One Thing Leads to Another

Went down to the Mobile Blood Bank for its three monthly visit to get rid of some excess blood. Ran into the our local Swimming Pool Manager who was also there. He has been taking some swimming club kids into Raymond Terrace to train a couple of evenings each week. Raymond Terrace has a heated pool. As he had a spare seat he encouraged me to join them because he uses the opportunity to hop in and do a few laps.

And so along I went the next evening to see how it would go. The place was very popular with lots of people and their children in the indoor pool and quite a few coming and going in the outdoor pool as well as the local squad training.

We stood around for the first hour making the kids go through their paces i.e. about 2-3 KM of various styles. Then we joined them to do 20 laps or one Kilometre. The difference between swimming in a 25 metre pool and a 50 metre pool is huge. It is a long way to the other end.

We cheated though by using Fins (flippers). They make a huge difference not only in speed but in the amount of energy used. Which begs the question as to why bother since the entire reason for being there is to burn up fat and build muscle.

On this occasion we had differing reasons. he is carrying an injury i.e. torn muscle. and I didn't want to overdo the exercise after just giving blood.

But still we did something and it looks as if I'll make it a regular twice weekly event to keep fit over Winter. Jean goes to Zumba on one of those nights but she might join us for the other. Although getting back late in the evening is difficult if we both do it as animals need feeding and meals need prepping. We'll see.

But back to giving blood for a moment. There was a conversation going on in the Blood Truck about who gives blood. In our area it is mostly just us old regulars and very few young members of the community. While in Newcastle there is a high proportion of young people and some busting to do so and really getting excited when they become eligible at 16. The good news for us oldies is they have extended the age limit to 81 which gives me a few more years.