East End Pool is back open for the summer! Sadly, opening it was delayed a week due to the 60’s temperatures during Memorial Day weekend. The maintenance staff needed to get the heated pool to a warmer temperature than 70 degrees and it wasn’t happening. But that’s in the past now.
Walking up to the East End entrance is always a pleasure!
Friday May 30th, I got up early (5:30 a.m.) and swam at East End Pool, doing 40 laps in just over 30 minutes. To be back in those waters felt so good as the sun came up over I-294. Then it was back home to clean up and be at school for parent-teacher conferences. Not having kids in the building energized me to swim like that.
East End looks great. The pool’s bottom got a fresh patch up and a coat of powder blue paint, the lap lanes were re-striped. All depth markers have been re-posted and the steps leading to the water got new striped paint as well. This year there are also some Emergency Exits posted with new gates set up on the perimeter just in case the whole crowd of swimmers needs to scram ASAP. The Elmhurst Park District does a fine job with landscaping around the facility and the guards are up in their chairs ready to monitor us pool goers.
Saturday May 31st The air temp barely got to 70 degrees but I still jumped in and knocked out a quick 44 laps along with some back floating and leg kicks in the water before leaving. Very few people braved the weather but I don’t want to waste a single day.
Sunday June 1st Still cooler air temps but I still jumped in to do my laps. Most of my fellow regulars (my summer family, if you will) were not on hand but I’ll catch up with them when the weather warms and we’re back as a group. I got in 50 laps and am starting to watch the time it takes to get my laps in. Today it only took me forty minutes which keeps me at a decent pace.
As luck would have it, air temps are expected to be in the high 80’s the next two days but I’ll be back in the classroom all week. Our required summer school session runs 5 days a week with the last day being June 30th. While I’d love to get in some water time after school, the only day that’s really feasible would be at the end of the week on Fridays.
But my limited time in the pool is O.K. in less than a month we’ll be on our break. Once on break, I plan to get my laps back up to 72 which is a mile and I’ll do all that in the morning, then do water walking and lounging in the sun in the afternoons. It’s not far away and I can wait it out doing weekend swim time until school is out.
Bottom line, it’s just good to be back in East End Pool!
NEXT BLOG- Remembering the first ever Summer blockbuster movie.