Day Fourteen

For an unknown reason, my knee started hurting in the night.  Deep, unignorable pain like I'd had when it was injured.  I wrapped it and moved to the couch and eventually went to sleep, but when I woke up, it was kind of late.  I decided to put off going to the gym until after the children went to school, as I had a half day off.

My thinking was that, by then, the swimmers would have gone home to go on with their days.  I guess I think everyone works nine to five.

But when I got to the pool, a man was in each of the three lanes.  The man in the closest lane was swimming to the end close to where I was hanging up my towel.  I asked if I could walk beside him.  The lanes have two sides, and it is possible for two people to swim past each other in each lane.  Usually, swimmers do not have to share, but sometimes all the lanes are occupied.  What is a problem for me that is not a problem for the swimmers is that I really do not want to get my head wet.  It isn't vanity--it's my concern about what I see go on in that pool and my ease at getting sick.  So, I shared the lane with this polite swimmer who had agreed.  Each time he passed me, I got splashed. Sometimes this is like a wall of water to the side or back of the head, but it really can't be helped.  Swimmers cannot totally keep from splashing.  I accept this as part of sharing a lane with a swimmer.  I am not so philosophical about getting splashed by swimmers in lanes farther away, but that's another story.

I soon noticed that the men in the other two lanes were not really swimming.  The guy in the second lane seemed to be practicing standing erect to the best effect of his muscular upper torso.  He stood there and flexed more than he did anything.  I am not sure what the guy in the third lane was doing, other than being there.  He moved little and seemed to just be enjoying the water.  (Which, the water in the Jacuzzi is a nicer temperature for that, hint.)  I started to feel less happy about sharing a lane with a swimmer, as these guys did not really seem to be needing to take up the other two lanes for their activities.  Nevertheless, I continued to self-talk that, while cramped on one side of the lane, I was at least able to get some exercise, and that was good for me.  Usually, these situations resolve themselves in a few minutes by somebody getting out.  Personally, I was planning to be there an hour.

Though it was approaching mid-morning, the gym was busy.  The Jacuzzi held up to seven other people at a time.  One of these was a woman who was fully dressed in a gray sweater over a red top and black pants, sitting with her feet in the Jacuzzi.  She stayed there almost the whole hour I exercised.  I wondered about her choices, but I wasn't privy to the reasons, so whatever toasts her marshmallows.  I did notice when she finally left that having her feet in hot water for the better part of an hour had resulted in sweat stains in the armpits of her nice outfit.  But whatever.

The man in the second lane--the flexer--finally got out and moved to the Jacuzzi, from whence he stared at me most of the rest of the time.  I walked back to the shallow end and (laboriously) hopped over the divider to take his lane.  As I began walking, I realized that a different man had taken the lane from the other end of the pool.  I excused myself and went back to sharing lane one. 

A different man than last time I was there came out of the sauna and snorted snot onto the floor of the shower by the pool, then got into the pool.  He sat on the stairs, forcing me to pass closely by him as he rested there.  A few laps later (mine), he got out and went back into the sauna.  But, the second time he came out of the sauna--just like the guy last time--he put his sweaty self right back into the pool without showering.  I involuntarily shuddered and kept up the self-talk.  I was burning calories, and that is what matters.

The man in the far lane finally got out, and I rejoiced.  As soon as I finished my walk back to the shallow end. . .Hey!  The sweaty man shot across the pool to take that lane, even though he had been observing me walking and dodging splashes for a long time.  He floated on his back to the end of the lane, and then just kind of stayed there.  I started contemplating the selfishness I was observing.  Was it related to male privilege?  Was it because I'm old enough to be invisible?  Because I'm short?  I have no idea.

At exactly halfway through my hour, that man finally left, and I hauled myself across the two dividers to the far lane and started walking in peace.  I realized that, from there, the activities of people in the Jacuzzi and shower bothered me less.  Maybe I should always make the effort to walk in the far lane.  For a while, I had relative peace in my workout.

The man in aisle two cleared out, and a woman took his lane.  I continued to walk in lane three.

Nine minutes before I was to finish, however, a different woman came and plopped herself down at the end of my lane.  At the same time, the original swimmer I'd shared with got out.  I called to the woman and pointed, to tell her that lane one was free.  She ignored me.  I said it again, with a smile.  She pointed down into the water in my lane.  She was apparently just taking it from me.  Incredulous, I started to haul myself back over the dividers, but an old woman with a walker, who may have been the lane-stealer's mother from the way she was indicating to me she couldn't be in lane one because of an imminent new arrival, was now in the first lane, along with bulky weights that resulted in her taking up part of both sides.  I spent the last nine minutes walking around that woman while the lane-stealer enjoyed my lane.  Apparently, she had taken it just to do jumping jacks in it.  I felt utterly defeated.

I got out at the hour and went home to get ready for work.  My husband made me some fried eggs and listened to my woes.  I guess I will have to go to the pool in the middle of the night in order to avoid people.  I have done that before.  It's hard.  The janitors spend an hour or two cleaning out the locker rooms adjacent to the pool, and their equipment is loud.  I've also seen them spraying whatever is on the floor above pool into the pool.  The water looks clean when I get in, but it does give one pause.

I brought lentil soup and an apple to work.  I feel depleted.  I am still determined not to eat sugar, though. 

I felt woozy today, every time I stood up.  I had a handful of potato chips that were sitting out.  No sugar, still, but I probably did not need those.  

Tuna salad and corn on the cob for dinner.  Hoping tomorrow is a better day.