Thanks For The Motivation, You A$$

I swam 2400m today, but it almost didn't happen.  My left calf cramped at about 1850-1900m.  I stretched and figured that I would just stop at 2000m if the cramping continued.  Then some a$$hole jumped into my lane, and I changed my mind. 

 

Half of the pool is open- not divided into lanes; the other half has two lap lanes, one slow and one fast.  I always swim in the slow lane.  I accept that I am not a fast swimmer, and I make sure to stay in MY part of the pool.  I don't swim in the fast lane with the fast swimmers.  Now let me paint the picture- I have been swimming for nearly an hour at this point, and my body is getting tired.  Plus, this is my 4th consecutive day of swimming after not having been in the pool for months.  Again, getting tired.  None of this should matter though, as I am... you guessed it... in the slow lane- a lane specifically dedicated to those of us who are, uh, slow.  There was one guy swimming next to me in the fast lane and two people swimming in the non-divided section.  Then this jerk dives into my lane, channeling either Michael Phelps or Lenny Krayzelburg... I'm not sure which... in the SLOW freaking lane!  This guy is a really solid swimmer.  I give him that.  He has a fluid stroke and glides effortlessly through the water.  But the bum is swimming at twice my speed!  We were finally at the same end of the lane at the same time, and I asked him how he wanted to share the lane.  Typically, swimmers will swim either clockwise or counterclockwise.  This only works when swimmers are at the same level.  I suggested that we each take half the lane so that we can each comfortably swim at a reasonable pace.  NO he said, let's swim counterclockwise.  I told him that I would slow him down because I am much slower than he, but he was pretty insistent.  I understand that we all have to share the pool- I get it.  This was just silly though, and let's not forget that there is a fast lane, with a fast swimmer already in it, on the other side of the rope.  So then I made my decision...

 

While the old Nora would have made it to 2000m and hopped out of the lane, the new Nora did not.  I decided to swim the 2400m, and the pushy bastard who should not have been in my lane to begin with would just have to suck it up!  And this is what I did.  I swam and I swam... an extra ten laps.  I assume the guy finally figured out that I was not going to change my pace and he was not going to get the workout he wanted, and HE moved to the open side of the pool.  I finished my additional laps and left the pool with a little grin on my face. 

 

The moral of the story is that the glass can be half full, even if one initially views it as half empty.  I could have seen that I was holding up a superior swimmer and sacrificed my workout because my performance wasn't good enough.  Instead, I used this guy to push myself to get to the point I had wanted to be at from the beginning!  So thank you, you pushy a$$, for helping me get in my best swim of the week. 

 

Now for some eye candy... pics of Michael and Lenny.  Enjoy ladies!