Does Glue Work on Hair??

I guess I was a bit premature in shaving off the 'ole winter beard (again) this spring. My exposed face does not like the brisk winds that are blowing around Northeast Ohio. If I thought it would work, I would collect the hair out of the wastebasket and glue it back onto my face; at least for the weekend. As I was finishing up a gentle 4 mile run tonite old man winter was making another apprearence, and cold wind and snow was blasting me directly in the face. All winter long I enjoy the cold and snow, until I shave that is.

As I have mentioned I have been slightly discouraged by my ability to adapt to the 50M lenghts @ the pool. Maybe I should not be so discouraged by my progress, because there may be other factors leading to my swimming induced depression.

DISCLAIMER: Experienced swimmers should only continue to read this blog entry if they are not sensitive to the stereotypes attributed to swimmers. The author of this blog is not as image conscious as he may seem based on the words that follow. He is only trying to get a laugh out of his readers that do not swim and release some frustration.


So, I'm at the pool for the first or second day after they increased the distance of the lengths, and needless to say, I was struggling a bit to adapt. Arriving at the same time as me and claiming the lane right next to me was an older man....say at least 65 or 70. He shows up with a giant collection of tools to swim with and laid them in a giant pile just above his lane. Above my lane was my water bottle. This guy had flippers, paddles, a pull bouy, a kickboard, food and water. Then the 'ole chap gets ready to dive in....

He is sporting his speedos (the kind that resemble underoos), goggles, and a swim cap and he is tan in May in Cleveland, Ohio. Months ago when I decided to try this swimming thing I wondered why anyone really needed goggles (maybe this helps to explain how strong of a swimmer I was this fall) so you can imagine how I feel about speedos.

I was in the water just before this guy, struggling with each length, when I watched him hop onto the little platform at the end of his lane and dive in. And off he went. His first couple of lenghts we were cruising along at about the same speed. Then he was warmed up. I was swimming freestyle and this guy was smoking me while using a pull bouy. Then, we would be wading at the edge of the pool and he would take off for another length while I struggled to catch my breath and wait for my heartrate to drop. There he goes while I have my hand on my neck checking my pulse and staring at my watch.

As if a senior citizen in speedos with a tan at the end of winter swimming circles around you isn't bad enough, the guy was loving the fact that we both knew how much of a stronger swimmer he was. At one point, I was hanging onto the side of the pool and the old guy finished his length, stopped, looked over at me to tell me he needed to take up golf because, "swimming was too hard, and if he was a golfer he could be drunk and happy like everyone else." We both knew that he was truly happy at that moment.

So, after the afformentioned events I was feeling not so hot about my swimming ability (maybe the 'ole bastard would be up for a foot race!!). But, an amazing thing happend yesterday during my workout. Things were going along as they have been, my heartrate was skyrocketing every 40M and I was taking way too long of breaks between each length. Then, a miracle occured. I had completed 800 slow ass meters and suddenly I was gliding through the water with nice smooth strokes and my heartrate was under control. I would swim a length, take a couple seconds, and swim another length. I felt like I could have swam forever. Once I reached my 1200M mark I wanted to keep going, because I was so estatic about how I felt, but I knew that I have to get in other workouts this week, so I stopped. Tomorrow I will be back at the pool and I cannot wait. I even hope that my "old" friend is there.