1 mile PR and Ehab

Despite my extremely LAZY day today, I made it to the gym for my swim. I had a great night. I swam 1 mile nonstop! I was quite excited. I swam it in 35:15. The best part was the man a couple lanes over who I could see was just watching me. I'd swim down and back and he'd still be hanging onto the wall watching me swim. Then he'd swim a lap down and back and watch me do a couple more laps and then try again. Repeat this for about 15 minutes. It was obvious he was watching. That made it all the more fun swimming a mile when I've got some man watching in awe. It definitely gave me more motivation to keep swimming and to swim a little faster. :) Gotta love that competitive spirit.

After I finished my mile he came over and introduced himself Ehab or something like that. He was very impressed that I could swim that far and he said he couldn't keep count of the laps I was swimming. He expressed his frustration at not being able to swim very far without being completely out of breath but that he could run 9 miles with no problem. And the fact that he said he was very competitive probably didn't help that he was being out swum by a girl. :) He was amazed that I could breath and that I swam so smoothly "like a professional." He asked how long I'd been swimming and when I said "would you believe me if I told you 2 weeks?" the look on his face cracked me up. Granted the time I spent on the swim team in elementary school helped me with my form.

I gave him a couple tips and he called me his first swimming coach and shook my hand. He said he hoped to see me again at the gym sometime. He seemed very gracious for the tips and actually swam a little better and was able to complete a few laps without being completely out of breath.

It's the little moments of camaraderie in sports that I love the most. Being able to impart a few tips to a fellow athlete always makes me feel like my education is paying off. Being able to help others always makes me feel good. The fact that he was amazed at my ability always helps you feel good too. I felt like I was kind of sharing my personal triumph and new PR of swimming a mile with him and receiving compliments on my swimming was enough to brighten my day!