The Thing Is, I Really Want To Swim

Morning Workout
Swim
3 x 800m (what it was supposed to be)
1 x 800m, 1 x 250m (what it actually was)

Evening Workout
Run
55 minutes
Aerobic heart rate
Random Comments: Nope. Not tonight. Too tired.
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Some days it seems the world is trying to whisper a secret to you. This morning it was shouting in my ear so loudly I think it gave me tinnitus. For some reason or other, the Gods definitely did not want me to swim today. I still have yet to figure out why.

I got home late last night (see next story about San Fran trip) and set the alarm for a leisurely 6am wake-up call this morning. The cleaning ladies are coming today so I had to spend some time organizing my place a little bit. You see, they have a habit of moving my belongings into random locations. And the randomness varies with each visit. I think they even take my books off the shelves and put them on different shelves, or in closets. I think I once found a book in my freezer. It took me the better part of a week to find my colander earlier this month and I still have yet to locate my favorite water bottle, which has been MIA since sometime around winter 2004. Needless to say, I like to do a fair bit of organizing before they even show up, including laying down "Do Not Move" notes on bills and other assorted documents of great importance. You can't be too careful these days.

Realizing that I had to change at the gym in order to get to work for my 9am meeting, I packed up my clothing and, forty-five minutes after waking up, headed to the YMCA for my morning workout. I walked in the Y only to realize that I forgot to bring a towel - and the 50 cents to get one from them. Fortunately, they comped me the half-dollar this time and gave me a piece of over-sized tissue paper that they pretend to call a towel. I walked to the locker room, eager and ready for my swim.

As I passed by the pool I saw that the lights were out and, more importantly, there was no water in the pool. Tough to swim without the water. Suddenly I remembered that the YMCA had closed the pool until December 18 for year-end repairs. Ugh. I returned my fifty-cent towel and got back in my car, silently wondering why I pay $45 a month to not be able to swim.

I decided to drive over to the Santa Monica College pool to pay an additional $2.50 in order to swim. It's a great pool, but it's outdoors. It'd be tough walking over to the pool, across the cold concrete and the biting wind, in the 54 degree weather, but I knew I'd be able to dig down deep enough to manage. I'd probably even be a better man because of it. I got to the pool only to realize, once again, that I didn't have a towel. You'd think I would've remembered. You'd be wrong. I drove all the way back home, got a towel and headed back to the pool.

Well, by the time I changed into my swimsuit, tackled the watch fiasco (which I won't get into) and got into the pool, it was 7:40. No problem, I thought, I'll do my 3 x 800m swim and head straight to work. After the first 800m, I was in the flow. A bit tired, but feeling good that my workout was finally underway. 200m into the second set I get halfway down the lane and - BAM! - swam head-on into a guy treading water in front of me. What the fuck?! I stop and look up, trying to figure out what his problem is.

"What's going on?" I say, clearly a bit perturbed.

"We're closed," he said. "Swims over."

Huh? Closed?! I looked around and realized that I was the only one left in the pool. Apparently, the Santa Monica pool closes at 8am.

I got out of the pool, back on the cold concrete and trampled through the biting wind into the locker room where I changed into the work clothes I'd been lugging around with me for the past hour. Clearly I wasn't meant to swim today. Fortunately, it only being 8am, I had enough time to get to work in time for my 9am meeting.

Of course, that got cancelled too.