Ow, There's a Muscle There? - Post #210

Who's mother emails them telling them they need to write a new blog post? Gah, my parents need to be a little less computer savvy. Go back to your tape decks. You don't need to see our identification.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm a little tired.

Okay, so the title...swim practice yesterday. There's no practice on weekends, the pool was closed Monday and Tuesday for a chemical imbalance and Wednesday for that storm (there was thunder, which was yay, but not a huge ground shaking one, which was antiyay), and Thursday I couldn't go because I had my brother's band concert. Eh, totally more fun anyways. Cuz someone fun was there, and then I accidentally stalked him to CC's. Note: the cake chunks in birthday cake ice cream get stuck in your straw if you have it in a milkshake. And the ice cream is blue...but where was I?

Right. So Friday was the first time I'd swam in six days. And according to someone sometime, it only takes four days to get out of shape. AND Friday was the first day of dryland. Dryland is any workout not in the pool, so Kevin and Kristin had us doing pushups, situps, lunges (owwww), and six inches for forty-five minutes before practice. Then there was the normal hour and a half of practice, and Kevin worked us just as hard as usual.

I was so tired I forgot to flip turn and swam straight into a wall.

And then I had a dream last night that Kevin designated my lane the "probation" lane, from which you could get moved up into the safe lanes or dropped down into Kristen's, never to return.

I love Kristin, she's an amazing coach, but I'm addicted to Kevin's workouts. It's a fair enough dream. I'm the slowest person in his three lanes, probably the only one who's not genetically an athlete. I don't want to leave. I want to stay, and I want to get better. It's just hard when everyone else is that one step above you.

99% of the time I'm okay with being last. The only time is hits me is at the start of the season, when I've been in school for ages and am used to being top. There's a certain type of ego you have to have to swim. You have to be humble enough to accept that there's people in front of you, and stuck-up enough to strive to be in their position, to keep you going when it feels like your body's about to give up on you.

Wow, I get really off track. ANYWAYS, when I woke up this morning, every muscle Kevin worked, or even thought about working, was stiff and sore. And I loved it. That's the feeling you miss in the off-season, the pain in your thighs ever time you stand up, the ache of your shoulders when you lift your arms, the total inability to bend down and pick something up without wincing. It feels amazing.

So...the coaches decided to break their "no weekend practices" rule, and we have practice today from 12 to 1...that means I have to leave in about 15 minutes. Eh. It's going to hurt. Gah...totally wearing my pajama pants there. No question.

Okay, swim meets. What are they, when are they, where are they. We swim dual meets, which means two teams get together and swim the typical YMCA events, but nobody wins. The swimmers are competing to get their own best times, and the other people in the pool are just there for motivation and to give the parents and other people who show up something to watch. They're long and boring and (for the swimmers) extremely stressful. This summer season we have four.

June 8th - Away vs. Farmington Valley Tsunamis
June 22nd - Away vs. Northwest Lasers
June 6th - Home vs. Waterbury Barracudas
July 13th - Home vs. Wallingford Dolphins

Then July 27th and 28th are championships in Middletown, where every team goes and we actually race for points. And somebody wins. (Not us. =]) It's a small season, because the main one's in the fall, but I have no doubts it will be just as eventful, painful, and stressful.

Gotta love swim team. =)

--Iona