Monday, February 9, 2009

Two Dates and a Swim







Mai with her mall curls.












I had a feeling both kids needed some time alone with me yesterday so I made dates with both of them. Mai is an easy date ~ she's happy going anywhere - she just wants to be with me :o)
She requested a trip to the mall for window shopping. She requested she be allowed to wear a princess costume and wand and princess shoes (shoes which by the way are not good for mall walking). We headed to the bridal/prom shop first so she could admire all the beautiful princess dresses, then we headed to Claire's to browse among the jewelry. People would smile and tell her she looked so beautiful, which of course, made her day. Then a flat iron kiosk person grabbed us and asked if she wanted princess curls and of course, she did, and then as we were walking along even more people commented - they would tell their kids to look at the beautiful princess. Older people were giving her huge smiles. It TOTALLY made her day! We ended the date at Cinnabon and then it was on home for my date with Jack.

Jack and I arrived at the bowling alley to find it closed :-(
Next best thing on a Sunday evening, a big brownie and comic book browsing at Barnes and Noble. He was happy to not have li'l sis interrupting everything he said and to not have to share me with anyone else, and I think that was really all that mattered to him. He got a new star wars book and we made it out of there just as they locked up.

Got home, gave myself some nice heartburn with a very heavily onioned turkey burger sandwich and headed to the gym for a swim. I did the drills from Wednesday's workout:

Warm-up 5 mins
2x25s "swim" with board, followed by 1x50 easy freestyle, 3 times through.
1x200 pull with buoy.
9x50s, practice breathing every 3 or 4 strokes. Focus on rolling head with body to get the breath. Holding proper body position throughout. 1-3 easy, 4-6 add a little sauce, &7-9 fast. Max effort: 80%: 15 sec rest between each.
10x25s long glide freestyle. Easy; approx 6 strokes per breath.
Warm-down.
Total meters: 1200+

You know how people always tell people who are uncomfortable at the gym to not worry because no one is really looking at them and thinking things. Well, that's a lie...someone IS always watching. An older gentleman stopped me at one point in my swim and asked me why I was bothering to do a particular drill if I wasn't going to do it right. I started to get pissed, but he was right. I told him it was simply because I have a cold and I'm a big wuss and then started swimming again.

When I got out of the pool and headed to the sauna, he was in the spa and asked if I was coming in. No, I'm going into the sauna, says I. Why? Do you want to critique me or something ( kind of snide from me). No, he says, just comment.

Ok, I'll bite.

I sit down and dip my feet in and he proceeds to tell me that he's a swim coach and that I have great form and technique and that right now I'm better than 99% of the people I'll see in the gym pool on any given day. We got to talking further and I realize he's the guy who coached someone from spin class and also worked with my w/o partner, Tracy, one day last year. So, was he just talking the friendly talk to have someone to talk to in the spa, or was he for real?...I do not know, but it made me feel really good to have some positive feedback on my technique!

2 comments:

Visionquester said...

You're a good mommy.... and obviously a good swimmer too!
~C.

Jessica said...

Hey girl,

You are a good mommy and a great swimmer. Isn't funny how those people come into our lives?? You're thinking he is just some guy who wants to be over critical and it turns out he is a coach that can give you great feedback! Everything happens for a reason....you just took the time to find the reason. :)
Jess