Since the hubby has Monday's off and the awesome new Natatorium is open to the public for lap swimming at 5:30 am, I thought I'd give an early morning swim a try. Fortunately, my Woodlands Fit friend, Jen, is already in the habit of going on Monday mornings so I'd have someone to swim with. (Isn't the Nat pretty??? That's a pic of it up top!)
Since I have quite a commute to work, it made more sense for me to get ready at the Nat, rather than drive home to get ready. Actually, I had a 8 am dentist appt in the Woodlands this week....because of this, I felt as if I was packing my entire bathroom in my bag - shampoo/conditioner, shower gel, flat brush, round brush, hair dryer, flat iron, make-up, not to mention clothes, shoes, etc. When I arrived at the Nat, I paid my $5 and headed to the dressing room. The 1st thing I noticed were all the gym bags on the benches....yeah, that would be because all the lockers were too narrow to squeeze the bag in and even too narrow for me to hang up my work clothes! My bag was a bit narrower, so I was able to smash it into a locker, lol. Barely.
I headed out to the pool and saw Jennifer arriving. I learned that the 50 m lanes were strictly for the Masters swimmers and high schoolers there for practice. That meant that Jen and I were restricted to the dive well. That was interesting. First, I noticed that the pool was much, much cooler than the outdoor pool I have been swimming in. In fact, it took me about 100 yds to really warm up. Second, the dive well is super deep - around 14 feet. It was a bit weird to look at a line so far down on the bottom! I started with a little warm up, then hammered out 300...a lot of freestyle, mixed in with a little sidestroke. Seriously, I really need to get this freestyle-thing down! Instead of stopping at 300, I kept going and did a set of 500. After a short rest and some chatting with Jen. I did another 500. (At least I think I did...I tend to lose count when I don't have my watch!) I took a short rest and then did another 100 before calling it a day. It felt great to get in my swim so early and really woke me up!
I don't know what to think about the whole experience of getting dressed for work at the Nat. The dressing rooms were definitely not designed with the working woman in mind, lol! There are mirrors with very small shelves underneath and outlets right outside the shower area, but the floor has puddles, so it's not exactly safe for blow drying! Not to mention that there are backpacks covering pretty much every inch of the benches. Fortunately, there are a few mirrors/shelves in a couple of the not so wet area as well. The shelves are pretty small though, unlike the big counters at the Memorial Park Tennis Center. It was quite a balancing act to put on make-up, dry hair and flat iron there. But, it worked. And I will more than likely be doing this again. And again. And again. The only downside to this? I don't get to see the kiddos in the morning. That kinda sucks!
Since I have quite a commute to work, it made more sense for me to get ready at the Nat, rather than drive home to get ready. Actually, I had a 8 am dentist appt in the Woodlands this week....because of this, I felt as if I was packing my entire bathroom in my bag - shampoo/conditioner, shower gel, flat brush, round brush, hair dryer, flat iron, make-up, not to mention clothes, shoes, etc. When I arrived at the Nat, I paid my $5 and headed to the dressing room. The 1st thing I noticed were all the gym bags on the benches....yeah, that would be because all the lockers were too narrow to squeeze the bag in and even too narrow for me to hang up my work clothes! My bag was a bit narrower, so I was able to smash it into a locker, lol. Barely.
I headed out to the pool and saw Jennifer arriving. I learned that the 50 m lanes were strictly for the Masters swimmers and high schoolers there for practice. That meant that Jen and I were restricted to the dive well. That was interesting. First, I noticed that the pool was much, much cooler than the outdoor pool I have been swimming in. In fact, it took me about 100 yds to really warm up. Second, the dive well is super deep - around 14 feet. It was a bit weird to look at a line so far down on the bottom! I started with a little warm up, then hammered out 300...a lot of freestyle, mixed in with a little sidestroke. Seriously, I really need to get this freestyle-thing down! Instead of stopping at 300, I kept going and did a set of 500. After a short rest and some chatting with Jen. I did another 500. (At least I think I did...I tend to lose count when I don't have my watch!) I took a short rest and then did another 100 before calling it a day. It felt great to get in my swim so early and really woke me up!
I don't know what to think about the whole experience of getting dressed for work at the Nat. The dressing rooms were definitely not designed with the working woman in mind, lol! There are mirrors with very small shelves underneath and outlets right outside the shower area, but the floor has puddles, so it's not exactly safe for blow drying! Not to mention that there are backpacks covering pretty much every inch of the benches. Fortunately, there are a few mirrors/shelves in a couple of the not so wet area as well. The shelves are pretty small though, unlike the big counters at the Memorial Park Tennis Center. It was quite a balancing act to put on make-up, dry hair and flat iron there. But, it worked. And I will more than likely be doing this again. And again. And again. The only downside to this? I don't get to see the kiddos in the morning. That kinda sucks!
1 comment:
Hey, I know that picture!! LOL!! This is were I swim!!! I just love it! I used to swim at Bear Branch b/c I like that it is outside and it is not very crowded during the day so the swim lane is empty, but then I started using that Nat and I am hooked!
Keep working hard, you are doing so well!!
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