Endless Pools

A lot of people have been asking me, "Hey, I've been reading about your Endless Pool saga, and it's very entertaining. But whatever happened with your pool?" I've been swimming!—that's what happened with my pool.

Yes, it did finally get finished. For those of you who've been giving me heck, just imagine this: Ninety seconds after the notion hits me that I might like to swim, I'm stroking away.

But the Endless Pool is not exactly like swimming laps, it must be fair to state. It's closer to open water swimming than pool swimming, in a couple of ways. First, the water isn't entirely smooth. It's like swimming in an open water race. Second, it's easy to get off-line—out of the stream—especially in the beginning.

As to this second point, swimming in the Endless Pool reminds me of when I first started riding my bike on rollers. You don't realize how much you aren't used to going in a straight line until it becomes imperitive to do so. I must admit to a flaw in my stroke that causes me to go to one side or another, and a flaw like this is exploited in an Endless Pool to a greater degree than in a lap pool. This means—I hope—that I'm becoming a more economical swimmer, as I become more adept at holding a straight line in the pool.

The Endless Pool is different in other ways as well. Let's face it, unless you're in a master's swim program, you've got to break up the yards in increasingly innovative ways to lessen the tedium. The Endless Pool is no different, except you've got to think up entirely new ways. There is no "end" to the rep, or the set. You swim by time instead of by distance. In this way an interval set is more like a fartlek session while running—two minutes on, thirty seconds off, say—as opposed to swimming a given distance in a lap pool.

The nicest thing about the Endless Pool is simply the convenience of it. You swim when you want. No driving to the pool. No worrying about pool hours.

This is by no means the end of this series. I still have to build my deck, and I've got a lot of getting used to this pool still in front of me. I've got plans for home-grown innovations, things that Endless Pools hasn't implemented yet (I'm always the inventor). There is a lot more coming...

In closing this segment, there was and is an ulterior motive to this Endless Pools series. My intention, if things went well, was to learn everything I could about Endless Pools, including all the things that are peripheral to its use: the slab, the electrical, power consumption, the deck, and so forth. Having achieved a bit of expertise—maybe "experience" is a better word—there are things I can perhaps speak about on a one-on-one basis with prospective Endless Pool customers.

To that end, if you're an Endless Pool prospect, and you're so inclined, make your first contact to Endless Pools via this link, (it'll send you to Endless Pools' home page) and it'll generate a "code" that. Cut your best deal with Endless Pools. You'll pay the same price with or without the code. If you do, however, use the code you may then rely on me as a "second layer" of customer support. (Endless Pools' customer support is excellent, but it's mostly focused on the construction of the pool itself. The issues proximate to the pool's construction, and the use of the pool as a triathlete after it's constructed, are areas in which I'm likely to be of utility).

That special code, by the way, is 11202. If you recite this number to the Endless Pools representative while in the phone with them, that's just as good. Or if you email them, refer to that number.