Did my 500 meters today. I am slowly getting better, but it’s going to take a long time for me to get where I want to be in terms of endurance. A LONG time. I watched helplessly as most of the other swimmers in my lane did lap after lap after lap, without stopping at ALL, just doing their neat turns at the ends, and carrying on. Like sea mammals. Meanwhile I have to stop between each lap, catch breath for 30 seconds, start again. Oh well. I keep at it.
As I was relaxing afterward in the hot tub, they closed a lane for the swim club or whatever. A half dozen girls with trim, perfectly lean bodies, in smart swimsuits and caps. I watched one start her lap by attacking the water with a leap forward, like a horse out of the gates, then her arms and legs began working like a machine, and soon she had completed two laps in the time I would take me to do perhaps one. Intimidating, and inspiring.
For the past two days I have been talking myself out of buying this cute handbag from Coach. I think my efforts have been successful. This afternoon as I browsed around the web I noticed that Fossil and Coach have two similarly sized and shaped purses, with a price discrepancy of $150. This bag is $88. This one is $238. They have the same number of pockets, interior space, zipper closure, and would essentially function the same. Maybe the Coach bag is a little better for intangible quality reasons, but $150 better? Hmm.
But then you also have to consider that the price of a garment is usally dependent on where it was made and how much it cost to get someone to make it. I can say without much doubt that the Fossil bag was made in China, or a similar southeast Asian nation. But I think Coach bags are manufactured in Italy, a country where workers have things like “rights.” So you have to pay them more “money” to get them to make a purse by hand that can then be sold for 238 American dollars. The same can be said for even pricier handbags, which sell for $500, $900, and $1150. Made in Italy, bitches! By Italian supermodels!
(Um, that very ugly, gaudy Prada bag cost more than my wedding gown. Eyeroll.)
That said, I have a Fossil brand canvas shoulder bag which I love very much and is very well designed and sewn, and worth right around the $50 I paid for it. So, no more bags, Jane! Addict!
training
jane-
I think it is admirable that you want to get better at swimming, but why are you training every day? Your muscles need a rest in order to recover. Most runners don’t train everyday.
I must admit that since I have been cross-training (high intensity intervals on the bike and weights) my running endurance has increased greatly. I was able to run 9 miles in 90 minutes, whereas with just running alone that distance would have taken another full ten minutes! Plus when I’m done I’m not as fatigued. Especially if you can’t go fast enough during your swim to increase your lung capacity, you might want to do a day or two a week on the bike. Or some other aerobic activity. Believe me it will make you stronger in the pool.
Re: training
Thank you Shannon, I will try that. I did rest today, Wednesday, and last Sunday, so I think 4 or 5 days a week is ok.
I can’t wait to have endurance, I have lacked it since I was a kid in PE class trying to get around the track once without stopping. Maye just tiny lungs?