**note: for some reason the links aren't working, so here they are:
Team in Training (TNT): www.teamintraining.org
Athletico: www.athletico.com
Bally's: www.ballyfitness.com
I have been solely swimming the past couple of days because I'm still broken. Going to get that figured out (hopefully) today. Apparently through TNT, I can go to Athletico. That is a huge huge huge blessing. I'm nervous, but glad to have a professional medical opinion. I have been swimming at Bally's because I got the two week guest pass. It is a good pool structure (minus the fact that there are no flags and the wall can be awkward to push off of-- but these are luxuries I will have to learn to live without as there are no flags above the lake, and there are certainly no walls to be pushing off of), but there are a LOT OF PEOPLE THERE. The entire gym seems to always be full of people and it mentally interferes with my workout. Yesterday I arrived and sat by the pool to wait for an open lane because I HATE sharing a lane with someone. I can't focus on swimming because I am too worried about hitting the other person when we go by each other. As I waited, people kept coming in and sharing with those who were already there. I realized that I was never going to get my own lane and if I wanted to achieve my target heart rate I had to bite the bullet and just do it. So I apologetically asked some poor unfortunate soul if I could share his lane and he shrugged and said yes. He was actually nice and asked which side I wanted. That is a nicer demeanor than I display when someone asks if they can share with me. I usually don't allow people to ask, as I just keep swimming if I see they're there. This is how it happens: as you approach the wall, you see their feet because they're sitting on the edge, waiting for you to pause so they can intrude. It is the proper thing to do to stop and politely invite them to share or at least inquire why their feet are there. Do I do this? No. I see the feet and do a particularly aggressive flip turn, secretly hoping to splash them with the cold water they are not yet used to and continue down the middle of the lane. Then when I return to that end of the pool, the brave ones are usually standing in the water by now. Again, I should stop and be socially ept, but I don't. I repeat the aggressive flip turn exhibited before, and then I move over to one side of the lane and continue swimming. I get irrationally irritated when people get in my lane and it can be good and bad. It really energizes me to swim faster, but at the same time, I get out really... angry. It is really quite childish. As I swam yesterday and there was bumping, kicking, 'high-fiving' (when you are passing the lane-sharer and you each have your arm out of the water at the same time and place and you hit hands-- it can hurt), running into the lane-line, running into the wall, and more physical contact than I ever want to have with strangers, I realized this: when the day of the triathlon comes around, there are going to be tons of people. I have heard horror stories of people getting beat up essentially at the beginning of the swim because so many people start out at the same time. So, I guess I can chalk crowded gym swimming up to preparation for the event. I could go on about my issues with other swimmers at the pool, but am acutally somewhat embarassed at the new insight any reader has gained into my overall immaturity..
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