running requires:
- running shoes
- socks
- shorts - with some sort of spandex underneath to minimize chaffage (pretty sure i didn't spell that correctly)
- a t-shirt (preferably one that wicks)
- garmin computer
- heart rate monitor
- sun glasses
biking requires:
- biking shoes
- socks
- cycling shorts
- jersey
- garmin computer
- heart rate monitor
- sun glasses
- helmet
- food
- water bottles
- and a working bike
and these are just when it's warm out. lets not forget all the extras we need when it's cold or snowy outside. but swimming is simple - all you need is a suit and goggles - ok, a pull buoy, kick board, and maybe some paddles (if you're gered) too. oh yeah, also you need a FRICKIN BODY OF WATER.
emily and i travel a lot, and bringing my bike, and all that entails has forced us to rent a car for pretty much every trip. a little pricey... but reasonable. the more sizeable pain in the patootie is trying to find an open pool, and maybe a few people to swim with. fortunately, most of our visits are either short or they're to familiar places - so finding a pool is usually doable. i wish gered the best of luck come july when he has to find a pool somewhere in vermont (and hopefully a master's team that will teach him how to do flip-turns) where he can get in his swims. (did you know there is a master's swim team in vermont called "the middlebury muffintops?" i thought that was funny enough to be worth mentioning, but i digress.)
in anycase, finding a pool on trips can be difficult, but it's usually not a problem. but what happens when the pool you swim at every week closes for a week? get a back-up pool, right? ok, we've got that - and it's only $5 a visit. (brookline community pool - very cheap!) but what about when your back-up pool closes too? get a back-up for you back-up i suppose - i don't know i've never had to ask that question before. in the past i'd just take that as a sign that God didn't want me to swim that day without even looking for a back-up pool. but now i have a coach, and a gered (with whom i have an ongoing competition to see who can train more and harder) which keep me motivated to avoid missing workouts whenever possible. yesterday we went to brookline pool - our back-up. but what about this weekend? both BC's pool and brookline pool are closed. i haven't done the research yet, but i'm betting that since it's memorial day weekend, they're all closed.
last resort - move around the workouts... or... go swim in a pond. pond's in may are cold (depending on how big they are they'll range from 50 to 65 degrees), but we both have wetsuits. in fact, gered is really excited to try out his newly purchased toy. so much so that he has decided to risk life and limb swimming in the creepiest (yet pretty) pond/lake in all of vermont this weekend. sorry gered, i'm not interested in swimming through milfoil infested waters that look like the home of nessie. i am open to swimming in a pond in the area though. it'd be nice if there were group open water swims like there are group rides. eventually i'll find someone around here to help me figure out where and when to swim outside, and then that can be my back-up to my back-up swim venue. if you swim outside somewhere on a regular basis, let us know when you're going - we'd love to join you!