Crappy workouts and awkward conversations.

Let's start with the swimming.

I got to the pool later than planned, and only had 20 minutes left of adult swim. I thought I might have to share a lane (a scary notion for someone trying to figure out the scissor kick without killing someone else) but as I was taking my flip flops off a woman finished up. Yay for small victories! Due to the time contraint, I didn't bother to warm up - I just got in and started banging out my sidestroke laps. Well, Mr. Splasheron was back, and once again, in the lane next to me. So I wound up facing the wall for all of my laps, which wound up actually being a good idea because it meant I was switching sides with every up and every down. This way I didn't get too dependent on one side, and I was able to keep some exhaustion out. I managed to do 650 yards in 20 minutes, which blows my mind. In just three days of swimming the improvement I've seen is unbelievable. Love the instant gratification!

Well the swimming was followed by one of the stranger conversations of my life. As I was wrapped in a towel and digging my stuff out of a locker to get my gym gear on, these two women start talking to me. It starts with asking about my tattoos, turns into a friendly conversation, and they're very nice women. One of them leaves, and the other goes on to have a conversation with me about triathlons. She recommends one in Bethel, Maine in August and explains the off road running and how that race has changed over the years.

Oh did I forget to mention? She was naked the entire time. COMPLETELY naked. Middle aged and naked. What do you do when a middle aged naked woman is talking to you? I mean if it was a guy, you'd be pulling out the rape whistle but it's a woman so you assume she's non-threatening. And she's talking NONSTOP so you can't even walk away to get dressed (and hopefully allow her to do the same), so you have to start getting dressed while she's talking to you. I have the "get dressed while still wearing a towel" thing down pat, so I wasn't concerned about that, but she's still naked. And still talking. Like seriously, what is the protocol here? Do you try to look her in the eye? Do you just focus on yourself? I pretended that I REALLY had to organize my swim bag so I could do everything possible to not look in her general direction. At all. That having been said, she was a very lovely woman. She was very helpful, friendly, and I'm not saying anything bad about her. And, if nothing else, she has a level of comfort with her body that I've never seen before. At this point, between the gym and the pool (6 to 7 days a week), I've gotten fairly used to seeing naked women on a daily basis. But that was definitely a new one.

Ok, so I recover from this. I go to the gym and run a mile, but NOTHING feels right. Everything feels awkward and my body just doesn't feel like it's working right, so I get on the bike. I do 8 miles in about 27 minutes, and made no effort to push myself. It was the first time in a while where I was working out just to get it done and not because I was enjoying it. It sucked. I didn't even attempt weights, and just showered and went home.

There's another story about how I forgot underwear this time and after showering at the gym I had to go commando to get home. But it's not nearly as disturbing as yesterday's braless incident, so eh. I think the naked woman wins for today's story. Although I WILL say that pumping gas while wearing yoga pants and going commando is REALLY freaking cold.

Tomorrow I want to do a longer swim session. I want to push myself time wise and try to push myself up to/past 1000 yards.