Everyday

I try to swim most weekdays. I have a weak lower back, due to some old basketball injuries. It flares up with the slightest exertion, and swimming really has been making a huge difference. When I go regularly, I feel stronger, not only in my back, but in my whole body.  So, there's no doubt that its been good for me, and that I should continue.  

But here's my beef. 

This stinkin' swim cap! At first I didn't want to wear one.  But, being the proud owner of some of the finest (read: brittle) hair known to man, that breaks if I even look at it wrong, I knew I couldn't daily abuse it by exposing it to highly chlorinated water. So, the swim cap was a must. Even though I resented it from the day I first laid eyes on it. 

Now, almost every day I go to the pool and get changed into my swim suit. I waltz over to the change-room sinks where I start to psych myself up for the wrestling match that's about to ensue. I then wet my hair, put it in a loose pony tail and run the swim cap under water to help things go a little smoother.  

Then, its like WWE up in that change-room! Carli vs. The Swim Cap. (If I knew more about wresting, I'd better describe the sequence that unfolds...only thing coming to mind is something about a 'full nelson'??) Anyway, we trade moves for a few minutes, both emerging rather beat up. Every day is different. Everyday is unpredictable.

But regardless, every day, after a few minutes of struggle, and then a few more minutes of tucking straggler strands back under, I emerge victorious! I grab my towel and my goggles, grimace one last time as I catch my reflection in the mirror, and savor my victory strut all the way to the pool. I'm a winner. I'm a total winner.

But then, about halfway to the pool I realize, I am the one wearing the swim cap. So, who's the real winner here?

Sigh.

The swim cap. It always is.