Splashdown! At last!

Today was the day—my first swim in my Endless Pool! It was FABULOUS! Everything I have been craving—weightless movement, oxygen, water—wow! It was all worth it. I feel like I’ve come home again. I’ve been a fish out of water for waaaaaaaay too long!

I thought I’d be able to swim this morning—Rick did, too and even stayed home from work to witness the blessed event, but the temp was only up to 81, and that was too cool for the first swim—I wanted to have nothing not to love. So I managed to wait till he got home this afternoon at 4:00 and it was a perfect 85. I got all nervous just beforehand. Honestly—I felt like I was getting ready for a first date with someone I had already decided to marry! While I was fairly sure I’d love it, there’s always the chance I wouldn’t…But it was kismet...obviously always meant to be. And I only waited 20 years!

It is astonishing how much better I already feel. I’m going to have to take it easy with my knee—though I can move much it better in the water, there are some motions that are a challenge at least till I strengthen it. Frog kick doesn’t feel very good, but that’s alright. Scissors kick is fine. Crawl and backstroke feel great all the way around. Backstroke has long been my favorite—I love how it stretches you and opens your chest. And how great is it that I don’t have to turn around? I can just swim and swim and swim!

Getting new equipment is fun. Amazingly, there is a swim store about a mile or less from here and I went yesterday and bought new swim mitts, new lycra caps, and I bought Rick and me each a swimmer’s snorkel. I wasn’t sure how I’d like it but it’s great. You don’t have to turn your head to breathe and it allows you to get a lot more oxygen as you can breathe continuously. I would usually swim a dozen strokes before breathing, so this is a new sensation. LOVE that oxygenation! And it will be better on my neck not to be turning it so much. We ordered some cool resistance equipment today. AquaLogix Bells and Fins. (Only in exercise is resistance desirable in Easy World!).

I promise not to talk swimming all the time, but this is a special occasion!

Anyway…Rick took pictures against my will, and I’m way too vain to show you what I looked like in my swim cap and goggles and definitely not in my swimsuit—I have really ballooned up in weight and I’m very self-conscious about it—but here I am trying my backstroke for the first time against the current. Hopefully, you can barely see me!

Now, if you want to see the pool with somebody cute, here is the photo I took of Peter Wackman, the factory-trained Endless Pool installer I mentioned a couple of entries back.

He was so wonderful and did such a great job and was so easy to have around, it was like having a friend here (a very hard-working friend). Though I’m glad the installation is over, it was kind of sad to see him leave yesterday when he was done giving us our orientation. Happily, he’ll be around if we need him and said he’d stop by sometime when he was in the neighborhood.

When he was leaving, we hugged goodbye and I was almost tearful—this has been an emotional experience for me in many ways. Somehow, it’s been more than just a swimming pool installation—it’s almost been like a prolonged graduation to a new phase of my life. And Peter was sort of like the facilitator, so it was a poignant moment. But it didn’t last long because the girls were coming over for dinner and #3 pulled up right as Peter was leaving and made it easy to change gears.

I could go on and on about all kinds of stuff, but I’ll leave it here for now. I need to go to bed at a reasonable hour—I will be swimming in the morning!