No ‘real’ workout today. Just training with Victoria at the Dojo. I did some falling and rolling around acting like a stunt man. I’m a little sore from that. After the dojo I was going to go to the gym and all of a sudden got lazy.
The pool has been filled with tons of people. Some that get in the lanes and just play around. The gym should do something about letting people know its not a social area its a fitness area. It sucks big time. But I see the trend. At the beginning of the year it happened because everyone was getting memberships. They say around March people stop going to the gym. So now they are really advertising membership specials and so new ’swimmers’ are getting their feet wet so-to-speak. I say ’swimmers’ in quotes because that’s what they’re not. Couples are playing with each other, splashing around as if this is going to lose them 15 pounds… All the while lane swimmers are waiting and shaking thier heads but are too nice to say anything.
The other night I got in a lane with four people - two couples. I sat at the wall just watching, rinsing my goggles in the water, and staring like, c’mon, let me do what I pay to do - exercise.
Three of them got out of the pool at the far end. An awkward place to get out since the stairs are where I was. One bold one, a female, swam toward me in her two piece beach attire. I did the universal motion giving her respect as a ’swimmer’ and said, “can we circle swim?’. She goes, “what?”. I make it simple, “Can I share the lane?” And with attitude, as if she was training hard and didn’t want to bothered and this is her lane type of reaction she shrugs her shoulder and says, “sure”.
Whatever! At least I got a lane, right?
So I do my one lap and she’s gone. Whew.
THEN… I’m coming back from my second lap and this dork of a guy from the same couple dives into the shallow end. His girlfriend gives chase and cut me off and I pull up, give them a stare, and go around.
I was about to kick some swimming ass. And my look told it all. HINT-HINT-HINT - get the hell out of the pool.
So they do.
And as soon as they get out of the pool and I see all the relief reactions from everyone else who are trying to train, the lanes go back to normal. I share mine with another swimmers and everyone is spaced out as normal.
Whew.
I told a trainer about this and said I should say something to them. I told him the gym should make it clear. He says he sees it all the time and says something to them. But since they know he’s a trainer they tend to clear out when he shows up. I don’t think its the members responsibility to tell people what they can and can’t do. I think its the staff. There’s a sign that says NO DIVING but people don’t care. If a staff member enforces it maybe it’ll sink in.
Friday I hope to do tons of laps.
