Tuesday Swim

This morning was what we will call a learning experience.  The pool at my local college does not open until 6 a.m., and work requires that I come in at 8.  I have a little flexibility with that, but I prefer to save it for occasions when something truly requires me to be late, and since I"m supposed to do this whole super early swim thing twice a week, I sort of just have to make the time work.  Anyways, that was a really long way of saying that I have to get ready for work in the locker room at the Aquatic Center.
So this morning was my first real, out of bed at 5:45 a.m. in the water by 6:15 experience.  I never did school sports growing up, so my acquaintance with locker rooms can be expressed mostly as passing.  I got into the (blessedly empty) locker room, chose a locker, and stripped down to my bathing suit.  It was about at this point that I realized I had neglected to bring a towel with me.  Not good.  However, thanks to a freebie a few months back, I carry a "Got Milk?" towel in my gym bag for occasions like wiping down the eliptical or drying my face during hot yoga.  Today, it was to be my only towel.
Next up, I put on my swim cap for the first time.  I can't decide if it makes me feel like a dork, or really intense.  Either way, my swim cap skills are obviously subpar, as I realized when I got back to the locker room that in addition to having no towel, the bottom half of my hair was wet.  So that part of it all was interesting.
Now the training is the important part, isn't it?  I did 7 laps, which I believe is roughly 300 meters, the length dictated by my training program.  I had to break in between each lap, but breathing felt MUCH better today.  This is definitely going to be a long road, and I understand now about the whole "swimming is the only one where technique really matters" thing.  I see a lot of practice and  lot of Youtube in my future.  Tonight:  The run.  Today is the first day where I am doing both.