I smell like chlorine again

Swimming feels new again, as if I didn't swim three times each week for several months this summer. Phil and I met at the pool tonight, thinking it would be our last swim until December. Our pool is being closed for maintenance and we all thought we'd just take the month off. We discovered that the other city pool will be taking on the lap swim for November only, so it looks like we can keep swimming.

Last week, when I ended up not swimming, I had a workout and a plan. This week my only plan was just to swim a few sets of 400 yards. Boring, so I changed it a bit once I was in the water. I did a 200 yard warm-up with half of it kicking only, then a 400 yard set of comfortable pace. After a 30 second break I swam a 500 yard set at race pace. My last length was at level 8 or 9, or as I called it, a Phil sprint. He was going the same direction at the same time and I just swam as hard as I could to keep up. I repeated that set once more, including the sprint. By then I was tired, but feeling energetic at the same time. I did a 200 yard cool-down, decreasing from race pace to about level 3, and called it a night with 1800 yards. I felt really good when I finished and was incredibly glad that I had hauled myself out of my house, despite wanting to just sit inside and knit.

As it gets darker earlier I find it harder and harder to do anything except work and hibernate. For the past six or seven years I've had Pam to meet up with after work for running; no excuse worked to keep me home. In a couple of weeks I'll be on my own and will have to find some way to run by myself. Since it'll be dark in the morning and evening, I'm not sure what I'll do. I'm very uncomfortable running on my own, even on the streets and trails that are so familiar to me. I know it's safe but there's that little teeny part of me that is paranoid. I'm so very not looking forward to running all winter on my treadmill!

For this week, at least, I'm running and swimming. I'll take next week as it comes!