3-Nov-99 Back in the Pool
I swam fourteen lengths yesterday and twenty-four today. Yesterday my arms were getting tired by the time I stopped, but today I was amazed at how much farther I went before they started to feel it. My time was 16:50 for the 24 lengths. My first target time is 20 minutes for 32 lengths, a pace of 1:15 per 2 lengths. At that pace I would have done the 24 lengths in 15 minutes. When (and if -- I never got to that stage last winter) I can do 32 in less than 20 minutes I'll go farther to get in a 20 minute aerobic workout.
The last time I went to Building 19 I ran into a man who's often in the locker room when I'm there. He told me they had changed it all around, but I wasn't really prepared. All the old orange lockers were gone, replaced with new teal ones. Locker #178 that I've used for years is no more! I'll get over it, but it will take a little extra attention to find my clothes for a few times. The layout is different. Instead of an aisle down the end of the rows of lockers, the aisle goes down the middle with rows of lockers off to the left and right. I guess it's good that there are fewer people to go past to get to the end lockers, but there seem to be fewer benches in between. Now I have to see how often I can get myself to go and swim.
I was the only bass at choir. Most of the time I can carry the part by myself, butÝthere were a couple of spots where I got lost. The up side is that I don't get my rhythm thrown off by other people who have the time wrong. I know I have to count for myself and not rely on anyone else. When you're the only person on a part you can stand out when you hit the wrong note, which I'm apt to do because I don't sight read really well; but it's worse not to come in at the right time because you're waiting for someone else on the part to be there, or to start to sing at the the right time and stop because nobody else on the part started when they should have.
Oh, I neglected to mention that we went to dinner at the Austin Grill in Cambridge with Charley and Anne on Saturday. It's a Tex-Mex type of place, known for margaritas. Arlene was the designated driver, and the other three of us had a margarita apiece. It took a little assurance from the parents to get Anne hers, because she had left her ID behind, but the waitress was convinced. We all ate too much, but the food, including dessert, was good. When we parked we said, “what's that bubble gum smell?” Then we looked across the street -- there was the Necco factory. Necco wafers? New England Confectionery Company? That explains it. I think I was the oldest person in the restaurant, though. Everyone except Arlene and me seemed to be a twenty- or thirty-something.
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