They're all laps to me...

I'm wondering if it's just me - there seems to be nothing harder than trying to explain how far you're swimming in a workout or a race (if you're swimming in a lake or ocean, it's pretty easy, "you swim until you get to the big, inflatable buoy, then you turn around and come back."). But in a pool, it's inevitable that the conversation will go like this:

"We're swimming 500 yards."
"How many laps is that?"
"Twenty laps. It's a 25-yard pool."
"So it's twenty lengths? Ten laps."
"Twenty laps!"

Yeah, so maybe it's just me. See, I grew up in a small town called Wapato in Washington. About 3000 people. And it had a 50 meter pool. Yes, a FIFTY METER pool. Don't ask me how, because I don't know, but it's still there - you can go to Wapato and check it out yourself, although the town can barely afford to open it up in the summer now.

Anyhoo, I grew up swimming in a 50 meter pool. When you said you were going to swim a lap, you swam from one end to the other and got out. That was a lap. I don't think I've ever said "I'm going to swim 10 lengths" in my entire life. It's 10 laps!

And now that I'm swimming regularly in a 25-yard pool? Yeah, they're still laps...I don't care what you say.

RACES FOR WEEK OF MARCH 16th TO MARCH 22nd

March 21st / Lucky Clover 10k and 5k / Springfield, OR

March 21st / Scot Trot 5k / Shoreline, WA

March 21st / Chuckanut Mountain 50k / Bellingham, WA

March 22nd / Mercer Island Rotary Half-Marathon, 10k and 5k / Mercer Island, WA

March 22nd / Big Climb - 69 flights up the Columbia Center / Seattle, WA

March 22nd / Vancouver Marine Park 5 mile / Vancouver, WA

Hey, if you need a sign, go see Bill!