Pool Frustration

Grr…I’ve never had this much trouble trying to get in my swim workout.  Normally I swim Wednesday/Friday/Sunday.  This week I’m out in Seattle for work related stuff so I’ve converted to running/biking around Redmond and on the Burke Gilman trail, and swimming at a variety of pools depending on my time and location.

I was hoping to get some open water swimming in along the shore of Lake Sammamish, but I couldn’t convince any of the usual suspects to go out with me.  So I was relegated to pools.  Yesterday, I left at 6:15AM and planned to swim, drive and shower before an 8AM meeting.  It should have taken me 30 minutes to drive, and then that would leave me an hour to swim/shower.  I got hosed by traffic and didn’t get to the pool until 7:40AM.  No worries, I’ll just simply shift my swim to the afternoon and do it back to back (like usual) with my 8-mile run.  I went for a rockin’ hilly run, and then headed to a slightly different pool – with plenty of time.  Except this pool was FILLED with kids.  Like 8 kids per lane flapping about.  There was no way I was going to get in laps before my 8PM dinner meeting.

Double-crap.  I ask about what time they open in the morning and she says 5:45 and it’s just lap/free after that until closing.  Ok, I can work with this – I’ll shift my swim to Thursday morning and then just brick my Run/Bike Thursday afternoon (which was originally planned anyway’s).  I get up at 6AM this time, and didn’t have a  meeting until 8:30AM.  It takes me 75 minutes to get to the pool (WTF? It should have taken 30-35) – but I had allowed for that.  I still had nearly 60 minutes to swim/shower and drive a short distance.

As I approach the pool I notice how quiet it is – as in nobody is there.  Oh, but there was someone there – a lifeguard.  Except she then informs me that the pool doesn’t open again for lap swim until 8:30AM.  Double WTF?  Why on earth is the pool open (but closed for swimming) from 7:30AM until 8:30AM?  It’s a community pool at what is otherwise a peak workout time – the sole purpose of this building is the pool.  There is nothing else but pool.  It’s a puddle of water under a roof dedicated to swimming. A lifeguard is just sitting there doing nothing for an hour while nobody can do anything.  I fail to understand – I want to pay them to swim – pay enough to probably just about cover a fair majority of the hourly cost of the lifeguard as she sits there anyway’s. Seriously Redmond – it’s not that difficult.

Ok…I almost feel better now.  Except I’m still short a swim workout this week.

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