Morning swim practice

I went with Mik to the first outdoor morning swim practice of the season, having again scored permission to invade the masters’ side of the pool without actually paying or signing up—one of many perks of being Mik’s mom. (Today we had three 50-meter lanes and two swimmers, so don’t think anyone will mind.) It was a mixed bag…

The good things:

• The pool heater is fixed, and the water temperature was pleasant.
• The horrifyingly nasty locker rooms have been demolished and are being replaced with shiny new ones, which means I’ll be able to take an actual shower after swimming when they fully open in few days.
• The walk home gave me time to listen to an entire hourlong podcast, which I had been missing more than I realized.
• My shoulder is 100 percent again, so I’ve decided to commit to doing around 30 minutes of whatever the actual workout is, rather than just dinking around.

The bad things:

• I slept poorly because I knew the alarm was going off at 4:55. (I’m sure that will pass, and anyway it’s moving to 5:05 tomorrow.)
• Swimming hurts SO MUCH. Not in an “injury” way, more in a “you’re 47 and have not swum in 10 months” way.
• Even walking hurt—in a “you aggravated your Achilles tendon a bit last week while running and it’s not going to let you off the hook just yet” way.

The best thing, really:

• I came home happy (though in pain, truly), and when Mik came home a bit later, it was that much easier to talk to him for having spent 45 minutes in his world.