Going Postal

Nori already blogged about the Postal Swim that we participated in two weeks ago. She wrote about her goals, past year's results and various other relavant details. She swam nearly 4000 yards, I swam 2100. My average time for 50 yards was 1:30, hers was around :47. Eleven graciously timed me.

Thank You Nori
She also wrote about our training session last Sunday. I had mentioned casually that I needed some help and she asked me "when?" So we made plans. She had some doubts about her ability to help me out. Her doubts were clearly unfounded. If I had an athletic ego, it would be crushed by the swim results, but I don't, and can look at them and chuckle.

Its fascinating to read about how other people approach challenges like this. I have never been a serious athlete, so the training culture is alien to me. I spent most of the hour of the Postal Swim imagining that I was Mythic Jaguar Shark (oooh!) from The Life Aquatic. At first I was going to be Barbara Manatee, but the woman next to me must have weighed 300 pounds, so in my private zoo, she became the manatee. (nb, she swam a tidy 3200 yards, so guess who stopped laughing after it was obvious who was going to get her ass kicked, after about, um, 30 seconds into it?) Having an entire hour without having to do anything except swim was quite a luxury. I didn't have to talk to anyone, answer any questions, pick up the phone, drive anywhere or do anything except stay afloat. And it was free. I let my imagination slip entirely into itself, like it was a large, 80 degree, olympic-sized swimming pool.