Mmmmm.....Lemonade

I'm well aware of the old adage, "when life gives you lemons...make lemonade." Today, I finally rose to the challenge... My hip has still been bothering me, so I decided to go swimming instead of running. This may seem like a common sense solution. It certainly has been recommended to me by everyone who I've talked about my hip problem with -- doctors and non-doctors alike. But I don't like to swim. It gets BORING. And, it's WET. Duh. But I don't like the transition of getting into the pool or worse -- stepping out of it.

Today took special motivation. I had plans to show up at the Sherman Oaks public pool at 6:30 to meet my friend Kelley. Thankfully she was up to this crazy idea and knowing she would be showing up was the only thing that convinced me to follow through with the plan. I set out my suit and accessories last night so that I could sleep in till the last possible moment, and I set out to meet her.

My car's thermometer read 47 degrees. Did I mention that the pool is an outdoor pool? I knew it was supposed to be heated. But then again, the city is broke, so I wasn't sure just how hot or comfortable it would be. At least it was cheap and easy to get to. It's literally down the street, maybe a mile away. And with a library card, it only cost $2.

When we arrived, every lane was taken. Some swim team took up all of the lanes in the deep end of the pool, and we ended up with the generic short end of the pool, wedged between two lanes that didn't actually have a divider. So basically we created a new lane and likely pissed off two other swimmers. Oops. The pool, however, was AWESOME to get into. Especially because we had to shower before we left the locker room, and then we stepped into the 47 degree air. The pool, a warm 81 degrees, was like a heated blanket and hot cocoa on an snowy day. Perfect.

So with that, we began to swim. It wasn't so bad. I had recently replaced my old goggles and the new ones were tinted to block out the sun's glare. They also fit better than my last pair and didn't leak. I quickly realized that I will need to obtain a swim cap if I intend to enter the water in the future...my bangs kept falling into my mouth whenever I turned my head to breathe. Inhaling wet hair...lovely.

Leave it to Kelley to make the workout challenging and fun though. She suggested that we do some drills....time one lap. Then recover on the return lap. Then try to beat our previous time. Then recover. It was just like a hill repeat. Only lateral. I felt like there was suddenly a purpose to my swimming.

One of the nice surprises about the pool was all of the accessories that were included: kick-boards, whatever-that-thing-you-put-between-your-legs-so-you-only-swim-with-your-arms-but-you-don't-kick-is-called, and even the aqua jogger belt!!! We attempted the aqua jogger in the 4 foot deep water, and made it across the pool a few times. It felt very awkward. Were we doing it right? We had no idea. But it got my heart rate up and it felt like I was doing something. And it was fun, because with our heads above the water, we could talk. Like actual running. That felt nice.

Finally, the swim team cleared out and we got to move into the deep end. It became nearly impossible to propel ourselves forward with the aqua belt on, but we did it anyway, and really pumped our arms. My later YouTube research has led me to believe that we don't actually need to go forward when we're running in the deep end, but alas, it wasn't a bad thing. We mixed it up, used the kick boards and that other between-the-legs-thing, and finished our 50 or so minutes.

It wasn't a continuous workout -- I stopped after most laps. But it was probably the most fun I've had working out in the water. And my hip didn't hurt once throughout the entire time. And even better, when we finished, I felt like I had worked hard, but could keep going. And even more amazing...I actually wanted to.

The most difficult part of the morning -- even more so than getting out of bed -- was getting out of the warm pool into the cool air. I won't lie. It sucked. Big time. But I survived, and I'm looking forward to doing it again. Lemonade, anyone?