Swimming madness

I don't know what came over me this morning. I KNEW that Canyon Meadows lane swim goes to hell about 7:30. Yet going for a swim worked out for my schedule this morning.

And so it was. Only 3 lanes were open. Just as I got there Mr. 8footwide slow breast stroker took up one entire lane. He's annoyed the hell out of me before, so I didn't go there. The next lane had two people at least trying to swim, flailing away with flippers and sometimes paddles. The third lane was a dog's breakfast, a walker, a couple floaties with flippers, and one long suffering girl that could swim, but seemed to be spending her time dodging the others. The rest of the pool was a wave generating exercise class.

The first thing I did was get my lane swimming in a circle. Then I pretended it was open water with the waves. Then, even taking it easy and relaxed, I regularly passed the other two in my lane. Often. She was very graceful about it. He was less so, but it wasn't a problem. Several other people quickly got into the lane with Mr. 8footwide and that lane turned into a total shambles. One guy was trying to keep up with me, flailing and thrashing and splashing, with more bubbles in the water than in a hot tub, and failing badly. He'd rest till I finished another lap, then he'd try again. Another lady was on speed. She must have been. I've never seen breast stroke done that fast. No, she wasn't swimming fast, just moving her arms and legs very fast. She wasn't going anywhere. Another guy had a beautiful looking breast stroke, except for it being nearly vertical, and very slow. My inner shark covered his eyes and went away. Said it wasn't sporting to go after such prey.

Toward the end of my swim, a guy that had been watching, and sometimes chatting to Mr. Flippers, joined us, and by golly, he could swim. After a few laps he passed me! I picked it up and drafted off him for a few laps. I was reasonably sure that I could keep up with him, if I was out for a hard workout. But I dialed it back to my easy pace, and finished out my 45 minutes before he caught up to me again. We had a nice chat afterward in the locker room. He'd been timing me to see if he could keep up, and used me as a reference to push himself for a fast swim. How nice for him. Buddy, come back and play when my inner shark is feeling frisky.

The dive tank was full, very full, of a deep water running class, but I still wanted to do some core work. With a bit of modification I could do it in the lane pool. Not as much fun, but did 15 minutes. Chatted with a nice lady just getting started her lane swim. She's learned the hard way about swimming between 8 and 9, and goes for a run instead, then swims. Hmmmmm.

Then it was off to donate blood. You have to make an appointment for this. I managed to get in just before a big group from Diversified Staffing. It's corporate challenge week. I'm sure the girl in the mini-skirt hadn't thought about the couch beds they put you on for the donation. The nurse loved the vein in my left arm. I was just getting ready to sit down and decide which arm, when my nurse said "I'm sure you're going to say left; I can see a nice vein from here!" So I did, and it all worked out just fine.

Yes GQH, Canada has cities, real ones, not just groupings of igloos. If Calgary were counted along with other American cities, it would be 10th biggest by population, between Dallas and San Jose. That said, the borders are pretty well defined, and it gets rural very quickly. From my house, a few hours bike ride gets you out of the city, through some ritzy wealthy gentleman ranchers, some real ranches, into a Provincial Park, then into the mountains. It's a nice ride. I've been meaning to take photos of it one day.