Hey gang,
I'm being watchful of the weather (and a free-lance deadline)--so I'm hoping that I don't run into the same problem as I did about a week ago.
At that time, I had set out to do a pretty long workout (need the yards for my open water swim!). Unfortunately, the lifeguards chased us out of the pool b/c of hearing thunder. They told me that they'd wait a half hour, but that the clock would be reset if there was more thunder.
Won't even get started on why this should be the case, but more important for my purposes is to get a sense of what you do if your schedule is tight and the time you set up for swimming a specific workout is thrown out due to something like this (heck, you can substitute other events that close pools, if you want, as the t-storm is just one way such a thing can happen).
Do you wait until who knows how long and hope the pool will reopen? Do something dry-land that will at least use the swimming muscles? Bag it and decide it's not your day? (As it happened, it was last Friday and although I'm not superstitious, mostly, it seemed as if that day was full of things that went wrong. Won't go into all that.)
I want--no, NEED, to make sure I'm staying abreast of the training and I hate missing time for something like that--and probably just need to plan better to go early in the morning when there are fewer thunderstorms--but that said, stuff happens (even early in the morning), so I want to have a good back-up plan--or be all Zen about it and know that over the long haul, I'll be ready.
Thanks for any thoughts!
The workout that was interrupted was at an indoor pool--they close too in thunderstorms at least in my area.
I have only encountered that while at the beach. I have never been kicked out of an indoor pool due to weather otherwise. But then again, most of our lap pools are in high schools, so maybe the grounding is better?
The '04 Long Course Masters Nationals were held in Savannah, GA in an indoor pool. One heat of the 1500 was about half done when thunder was heard. The pool was cleared and as it happened swimming stopped for the day or at least a few hours. Those people in the heat had to swim the entire race over again.I was on deck getting ready for the next heat when they cleared the pool at Savannah. And I recall there had been heavy rains, gale force winds and lightning (with no sign of lightening) most of the afternoon as tropical storm Bonnie passed nearby. It wasn’t until the tornados touched down within 2 miles of the pool that they decided to call it a day.
ohkay mehbee eye kant spel
OP, just go do something else. sometimes there is just nothing you can do!
like walking in for morning workout at 5:30am and the chemicals have gone so wrong you cant see the bottom...go do something else or go to work early and try after.
pushups? situps? running (but not me)? weights? wait it out? hot tub?
I am not aware of any deaths attributed to lightening, nor is there a need to clear the pool. But it might be time to schedule a follow up visit with your obstetrician.
Not referring to you Steve, but the 2, I mean 3 others that spelled lighting wrong
So swimming outdoors is not OK when the sky has lightning, but it is OK when the sky is lightening.
City/County indoor pools are suppose to follow the same guidelines if there is a possibility of lightning/thunder. The best you can hope for is to wait it out, or change your day up and do dryland, weights, biking, or something else. My guess is that a gym with a pool would not know what the guidelines are for a lightning/thunder situation. Gyms seem to be lacking in this type of knowledge.
To truly be Zen about this you would flow, like water, and realize it was not your day for a long workout. Workout as long as you are able then continue on with your day.
Water flows around a mountain, not through a mountain.
