1 August 09

Bike Miles - 43

Swim - 90 laps/1 hr

I got up a little bit earlier to make sure I'd finish my bike ride in time make it to the pool when they opened. It was a nice ride, as the rain predicted for all evening never materialized. While there were damp patches of pavement, nothing "spray" worthy. Best of all, no sand/sludge in the underpasses.  Peaceful. Stars were out, no one was about but me. Encountered one other cyclist in passing. 

Got home about 35 minutes or so before the pool opening, giving me plenty of time to get a load of laundry in the washer. 

I got to the pool about 10 minutes early and decided to sit in the car. Not much later, two old men arrived, and I joined them, thinking we would be waiting.  They let me know that you could go in early, which was a treat, if someone was there. Got in, discovered a few people had claimed their lanes by standing at the end of them.  I realized that you couldn't get in the water until the lifeguard got in the chair, which didn't take long. I had the slow lane, on the deep end side adjacent to the bulkhead to myself.  Nice. It was a wide lane, 5' on one end going to deep deep in the other (the diving tank side). Shallow enough that I could stand in the one side. For the first time, I wore a bathing cap and it made a huge difference. I felt more buoyant and moved through the water easier. Also, it kept the hair out of my eyes/face.  Definitely will be using one henceforth, the added bonus of which is possibly protecting my expensive hair color.  I had a good swim and felt decently strong. On my freestyle breaths, I occasionally would rotate enough so I could see the morning sky through the skylight.  That end of the pool is definitely more Zen.  I didn't even notice the group of three Master's swimmers in one of the medium speed lanes (they were kind of loud). The female member of that group was doing sloppy flip turns, wetting the deck enough that I slipped on one of her slop-spots on my way to my bag/towel.

The girls got their walks after I got home---I pulled some cherry tomatoes from the plant out front to tide me over. Breakfast sure tasted good, after showering and getting the chlorine off me.