One thing in the arm long list of cool things that my Coach does is invite her clients to work out with her during her personal workouts. It was on one of these butt-kickings that I was introduced to this pool. I have liked it better on every level than the gym pool ever since. I have always attributed this to the fact that it was outside.
Today I ended up swimming in a lane next to a woman that I have seen swimming at the LVAC Pool before. The couple times I have seen her, she has put some serious time in the pool. I was about 30 minutes in and had a 30 second break between sets when I asked her why I like this pool better than the one at LVAC. She laid it out for me perfectly. Here is what she said with my extrapolation on her points:
1. Salt water. The HMCC Pool is salt water making it easier to stay in good form, high in the water, due to the additional buoyancy that salt water gives you. The water also has a better "feel" (I don't know that it makes sense, but the water feels cleaner against my skin -JE). I never thought about the quality of the water making a difference, but with water being 600 times more dense than air, it totally makes sense.
2. Deeper, larger pool. The LVAC pool is 2 lanes and 4 feet deep on a permanent short course setup (25 meters). On top of this, you usually share a lane with someone else. As a result, there is a ton of wash and you never get "clean" water, making it more difficult for your body to move through the water efficiently. A larger, deeper pool means more time before energy in the pool is brought back to you and more space for it to dissipate. Hence cleaner water to move through making you faster.
3. Chlorine levels. At HMCC the chlorine is there, but you don't really notice it as the levels are well monitored. LVAC has the approach of creating a bio-hazard free zone. The chlorine levels are so high that I literally have a headache after about 20 minutes. My swimsuits fade in color over about a 2 month period of swimming 2-3 times a week and I can still smell the chlorine on my skin after 2-3 showers. (Disclaimer - I am a Sommelier. The bummer is chlorine is not a smell that I normally find in wine, so I cannot even get a professional benefit from this experience).
4. Outdoors. Yes, it just makes a difference for your soul. While fluorescent lighting is a normal part of our existence; the prison feel and musty quality of the atmosphere around the indoor pool are a little depressing.
To be fair to LVAC, there are definitely a couple of advantages for them:
1. Open 24 hours. Living in Las Vegas, there are a couple of hard realities: 1) There are slot machines in the grocery store, 2) This is a 3-shift town and as a result, you need to be able to find places where you can get your exercise on at 2:00am. HMCC runs normal business hours.
2. Child care. For the triathlete trying to get their training in while balancing family life, this is always a huge plus. Last time I checked, society was down on the concept of me locking my daughter in the car for a couple hours while I swim. The child care at LVAC has a lot of activities and play equipment. Lulu enjoys herself there which makes me feel better about my selfish need to swim. Daddy just makes sure that we get in an adventure together either before or after (or both).
It never gets dull looking at the world through my child's eyes.
0:57:21 / 2400m
 |
| The Shizzle |
No comments:
Post a Comment