POLAR BEAR SWIM.

At least, that's what its starting to feel like at the new pool. Something has been wrong with the heater for over a week now, and that, along with a couple of other annoyances, has kept me out of the pool lately. I did manage to get in about a half a mile, and that's all the time I had anyway, and you could feel the cold most of the time. Seventy-five degrees. Sounds warm, but 75 is not that warm. Not when the air is 68 or cooler. I think it might have made me swim a little faster though.

Leaky goggles has been another problem. My other goggles weren't really that old, but I did wear them all summer, and with the amount of swimming I do and grandkids wearing them from time to time, the leaking was inevitable and starting to get to me. I decided to switch to my expensive, tinted pair, which really haven't been worn much, but they too have been leaking worse than the others. Maybe my head has shrunk. I don't know what it is, but leaky goggles drive me nuts! I went out on New Year's Day to find a pair, but everyplace I went, they were out of the type I prefer, so I ended up with a junior pair of the same thing. They are okay, but really little--they barely cover my eye socket. But they don't leak!

I need a new bathing suit too. Mine is getting so bagged out that every time I get in the pool or hot tub, the front balloons out like a bullfrog and fills up with water. Then it clings to me. I really don't care that much, but its the way it looks when I get out! Like poured on skin. Just what I want, to walk around in front of guys I work with, looking like that. I only like one brand, and those too are few and far between at this time of the year. When you ask for them at the sporting goods stores, they act like I want one to swim outside or something. Lap swimming is not a sport in most people's minds. And the cost for that scrap of lycra material is ridiculous. So I will be looking for a good sale, and hopefully soon!

I started thinking of my weekly schedule again, and am leaning now towards one or two spinning classes a week. It will mean cutting back on my swimming, but hopefully I can still work that in somewhere. I guess time will tell whether this is going to work or leave me too tired for weekend workouts. That is what I'm trying to avoid, since I really enjoyed the 5k yesterday and would like to be able to do more of those over the winter months, all in an effort to improve my race mentality and at the same time improve my time. Like I said, I firmly believe all my running in the next 5 months will determine my coming season.

So, I've signed up for spinning again tomorrow morning. That means getting EVERYTHING organized the night before so I'm not late getting there. I'd better get moving.