Swimming

I have been religiously going to the pool nightly and walking the 25 meter lap across the pool continuously for an hour. I've even added some swimming laps so you would think that I'm getting in shape, right? More on that later...

A lot of the time I chat as I walk around the pool. I've made a lot of friends, most of them older, and usually someone I know is already walking when I arrive and will call out to me in English. We have a sort of "Walk and Talk" English class and I answer English questions or teach vocabulary as we walk. If I'm not chatting, I'm people watching and I must say, in an hour's time a lot of interesting people come in and out of the pool.

One man hums as he walks and I wonder if he notices his "music" bouncing off the walls and echoing around us. One lady is painfully anorexic. A little girl takes great joy in winning races that she has with some of the older men. A couple ladies just like to bounce by the poolside.

Most everyone who comes to the pool has their own walking workout. One lady walks like a crab up and down the pool. One man huffs and puffs and practically leaves a wake behind him. Some people kick their legs wide and in a circle as they walk. Some one else will keep their arms above their head or behind their back. I tend to try to touch my elbow to my knee in hopes of decreasing the natural tire that I wear.

And the swimsuits! I haven't been "swimming" for nearly 40 years and and barely know the difference between a one piece suit, a two-piece suit, and a bikini. Well, you know what I'm looking for if I ever buy a new swimsuit (natural tire, right?) I think I'm rather on the conservative side but in my little neighborhood pool there are people that look like they are garbed for professional scuba diving! Long sleeves and long leggings. Webbed finger gloves. High necks with zippers. Is this normal swimwear? (And most of the people never swim... just walk.)

Tetsu has lost about eight pounds already and is looking pretty good. I get to the pool more often than he does but have not lost a dang pound. This is especially frustrating since it means that I am no where near my weight loss goal nor the reward that I'm dangling in front of myself of a new swimsuit. Rats. The suit I've been wearing everyday for the past three months is already losing some of it stretch. (It was already 6 years old when I pulled it out of storage in September.)

I'm afraid I can't see myself wearing any of the above but at the rate I'm going I'm not going to get my reward anyway... Tetsu is ready to take pity on me and buy me a new swimsuit, flab and all. We could call it an award for effort.