Bye Bye Public Pool

So me and my swim buddy decided in November, that we wanted to freshen things up a bit. We have been at our pool for a while and yes there are things that suit us about it but there was also this longing for something to keep our interest. We are very honest with each other and also who doesn't like to watch the pennies, right?

So on looking around, we realised there are a couple of private clubs. One is literally in view from my house. How convenient THAT would be. BUT annoyingly, they only offer one deal and that deal is so much money and for the gym which honestly I'm unlikely to use.

Anyway, word of mouth brought to my attention a little private leisure club tucked away a mere 15mins walk from my house. I love finding things like that. Anyway I took a trip down there and for £7 a month extra than the public pool, I would get unlimited swimming, aqua aerobics classes and a jacuzzi steam room and sauna. We trialled it for free and the water in the pool was like silk! I didn't come out stinking of chlorine and although the pool was smaller, it was SO quiet. We realised that we would literally have the whole pool to ourselves in the mornings, which is such a brucie bonus, not having to worry about knocking into people. And the chats, oh my god we would literally have unlimited conversations without irritating anyone. HOW COOL!

So after some serious negotiating on my fitness buddy's side, we both signed up and started our new membership there. It was so worth it.

I write this in January, where we can't honestly say we are getting our money's worth at the moment, what with social lives, job changes, christmas and the like getting in the way but before that little break we were doing it, getting up and going for a swim and having a really good giggle. And swimming our hearts out too! My buddy is a damn good swimmer and pretty fast, she can easily overtake me, it makes me proud and I feel aspirational about it too!

She is also a total demon in the gym, when she told me how much time she was starting to spend down the gym and as I got into swimming more, I realised just how addictive it CAN get. I really never anticipated feeling like that about a leisure centre. I always found a reason to be elsewhere and thought that gym freaks were control freaks and had no life and where is the fun in that? But my great thing is that I am doing something enjoyable, something that makes me feel just a little less guilty about chocolate consumption and I'm sharing it with a friend who has actually become a really close friend. I knew as soon as I met her, that she was genuine, open and a lovely lovely person but the more time we spend together, the more we seem to get on and there's no way I could do this without her support. I am sure some people prefer to be alone when they work out but not me. If I can make it funny and enjoyable then I will. We have a good balance.

YAY for fitness buddies!