on a grey advent saturday = supexcellent time for swimming. there was barely anybody in the pool, so i swam a happy mile. and kathi, the super-lifeguard, spoke to me personally!!!

_{she said: “it’s ok, you can go in. the lights go on automatically.” i was confused because the ladies’ showers were in darkness. she’s with-it, is our kathi.}17 months ago

1.4k today, making 50.9k in total! hoorah! really pleased we kept up a steady gentle swimming rhythm this year. especially as it meant that we did more outdoor swimming over the summer—being in the routine really helps. now i have 4 swims left on my card, which i hope to use up by the end of the year.

oh, and in joyous celebration of me achieving my goal, we went to the swimming pool caff, which reopened this year after years of disuse. it’s still a bit useless; the only thing we can eat there (= veggie) is chips, so we had two plates of chips with ketchup and mayo, and very celebratory they were. but i really need to do a mary whasserface of shops on the caff owners and tell them that swimmers would actually like big hearty soups (including veggie soups!) and wraps and couscous salads and yogi tea and delicious homemade cakes… really it was my secret goal to win the lottery and run the caff myself. oh well. 18 months ago

1.3k today, making 48.3k overall. so only one or two more swims and i’ll have made it :)

other stats: 82 runs so far, plus 21 visits to kieser. and a load of standing like a tree. cheery cheery cheer. 18 months ago

we just went swimming in the lake!!! on 2 october!!! we’ve had amazing weather this september—the summer came late but lovely. and today it’s 25 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. incredible. i’m so glad alb convinced me (i was trying to weasle my way out of it, afraid it would be too cold in the water) because it was just so beautiful. the trees are beginning to turn, there were lots of people out in pedal boots and some other swimmers too, and … now i really feel i’ve done something with the day. this is making the most of the summer squared. (total: 42.5k) 19 months ago

has reopened after invisible renovations, so did a relaxed 1.3k there yesterday (total: 40.3k). as alb said, it seemed very boring just swimming up and down after our early summer swims in the lovely Plötzensee. we haven’t been back there since the thwarted-attempt-to-steal-our-underwear episode, partly because that doubtless put us off a bit, but partly because the weather has just been crap. anyway, i’m glad to have the pool back open so that i can recommence my ongoing grump about the crapitude of the lifeguards. yesterday they started hosing down the sides of the pool half an hour before it was due to close. and where do the hosed-down toenails, hairs, plasters, etc. end up? in the pool of course. clearly the same would happen if nobody was actually in the pool at the time, they just make the delights of public swimming so obvious. 21 months ago

of cycling to our local lake, Plötzensee, and jumping in for a swim. there’s a man-made beach on one side, but that can get busy and costs money, so the anarchists among us jump over the fence on the other side and swim with the moorhens. today we had the added excitement of someone stealing the bag with our dry clothes in … but to cut a long story short he got stopped by a fast-thinking angler and a fellow swimmer + his dog with a hell of a sprint. the would-be thief must have had quite a shock. not as much of a shock as he might have got to open the bag to find it full of nothing but our stinky old clothes and towels. how was he to know that alb wears a “valuables” safe in his swimming trunks, harharhar?

anyway, i’m counting 1km per swim (we’re in the water for about 45 mins, but slow swimming), so am now at 39k for the year! 22 months ago

after a surprisingly productive day at the office (whole day, because goldsmithing was cancelled LITERALLY at the last minute, humph), got home to find we had a chunk of time before qi gong. so we downed a cup of tea and a slice of bread and headed eastwards. really busy today—courses in all the lanes, so the splashy swimmers were in the granny bit too. still, another 1.2k to chalk up. that’s 28.4k. only have 5 swims left on my card. it’s even looking feasible that i’ll use them up before the holiday :) 1 year ago

M rang this morning, and we made a snap decision to meet 30 mins later for a run in tiergarten. imagine! me a social runner! well, it didn’t quite go according to plan: M had had her breakfast v late, so conked out after 3k. but it was interesting for me to see that i really have no problem having a conversation while running. though admittedly at a much slower pace than i usually run at. i have to convince alb to run at my pace one day, so we can see how good i am then at keeping up the chat.

anyway, it happened to be the skoda velothon today: a 120km bike race through berlin and brandenburg. and the finishing straight was by the brandenburg gate—so exactly where we stopped running. we spent a while cheering the conquering heros and then took a turn through the merchandise mile in search of water. M spied a booth with a body composition analyzer: posh scales that measure body fat, water, black holes, etc. you wouldn’t get me near one of them with a bargepole in public normally. but strangely, after M had been on it, i changed my mind and had a go. _{i fear i only did it because i knew my values would be better than M’s. i am a Bad Person.} anyway, it was all very interesting. all my scores were just about in the ideal (read: “normal”) range, so i’m pretty damn pleased about that. interestingly, i was also 0.5kg lighter than this morning on our scales. whatever. even more interestingly, my left arm is fatter than my right arm. both have the same muscle mass. and i have less rump fatt than i would have thought: it’s all on my chubby knees. oh, the bane of chubby knees. at least both my legs are equally fat vs. muscly.

anyway, when i got home i thought, hmmm, that wasn’t really a run … so grabbed my swimming bag and cycled to the pool and did … 2k! not sure i’ve ever done 2k before. i won’t say anything about the lifeguards. they were crapper than ever. (27.2k) 2 years ago

by super-lifeguard. i keep having flashbacks of her sprinting along the poolside. went back today to see if she was there, but no. however, her colleague barbara was there. i’d forgotten all about white-haird barbara, haven’t seen her in ages. she’s an old-school lifeguard, does lifeguardy things like walking round the pool looking attentive and ruffling children’s hair. we swimmers are safe in barbara’s hands.

another 1.6k today = 25.2k this year. wahay, half way there! 2 years ago

i ever said about our lifeguards being too busy reading their newspapers and drinking coffee to notice anyone getting into problems in the pool. only this tuesday i was ranting on after qi gong, saying i was planning to stage a drowning in case anyone noticed.

well, today, super-lifeguard jumped in, shoes and all, to rescue one of the non-swimmers from the learn-to-swim class. i’m very impressed. i missed the details, because it all happened behind me (which may mean i just swam past a potential drowning without noticing. eek.). all i saw was super-lifeguard looking alarmed, then her and semi-super-lifeguard breaking into a sprint, and super-lifeguard taking a running leap into the pool. she evidently lifted the non-swimmer up from below and got her to the side pdq. i have no idea what got this lady into difficulties—she was in the shallow end, for goodness sake, and right by the side anyway. i can only imagine that she was playing around with one of the long noodle floats and somehow … no, i don’t know. but i suppose it gets dodgy very fast as soon as all the non-swimming members of the learn-to-swim class start trying to life-save each other. _{i should point out that the learn-to-swim class hadn’t actually started. the bloke who evidently runs that was either finishing his last class (of 5-year-olds, cute!) or having a ciggie break.}

actually, though, i don’t take back everything i ever said about the lifeguards being lazy slackers. super-lifeguard is the only one i’ve ever thought would ever manage anything useful. she’s the tidy athletic type, probably a lady’s lady, and today i learned she was a vegetarian (i like to listen into their conversations wherever possible). i don’t like to think what would have happened if either of the chubby ladies had been on duty. they are always far too busy chatting. or the bloke who seemed to be watching videos on his mobile last time. as it was, the third guard was eating his meatballs and chips in their little cabin when it happened. but maybe i’d be pleasantly surprised and impressed, who knows.

interestingly, i remember that when a lady had an asthma attack in sylvie’s pool they cleared the pool. today … everyone just went on swimming. alb didn’t even notice a thing, i had to tell him about it afterwards. maybe they have different levels of emergency. oh, and note that the lady who got rescued just carried on with her learn-to-swim lesson. that’s dedication for you. or maybe she’s just mad.

anyway, i am super-impressed by super-lifeguard and would like to give her a gold star.

1.6k today, making 23.6k total. yay. 2 years ago

1.5k (19.4k total). really busy and stressful to start with, but improved somewhat after 9pm. there were 2 young blokes i only saw swimming in the first 10 minutes i was there. the rest of the time they spent chatting in the deep end: blocking the end of the pool and blathering away for the best part of an hour. i wanted to ask them why they didn’t just go to a café or a bus stop if they wanted to stand around talking. bah!

i don’t know, but it seems counter-intuitive to have cheap swimming in the evening (8pm to 10.30pm), when the working population can actually make it to the pool. why don’t they have it on wednesday afternoons, when there are only ever about two old ladies there? still, either way, swimming really is an inexpensive option here: €4 full price by day, €2.50 in the early mornings/evenings. and no time limit on the full price ticket, so you could literally stay there all day if you wanted to. hooray for public swimming baths! 2 years ago