swim lessons

[verbicide]

Seriously--I love my gym.

Finally went swimming for the first time there. It was glorious. It's not the most amazing pool--but unlike the pool at Evans, I practically had it to myself. (Though, when I got there, Open Swim was finishing, but that was only fifteen minutes and I still had a lane to myself for nearly the entire time.) Despite the fact that I have approximately 384 pairs of goggles in my swim bag, I managed to forget them in my locker until I was already in the water.

Pros: I had an awesome swim. Their showers are private and enormous and fitted out with shower/conditioner/bodywash. They give you towels and hair dryers.

Cons: I forgot how toxic chlorinated water is. My hair, despite conditioning, feels like straw left out to burn in the sun. My skin is deeply unhappy, even though I moisturized.

I figure twice a week--I can suck it up. I need to go buy that chlorine-neutralizing shampoo that costs $15/bottle and remember to keep it in my gym bag.

Also, bonus for having a ready snack at home. I remember how much swimming ramps up one's appetite. (Small children are at risk.) There's no way I'd survive through making dinner.

I realize I may not always feel this twirly about the gym, but I'm trying to make it as pleasant an experience as possible to encourage something resembling endurance. Too hard--and I just won't go. And while I'm sure there's some measure of Too Easy, I'd be bored with that. So I'm going to try to stick with my instincts on what's enough to start with and reevaluate in a few months instead of loading up some absurd amount and quitting in a week.

Comments

[pinkminx.livejournal.com]

I strongly recommend one of these. Ok, maybe not the Speedo. But it's pink!

PINK!

Right, ehm, yes. I've been going to check out the gyms here for the last three months, so allow me to live vicariously through you for a while. :-)

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

You know, you're right. I really should. I have one --I just never put it on. But seeing how crispy my hair was yesterday, I oughta start using it!

(Mine's RED! :D)

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

If the water did that much damage from one session, they are HIGHLY over chlorinating it. Really. The house prior to our current one had an in ground pool, which I had to maintain, so yeah, I know what the levels should be. Most public pools are way over chlorinated, because some moron seems to think it'll be more resistant to algea, but really all it does is fuck up the pH balance. A properly chlorinated pool has a neutral pH and doesn't leave you smelling like a Sandoz factory.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I think my hair is prone to crankiness... The only reason I don't think they're over-chlorinating it is that I was able to swim without goggles. I mostly kept my eyes shut under water, but when a pool has too much chlorine, it usually really irritates my eyes.

[rolypolypony.livejournal.com]

YAY swim!!

At least your hair doesn't turn green from the chlorine? Mine was green pretty much all summer every summer until I got to college!

I so need to try to check out the pool here again. Maybe there's a time when it's barely used so I can swim and not bee seen by teenagers.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

No, my hair definitely doesn't turn green --although I always thought the blonde girls with green tinted hair were sort of adorable!

Definitely check it out --it's so much fun! Yay swimming!!

[mixed-up-media.livejournal.com]

Ooooooo...swimming! It's enough to make me want to go out and join a gym myself! (Actually, I have a free membership to one through work, but now that I'm telecommuting it is simply not feasible to go there.)

Chlorine-related problems aside, I'm glad the pool is so great!

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it totally totally has to be super-convenient or I won't go! (Though a free membership is awesome.)