Deep thinking

I am not a fan of swimming pools.  At least the ones in which I must submerge myself up to 3 times a week in order to get my swimming workout done.  I slack off, often managing only one swim a week.  Or none.  It's really easy to let it go, knowing the longest race I am signed up for is a 1-mile swim in July, as a part of my Olympic triathlon at Lake Chelan.  Once it warms up, I'll be happy to hit the lake multiple times a week with groups of fun, wetsuit-clad friends in order to swim swim swim swim.  But for now, the pool makes me nuts.   There's usually not an open lane, so I have to pick who to share with, and inevitably, once I get in, they start breaststroking or backstroking, making it impossible for me to relax and just swim, as I have to try to avoid their frog-kicks or crooked swims.  I've had some collisions, not only with people in my lane, but my fist has met the face of people in the lane next to me, as I was swimming close to the rope in order to avoid the overkicker in my lane.  Or there's some person who thinks it wise to share my lane, but not swim...instead, do crazy antics, walking, stretching, sideways stuff......always making me have to focus on them instead of me.  I like to get in the hot tub either before or after (or both)...however, there are often old men perched in there, just waiting for a "chat" with a lady....or groups of bikini-laden teenage girls...with whom I don't want to compare myself but cannot help it.  I feel like a teenager, but I look like a woman in her 40s, as much as I hate to admit it.  Then there's the sauna....I love the sauna, it is my secret spa getaway at the gym.  I condition my hair, go in and lay back, close my eyes, and imagine that the heat is from the sun in some tropical climate....soon I'll get up and dip into the ocean to cool myself off....head to the beach bar for a Mai Tai.....ahhhh.  Lately, there's this woman who comes into the sauna and BRUSHES HER HAIR.  Not just a quick brushing....but ON and ON and ON and ON.  Something you may not know about me is that I am noise-sensitive.  I hate little noises...crinkling plastic, chewing, tapping, but the one thing that makes me physically ill is the sound of someone brushing their hair!!!!  The other day I had to get up and leave, as my nerves were shot from the sound!  And earlier this week, after a swim, I was just about to go into the sauna when I saw through the door that SHE was in there BRUSHING HER HAIR.  So I had to skip the sauna and settle for a sub-par shower (the gym just put on some sort of water-saving devices and I hate them). I want to waste water once in a while, particularly at the gym. 

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, deep thinking.  Swimmers do sets, special workouts designed to make them faster and more efficient in the pool. Yeah, I do those, but when I am having a rough time in my life (way too often!) I just go swim until I can't stand swimming any more.  And while I swim, I think.  I can dissect a thought and anazlyze it up and down, inside and out.  That is the one thing I like about swimming, the ability of my mind to focus on something.  And often, if there is a problem to be solved, I come out of the pool with a solution.  It is probably the only reason I can stand getting in the pool at this time of year, when the almost-warm-enough lakes are beckoning...but the cold weather keeps me away until we get some actual heat.  I can think on the bike and the run, but not the level of deep thinking that I can do in the pool.  I guess I don't have to sight, don't have to look for bumps, rocks, cars, slower runners, puddles, routes....I can just swim and think, swim and think.