Those nice people

I've been slammed recently but I've been making daily progress in the pool 6 days a week! I've had some really uplifting interactions with fellow swimmers. I had a nice lifeguard tell me "you have a beautiful stroke, it was really fun watching you train". I can't remember a glowing review like that from simply practicing for an hour. I thanked her and asked for her name to I could say hello next time I was at the pool. In hindsight I wasn't even sure she was the lifeguard at first. She was probably in her 40's or 50's... Not that I think there is some sort of age range a lifeguard should be but I can't think of a single other situation where I've seen a lifeguard over the age of 30 or so. It made me wonder why that was the case. It seems like an ideal job for an adult to sit around a pool and either enjoy the people watching or soak up the sun. I imagine it has at least something to do with the pay scale.

This morning I was at another community pool and was training alongside some current and aspiring Triathletes. I (as they are) am always amazed at how FANTASTIC runners and bikers really can't swim at all. These guys are very obviously in great shape and somehow it just doesn't seem to translate. Don't get me wrong, it certainly goes the other way. I can barely finish a 5k run and I've never biked more than about 16 miles. I would venture to say that if you threw me in a land based race it wouldn't end well for me. Anyway, they had some nice things to say about my practice, that it was impressive to watch me swim, and that I had a nice long smooth stroke. Afterward I introduced myself and thanked them. They'll apparently be training in the pool through the winter so I'm sure I'll run into them again.

I've been feeling the benefits of training 6 days a week, I'm gonna stick with it!