*Warning: This is a fairly ranty post because I am in less than a stellar mood. Don't go on if you're looking for my general cheerfulness. That will return tomorrow.*
I love swimming, but sometimes I absolutely hate being a swimmer. I'm frustrated; I will openly admit it. I'm having a really hard time swimming right now for a whole slew of reasons.
Top of the list is that I'm currently spending too much time at the pool teaching. I generally like teaching, but not six days of week for multiple hours at a time. Currently, 90% of my students are 5 and unders. I've been teaching basic lessons for a long time; our pool offers more advanced lessons, but I get stuck with all the newbies. I'm getting tired of it…and I don't find it very fair that another staff member (who only teaches twice a week) threw a hissy fit and so now I'm stuck with an even higher percentage of little kids than I previously had. All the teaching is draining and it's really hard to get in laps before or after lessons because I just get too cold in the water.
Issue number two is that when I do get a chance to swim, it's almost always interrupted by other swimmers who are not in the appropriate lane (we regulate by speed) and have no general lap swimming courtesy. I understand that the other lane has two people in it, but guess what? You're going the same speed as the two people…you are however, going significantly slower than me and you refuse to stop at walls to allow me to pass you. I swim to decrease my stress and anger; your inability to be a decent human being and admit that you're not a slow swimmer is seriously getting in the way of my workout. One of the hardest parts about swimming laps is the influence other people have on your workout. Running on a treadmill, cycling on a stationary, busting through on an elliptical, even working out on a track- the degree to which people around you are working has no immediate effect on your personal workout. That does not stand true in the pool…someone in the wrong lane can make it more or less impossible to swim. It doesn't help the situation that the lifeguards do not enforce lane speeds at all and regularly allow water walkers in the slow and even medium lanes.
Issue number three are the time constraints as mandated by my mom. I love my parents and am really grateful to be able to live with them while I figure out post-grad life. However, my mom is really unclear as to the time needed to train to swim 11 miles (partly because I wasn't living at home when training for the 3 last year). She doesn't understand needing to put aside 1.5-2 hours a day minimum to swim or do dry land on top of the 3-5 hours I teach on a daily basis. Trying to appease my mom while also doing everything I need to do really isn't working out well for me.
Okay, I'll be honest, I do feel a whole host better having all that written down. And shockingly enough, even though I'm being whiny, I did manage to swim both 5/5 and 5/6 for over 1000 each so there's at least that. Hoping to get some more yards in each of the coming days…we'll see how I actually do. Nothing much on the dry land front other than lots of dancing around tomorrow cuz it's a cleaning day. WIP Wednesday tomorrow…and some definite progress indeed!
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