Swimming Pool Stress

Yeah, I never thought going to the pool to swim laps could be stressful. First of all, it's a rule that everyone has to wear a swim cap...and if you add a pair of goggles, the combination is frightening. I've learned there are times to go and not to go. 5PM to 10PM are the times NOT to go. I mean, it's like rush hour traffic on I-40. You can have 5 or 6 people in one lane. So you have to follow the pool etiquette...just like on the highway, you have to stay to the right. If you decide to disobey, the collision could be tragic.

Just the other day, I was doing some freestyle, minding my own business on my side of the lane, when all of a sudden an impatient swimmer decided to pass 2 swimmers. That meant that he was going the wrong way down my side of the lane. I normally just stare at the black line on the bottom of the pool to guide me, but when I came up for air I saw it coming...BOOM...the collision caused a 3 person pile up...I inhaled about a gallon of water and I couldn't stand up because the whole pool is about 8 feet deep. The confusion was horrific. He said he was sorry and order in the pool was restored.

Today was equally stressful. There were about 4 of us in the same lane and there was this one guy who was like a bullet...I'm talking Olympic speed...whereas I go at a nice steady pace. The guy was stressing me out. The dynamic of the lane made me feel like I had to go faster so as to not cause a traffic jam. So I almost drown at one point because I couldn't breathe I was trying to go so fast.

And Lord forbid when someone passes you doing the breast stroke. I've had my share of kicks in the kidney that'll take your breath away.

So, needless to say, I've decided that 3:30PM is the best time to go. I can have a whole lane to myself! There's enough stress in day to day life to have to be stressed out at the pool too.