Swimming... YES!

I used to be a swimmer.  I used to LOVE swimming.  I haven't swam for a very very long time.

Today, I put on my bathing suit and headed to the YWCA at 7:45 to be there to swim for 8:05.  

I was a little reluctant... not because I was nervous about the swim but because I didn't sleep last night.  I didn't sleep first, because a certain teenager forgot to tell me she wasn't coming home and when I got up for the regular 3:30am pee break I discovered the car wasn't here and neither was she... a quick text cleared everything up.  I was just nicely falling back to sleep when all hell broke lose.  We have been trying to integrate a new cat into our house for the past week (we already have 2).   It's not going well.  The beasts decided at about 4:30am to have an all out war ON OUR BED.  I was uninjured but my partner ended up with a fairly deep gash in her cheek just below her eye.   It bled.  Quite a bit.  Once the cat fur settled into the carpet, the blood was cleaned away and the wound sufficiently cleansed... we tried for sleep again (with cats separated in different rooms).  Again, just dozing when the injured cat decided he needed to pee (we have a litter box in our bedroom as the cats are trying to sort this all out - disgusting, I know).  He took the longest, loudest pee in the world and then proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes or so scratching at the litter trying to cover it up.   I was not so much impressed.  Finally, giving up on the desire to sleep, I got up, made some coffee and began to prepare for the day.

Made it to the pool on time.  After a little talk from our lovely leader Michelle, we divided into lanes and started swimming.  Ooooo.. to be back in the water again.  I am a Pisces... a fish.  When I was a kid I lived in the water, either in the swimming pool or at the lake.  Later, I started lane swimming.  I'm a good and confident swimmer and although I haven't done it for quite some time, it felt like I'd never stopped.  The water is SO calming... soothing.  Swimming, I think, is going to be my favorite part of the training.

My anxiety was getting to work on time.  I think I mentioned in a previous post that I am a minister in the United Church.  I work at McClure United Church which is roughly a 12 minute drive from the YWCA.   The swimming was done at 8:40 and I needed to be showered, dressed and present for the worship service which starts at 9:15.  I wasn't sure I could do it.  I arrived at the church at 9:05.  Time to spare.  All of the rushing first thing in the morning was a little stressful though so I'm not sure I'll keep it up.  I'm going to try for a couple of weeks and if it's too much, I will just go lane swimming on my own.  That option would mean missing out on the community aspect of the swim training... but I'm not exactly building community when I'm rushing like a mad woman to get out of there.

Looking forward now to tomorrow's second bike session...

AND... on another note:  does anyone want a cat?