Triathlon Training: Swimming Outside

As a child, I loved swimming at the indoor pool whenever we visited my grandparents--swimming inside was such a novelty. The high dive was pretty cool, too.  I didn't start swimming inside on a regular basis until I got to college. Growing up in Northern California, all of the pools were outside, and friends and siblings swam and played water polo outdoors all winter long. In high school, I remember swimming in the rain in February and March on a semi-regular basis (unlike Virginia, thunderstorms are pretty rare in the Bay Area).

It isn't a surprise, then, that I much prefer swimming outside--there is a meditative quality about swimming outside, even when there are kids splashing and yelling nearby. Today was supposed to be a swim day, and after a house full of (very well behaved) kids, I needed to swim. I dragged my kids to the gym, only to find out the pool was closed (well, it wasn't, but it should have been). We came home, I called my husband and he graciously rescued me (and made a delicious dinner). I ran out the door, drove to the other pool, enjoyed being outside (and by myself) and looked up at a gray and brooding sky that looked something like this. I got 800 yards in before the pool closed due to thunder. You win some, you lose some. I'd still rather swim outside.




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