Ok, I am spoiled. (no snickering here, we all know that I can be a brat) I tend not to tell myself I am spoiled but I like to think that I have been extremely fortunate with what my parents provided me in my life. Much better way to look at it and this makes my parents smile and puts me in their good graces. (sorry Sara, Sacha, and Lex - I create a high standard :) )
I grew up swimming in my backyard, learned to swim competitively at one of best gyms in the country, West Point's Arvin Gym, and got to teach swimming lessons during college with the Cape Cod Bay as my back drop. When I realized that swimming was my first training set, I was super excited to get back into the water.
What I did not put together is that swimming in NYC is different than anywhere else. There are different fields of play and rules that you need to follow. I slowly started to navigate this game and here is what I learned:
1. Though your gym website may list POOL as one of the facilities, pools are considered anything that can hold over a cup of water. I went to the NYSC's 'largest' pool Saturday to do a dry run. Shocked when I saw it was an 18yd, tight 4 lane pool. 18 yards......I dont get it. When I asked if there were other pools the guy said this is the biggest we got. Thats 96 lengths and 48 flip turns to get to a mile.
2. If sharing an outside lane, always get the side closest to the lane line. I got suckered into the wall side of the lane on Saturday and I cannot tell you how many times I smacked my hand against the pool ladder to avoid the other swimmer.
3. If you see a lady jump into your lane with three noodles, you know it is time to leave. There is no way the two of you can share a lane without you getting smacked in the face each time you pass each other. 96 smacks I think may cause a bruise.
4. Bring a book or magazine with you into the pool area. Yeah, this one is a stumper...books with water? Only two people are allowed to swim in a lane at once. This means that you have to stand on the pool deck watching swimmers go back and forth until a lane opens up. From personal experience, this is not fun.
Here are some cool things I learned:
1. If you call ahead you can reserve a 30 minute lane to yourself. (only on weekends)
2. If you go weekday mornings, you can call to reserve a lane to share so you do not have to wait in line.
3. Early mornings are the best time to go. Yesterday's swim, I got the lane to myself for the second half of my session.
In other news, day 1 training went very well. Thankfully I am already adjusted to the ungodly early morning wake up calls and walking to the bus in dark. Double workouts, that will take some time. I was in bed with asleep by 955, super early for me.
119 days to go
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