I Rock

Why, you ask? Well other than the fact that I'm just plain bad ass in general (LOL), I also rock cuz I got my bootie to the pool last night!! That's right, I'll take my bow now.

First, let me explain that I used to swim at a pool right near my house. Let me back up and explain that I have a lifetime membership to 24 Hour Fitness. Randy and I got a really good deal 4 years ago and paid a lot of money up front, but now only pay $20 a year to renew for life. We can work out at ANY 24 Hour Fitness, so if we go on vaca or move or whatever, our memberships our transferable. Well, the 24 HF near our house does NOT have a pool. When I started training for my tri, I searched near and far for a pool near me....but everywhere wanted to charge me for a full gym membership just to swim laps a couple nights a week. Um....I've already paid my life time fee for 24HF and really don't care to pay another monthly fee on top of that, esp when places were asking $30 - $40 a month just so I could swim twice a week.

Well, I finally found a pool in Gladstone (about 3 miles from my house) that let me in on a good deal. Basically, they let me purchase a "Corporate Challenge" pass that is basically a punch card that allows access only to the pool for $4 a session (yes, I realize this can add up and end up being around $30 a month anyway.....but I never REALLY made it to the pool THAT often.....and when I did, most of the time they didn't even check my card, therefore I got in several times for FREE). The only thing is that Corporate Challenge was the last week of June, so the pass expired then. If I wanted to continue using their pool, I would have to purchase the $40/month membership. F that. Initially, since my original tri was supposed to be June 28th, that was a perfect deal. But now that I've transferred my event, I've had to find a new place to swim.

I finally figured I would just have to drive to a different 24HF in the city that has a pool. The only thing with swimming is that actually getting to the pool is most of the battle. Sooo....I've come up with a plan. On the days I plan to swim, I'll just take all my gear to work and then head to the pool directly from work. That way I don't have to worry about going home and getting too tired to leave the house again. So that's what I did yesterday. I found a 24HF that's only 10 miles from work (20 miles from home). I was under the impression that I was going to have to pay a little to upgrade since my membership is to a 24HF Active and this gym was a 24HF Sport (meaning they have more amenities than my gym), but the guy didn't charge me anything - even better!

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that swimming was not nearly as difficult as I had expected after a 6+ week hiatus. In fact, it was waaaaay easier than when I first started swimming a few months back. The only thing was that I had planned to swim 800m last night, but stopped short at 650m cuz I forgot my earplugs in my other bag and the water was really getting to my ears. Had it not been for that, I would have been able to knock out 800m easily.

Anyway, I'm meeting up with my new tri team tonight for the first time for a group swim practice. I'm excited to finally meet my team. They've been practicing together for a month already while I've been in recovery. So, hopefully they don't all blow me out of the water....literally. ;)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009: 650m swim