stay well for more than a week this time! My swims on Friday and Saturday were great, particularly that first day back in the pool. My swims yesterday and today were tough, especially yesterday. I felt tired as I swam even though I slept well. It may be depression-related PMS, though I'm not sure. I felt depressed last night (Sunday) and consequently this morning, and I felt so much better after the swim. Here are some swimsuit tips for the every day lap swimmer:

1) Buy a suit that hooks in back, not straps, because straps get loose and start to fall down. Be careful to get a hook that's very easy to do. Don't worry about having the hook go all the way thru because the swimsuit never comes undone.
2) Never wring out water from a suit because it damages the material. Even squeezing the suit damages the material over time. As much as possible, put the suit on a towel, and then take it home in a double plastic bag. This will make the suit last longer. Don't hang the suit on a hook by the straps. Hang it over a hook in the middle so that you don't stretch the straps.
3) Clean the suit by showering in it.
4) Buy a high quality suit, especially if you are full-figured, because it keeps the body parts nicely in place. Suits from Target aren't good. I like to shop for suits at high-end department stores that will have suits for customers who go on winter vacations. Of course, if you are thin, you can go to a sports store, but not if you are big like me.
5) Buy a pretty suit, though appropriate, because it will make the swim fun.
6) Keep an eye on the material, especially in back, so that you can see if it's becoming translucent. If it is, it's time to get a new suit!

2 swim catch-up

I went swimming Monday and Tuesday, both in the Village. Monday night was very blissful because it was a late night swim, and the pool was quite empty. There were two other swimmers after 10pm, and they looked like swamp alligators, and probably so did I. Last night it was wicked crowded but I managed. There was a mad fast dude who had to keep passing me, but he was friendly and pleasant. Tonight I'm going to swim after Shiloh Harper's minnows leave, so stay tuned!

4 Swim Catch-Up

I haven't been able to use my computer at home due to pop-ups, so this comes a little late. I went swimming on Th, Fri, Sat, and Sunday (today). I had taken a few days off prior to that because of my bad cough. I also took a day off work. I think it all helped because my cough went away! I am so happy about that! Of course my swims are mixed up in my head by now, so here is a quick incident from the pool:

The Mystery Lap

Girl in My Lane (both of us at end of lane): "I forget which lap I'm on. I don't know if I skipped one or not. Don't you hate that?"
Me: "Yes!"
Girl: "I'll have to assume that I skipped it and do it."
Me: Nodding yes.
Girl and Me giggle.

Ratty Old Suit

Today I swam in the West Village after attending a femme tea at Danal on E. 10th Street. Two of the girls went to a movie, and the other lady, M, walked me to the pool. I swam right before the pool closed. If you know me, you know that I looovve Saturday night swims, and tonight was no exception. I had a hard time with my coughing until lap 29, and then my lungs worked perfectly. That was a relief. The pool was not crowded, and the lifeguard who snapped at me last time was friendly. I had on a nice swimsuit, and perhaps he appreciated the gesture, LOL. I had been swimming in a really worn out old suit. If you swim everyday, the suits sure do wear out quickly. I have a hard time giving up ratty old suits. The thing is, this one looked so bad that I purposely just left it in the shower after I swam the other day! I had to run from in it in order to get myself not to take it with me! My favorite place to shop for swimsuits is Lord and Taylor. They sell nice, quality bathing suits that last a fairly long time, given the amount of swimming that takes place in them.

Bad Friday

I had kind of a difficult swim today. Before I went swimming I felt hot and tired, a little sickly, and my cough was there. I took my honey cough syrup. By the way, P-f, it's seerup not sirrup, LOL. The brand is Robitussin, and I'll send you some in the mail. It's deelish! Anyway, today is Good Friday, so I had off work. It seems others did too because the pool was extremely crowded for 4:30. I had to circle swim quite a bit, and that messed up my breathing. I don't like to go fast-slow-fast-slow. I swim at an even pace the whole time. Swimming with people in front of and behind me throws that off. After the swim, my cough was still there, and I felt headachey and still pretty tired. My time wasn't too good either. I wondered if I shouldn't have swam. Does swimming hurt or help my bronchitis or not make a difference? Or on some days does it help and on others not? I guess I don't care because I've been melancholy and the swimming gives a much needed endorphin rush.
Conversation in the pool:
Guy who I shared a lane with: "Is it always so crowded? This is my first time."
Me: "No. It's because of the holiday I think. It's never this crowded."

Swimming in a Posh Zip Code

I swam on the upper-east side after therapy last night. The upper east side pool is great because it's not too crowded and has a hot tub. It also has a cold tub but you won't find me there! I made great time despite still having this cough. I did fifty laps in 25 minutes. That's not fast but for me it is very good! I coughed at the beginning, and then my breathing regulated, and I ended the swim not coughing at all. It's strange how the swimming improves my cough. At the beginning I allowed myself one cough every ten laps. Is that a Jewish swim routine or what? LOL. After two coughs, I was done coughing. Today I'm coughing (haven't done my swim yet) but took honey cough syrup. Yummy! My cough is dry now, which seems to be a good sign. Well, I have established a new routine in which I do fifty laps in sets of ten. I don't stop inbetween each set but repeat the pattern of ten strokes. I am allowed two laps of back stroke within the ten laps, usually the last two. Anyway, I went in the hot tub after the swim, and it felt so good, as did the shower following the hot tub. Water, water, everywhere, so fun!