The Swim

It was a cold, dark morning...... I stepped into the dark quiet street, the buzz of a streetlamp the only sound, its flickering the only light guiding my way. I checked for signs of life on the street as I quickly crossed to the car - no movement, not even a leaf sliding across the cold gray stone. As I placed my bags in the back, a cold trickle of dew dripped onto the back of my neck from the raised hatchback.....I knew it was going to be a long day. Not even the cats had gotten up to see me off.....

I took off into the lonely predawn darkness. No cars on the road at 4:45am to delay my path to the highway, and few on the highway itself. It was too dark to read a map. Thank goodness, I thought, for the companionable voice of the gps system to guide me on my way.

As I turned up the dark, quiet windy road which was said to be the final trail to the center, a few cars came into view, one with a bike rack on the roof. This must be the place, I thought. I parked and hesitatingly wandered towards the brightly lit doors, just behind two other hesitatingly wandering women, who seemed just as lost, tired and confused as me. A man walked in behind us, recognized us as initiates and pointed the way...

I had made it to the swim. We, ~12 women and 1 man, sat in the (thankfully) warm, humid air of the poolhall and looked out among the dozens of swimmers occupying all of the dozen or so lanes in the pool. It was crowded, impressively so. The swimmers were divided by pace and ability, from "learning to swim" novice in the first lane, to the 12th or so lane occupied by elite triathletes training for a shot at joining the Olympic team. I, for one, felt humbled, and, not quite so odd for getting up so early.

I wasn't horrible. Spending last year at the Y, swimming twice or so a week had paid off. Last year, it took me a month to become comfortable enough to get my face in the water. The month before that all I had swum was the backstroke and breaststroke, since those are the two easiest strokes to keep your face out of the water. After a swim class, I was comfortable enough to do the freestyle on my own without the unfounded fear of drowning that I had had. Throughout the year I worked on my stroke and breathing out through my nose under water. While not proficient by any means, and not having swum in the past 10 months, it was enough to get me to the pool this Thursday morning and know I would be able to conquer any fears and move forward.

The hour passed quickly. I had made it through the swim. From now on, every Tuesday and Thursday morning at the unwakeful hour of 0530, I will be one of the comatose dipping into the pool to start the day.....