Tuesday, October 19, 2010

I swim blind

It's true.  Can't see a thing really.  Only the big black + at the end of the pool.  And the flags which indicate it's time to roll or crash into the concrete.  I went to the Y this morning at 5:00am.  There in the lobby stood my fellow downtown YMCA swimmers, fully dressed to my surprise.  Something was wrong with the chlorine level.  I could see the life guard holding a vial,  shacking vigorously, waiting for some color to appear or not.  I asked the married couple that bobs aquatically up-and-down for an hour every morning what was up:  "Pools closed, somethin's wrong with the water".  Great.  This is always such a disappointment. I drove back home and lifted weights in the basement.  So, anyway blindness - when I swim I can't see much.  I wouldn't be surprised if my optometrist declared me legally blind in a swimming pool. I remember competing in college, approaching the blocks, wanting to dominate the race, ready to pounce...and then I'd have to take my glasses off and everything would go completely blurry.   I can tug slightly on the side of one eye (which is embarrassing in itself) and squeak out a slim degree of focus, but other than that I can't see.   It doesn't matter in the slightest. I feel completly comfortable in the water with no vision.  I can't see the tiles, or faces, or writing, or the clock.  Well...I have adapted somewhat to the clock.  I can pick out a red line in motion, and when it hits the top, I know I'm on the 60.  Why in the world am I writing this? I heard a story on NPR about a guy that bowled a perfect 'game' of bowling, or whatever it is you say when discussing bowling...and he is legally blind.  For him it's like looking into a flashlight...the pins are so blurred that they appear like glowing white objects and he just knocks them down.  I could relate.

Ran seven miles tonight with 20/20 vision, glasses on.

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