Pool's Closed, Day 2

Last night I was at the Chai Wan pool again, making it the second day in a row. There were fewer people and this time I was with a couple of friends. If I failed to mention it before, the pool area is conveniently located at the side of a freaking mountain accessible only by foot, so long before you dive into the pool, you're already borderline fainting from exhaustion because of the climb. This is probably one of the few pools where people get cramps before they even get wet.

I personally didn't think I'd make it to the pool. My body was still aching from last night's session where I was able to squeeze out 6 laps in an hour (yeah yeah, I suck). Those six laps included doing barrel rolls and other dodging techniques because of the crowded lanes. Speaking of crowded, I'm still unsure whether the pool is heated or the pool water is just warm because of the people inside. So yeah, my body already felt like it had lead ballasts around it, but I've always heard that the quickest way to remove muscle pain brought by exercise is to follow through with more exercise.

Call me slow, but I only lately learned that the governing principle behind that belief is that if you exercise more when you're dead tired, you're bound to die. Dead people don't get muscle pain.

I also tried the diving pool last night. A diving pool, so you know, is a pool that's usually smaller than other pools but much deeper. A diving board or two is in place and you get to practice there the fine fine art of entering the water with as little accompanying pain as possible.

See, apparently, water is only fluid when you're already in the water. Water has this property we call "being a jerk" which allows it to harden like cement when it sees you hurtling toward it at very fast speeds generously sponsored by gravity.

To be honest, I don't really know jack shit about platform diving, or just plain diving for that matter. Half the time I can't even enter the water properly while jumping off the side of a normal pool. Last night was my first time doing an actual platform dive.

I actually thought it'd be easy, but in the end I got scared of jumping and then hitting the plan on my way down, I forgot to realign myself properly so that you "pierce" the water with your feet or arms and not fall flat on the water surface like how they do it in the cartoons.

Apparently, I have a natural affinity for things cartoonish. My chest hit the water first. If you want to know how it feels, have three guys punch you in the left and right side of yoru chests and then your abdomen simultanously, then have yourself thrown in deep water. Shit just knocks the wind out of you, I swear.

If you're going to ask me whether or not I'll be doing that thing again, I probably will.

But maybe it'll have to wait until I can move other muscles in my body that's not involved in typing out this article.