Tooting Lido at 6:45am ready for the next group of swimmers, this was my lane today.
This morning I went swimming. I was thinking on the way home about when it first became important to me. Being up at 5:30am to arrive at the pool in time for the 6am session reminded me of student days and early morning swimming, cycling and cleaning in the big Tesco before Art college in the late 1980s. My friend Marc would call for me and we would cycle into town to work. The feeling of accomplishment at having ‘done a days work’ before 9am was satisfying. Although I remember getting very tired and cranky and needing to go to bed the same time as when I was 9.
On Monday, the beginning of this week I arrived at 6:58am to a sorry we are closed sign. I never got the email but due to a technical fault the lido was closed. So, desperate for a swim I googled pools nearby and went to the leisure centre for a swim inside in warm water. It really was not the same and seeming smaller, I found it hard to find the right lane. It’s a bit like driving on the motorway in my car. It isn’t a sports car but it’s not a wreck either but often I try and drive it too fast and going up hills it just doesn’t cope as well as my tailgaters.
So which lane did I settle into on Monday. The slow lane because I wasn’t fast enough for the fast lane and was too quick for the medium lane. The slow lane was much wider and less populated so with some amiable overtaking here and there I found my place.
Today I felt less keen on broaching the cold lido water, although 20C today (I’ve swam in 11) I felt reticent, probably because the sun wasn’t shining so brightly and I felt tired already. So much of my life is about intention, which helps me navigate the parts I have less control over, so I swam. I started in the first lane then moved into the second as they increase incrementally in speed; made it into the third then after being overtaken a few times went back to the second, probably classed as the slow lane again, but it’s fine. I’m no olympian and I swim as a form of meditation as well as exercise. When I swam at the lake last year the power swimmers never noticed the huge fish in a small school near the waters edge, or the baby birds swimming with their mother. It feels quite sentimental to be making cute references to nature but since we brought our puppy home I’ve fallen in love with slowness and nature all over again. I notice things more. I suspect Mila is teaching me more about myself than I am training her. I am more patient, less irritable, I don’t need to talk so much although of course I am finding my inner puppy again which is essential for providing the fun and engagement she needs.
So all in all today is a good day and it’s only 8:50am. If you haven’t tried swimming outdoors, or ever had a dog, I’d thoroughly recommend, as well as writing and painting and all the other things I do to keep me sane.
Thanks to Elly from Writer’s Hour with The London Writer’s Salon this morning for taking an interest in my blog idea; an incentive to beat my speed record in writing!
Now it’s time for coffee :)