Sportcount lap counter

I remember the short time I spent on an actual swimming team in junior high (the one I currently teach in as a matter of fact) I learned that we swim "length's" not "laps". Laps are for runners. Maybe that's why I switched to running... more common sense terminology. For Christmas I got a Sportcount lap counter which you can use for running, but I rarely workout on a track anymore. I bought the cheapest one they make so it only counts laps, which I have found to be hard to keep track of in the pool. You're swimming along and..."Oh man, what number was that?" So then I try to lie to myself and say it doesn't matter. But it DOES matter because I want to know how far I've gone. I still think in terms of milage too as a runner. I know the hip thing to do is think in terms of time spent running but I haven't gotten there yet. My friend Kurt says the even newer hipper thing is to keep track of "watts" or maybe "wattage" like a light bulb or something in terms of energy spent working out. I won't make fun of it yet because maybe I'll adopt this new way of thinking and speaking like a triathlete. Which reminds me. Kurt also sent me this funny video too, on that very subject.

So on with the workout. I am quite proud of myself for finding a cheap pool to use. I live right by Michigan State University and they have an uncharacteristically inexpensive deal for graduates to use their facilities. Maybe a last vestige of the "Land Grant University" philosophy. I got an alumni card a year ago and finally got around to using it this past week on Wednesday. My son noticed the lap counter sitting on a bookshelf in my study and asked what it was. I told him and he said (with the trademark adolescent dismissiveness) "When was the last time you've even gone swimming?" So I thought about it and realized it was this past summer during my last triathlon. Wow. Better get crackin'. The MSU pool was clean and uncrowded and I even read the diagrams for pool etiquette before I went. The one thing I noticed about using the lap/length counter while swimming is you actually have to remember to push the button while swimming so Hmmm. Should I have spent $200.00 bucks for the high end counter with the motion sensors that detect flip turns? Ummm no. I'm way too Dutch for that. $24.95 seemed unnecessarily expensive to me when I bought it. But I do have a fun toy to bring with me to work out with and I love pool workouts. Now maybe I need a swim towel and some of those cool shorty swim fins. And maybe an Ironman branded pool rubber ducky too.