swimming

I hate swimming. As I got dressed this morning it hit me: practice starts in 16 days. I almost went numb, and I had quite a bit of trouble getting my other leg into my pants. As I picked out a shirt, all I could think was, "It doesn't matter, swimming is coming for me". At least that's what it feels like. Sure, I could just not do swimming this year, that would be a whole lot easier. I would have free time with my friends, go on Christmas vacation, go snowboarding, play soccer, not have to balance all my homework around the normal 2 1/2 hours max. of free time at home that are common during swim season, but that's not me. Let me put the swim season into some other analogies to clear up the cloudy haze that must be floating through your mind.

1) Swimming is like being Jan Ulrich. Not only is his first name Jan, but he lost to Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France every time Lance raced in it. As soon as Lance retired, Jan was the unanimous favorite, but he tested positive for steroids and was never thought of again.

2) Swimming is like being a '90s to early '00s tigers' fan. Yes, while Robert Fick, Devi Cruz, Mike Maroth, and legends like Dean Palmer put on a show every night for 162 nights, they really only played for the 20 or so. But regardless, we still watched, and they still lost.

3) But perhaps the truest analogy is this: Swimming is like being a wounded gazelle in Africa. Imagine, every time you take a step you're sore somewhere, plus you know you're going to be eaten. Since death is imminent, you choose the way you would like to go. Give in, or run and run and hope you pass out before the lion brings you down. Then you see it, the lion, and she looks pissed.

You can finsih the rest, but as I wrote that it could relate every part to a day during swim season. You're sore all the time, and if you're not you aren't working hard enough. You go all day through school knowing practice is coming. You contemplate what the workout will be. Then you see Rich, and he eats you.

So why do I do it, because that's just what I do. Ask anyone else on the team and that's what they'll say. Frodo could have quit, causing his friends to be enslaved, his family killed, and life as he knew it endend, but he didn't. I could quit, but then again I'm not a pussyassedbitch. Word.