Swimming at Sea

Today I tried out the “lap” pool on board. The pool is just over 11 meters long. To the ship’s credit, they do a good job creating the lap swim atmosphere. Lane line ropes are put in place to create two lap lanes. I figured five laps would be about 110 meters. Just after seven this morning I jumped in and wanted to see how many sets of five laps I could do before I felt like a shark swimming circles in an aquarium tank. Flip turns we’re not an option, the sun was rising as I swam and the pool lighting was bright enough to see the wall, but only when I was right on it. The water was a bit warmer than I would like for lap swimming. When I was in the pool on Sunday it felt colder. After I swam about six or seven sets of five laps I heard a roar and the pool jets started pumping cold water in. At a very strong force. It felt like swimming in open water, in fact it was rougher than the ocean swim I did on Monday. I kept at my laps until I found myself getting pushed into the ropes from the jets – several times. When I finished I calculated I swam about 1,400 meters. It was Nita’s long of a swim as I am used to doing, but I did feel like I had a good workout.

After eating breakfast in the dining room sitting by a window watching the water go by, we headed to the pool (where I am now!). This is a day at sea. I am enjoying so much on this vacatio and one of my favorite parts are the days at sea. When I am at port I want to be active and out and about seeing the sights. Having days where I can sit pool side, nap, read, and people watch gives me the opportunity to rest without the feeling I am missing something. I have such a busy daily routine when I am home, I sometimes don’t realize how much I am doing without down time. I usually get seven to eight hours of sleep, that should do it, right? Well, I a fortunate to have this time to kick back and have plenty relaxation time to “catch up”.

Since I have run the past three days logging in 18 miles so far, I plan on walking the track with my friend this evening before dinner. The food has been fabulous and I want to have some guilt free treats, so the three mile walk will help. The night life here has been fun too. A few shows, a few different bars for a cocktail or glass of wine, and of course a trip or two to the casino… Let’s just say I am a happy girl. Time to rest is a good time.