Serendipity: In Search of a Sustainable Exercise Routine
Underwater technology to play music and lectures drowns out the boredom of working out in a pool.
I’ve finally found a sustainable exercise routine. I was a late convert to swimming, mostly because of my hair and the chlorine thing. But I knew it was a great all-around exercise, so I jumped in.
It didn’t take much online research to find that swimmers have been trying to solve the problem of workout boredom for years.
“We used to sell a Speedo FM Radio,” said Steve Ruggles, owner of Montecito Sports. “People were crazy for them even though they didn’t work very well. They were just desperate to have something.”
Then came iPods, MP3s, WMAs and who knows what else, and soon swimmers wanted these to perform underwater. Entrepreneurs got busy making waterproof cases, waterproofing the devices and designing underwater technology with names such as SwimMan and Finis SwimP3.
After checking out the options online, I decided to try the SwimP3. The audio transmission technology involves conducting the music through the cheekbones. The advantage is that the speakers are held in snugly by goggles, without having to jam in earplugs. I have little ears for which earplugs never quite fit, so this is a plus.
Ruggles let me borrow his personal Finis SwimP3 for a swim test. “Your expectation shouldn’t be high,” he cautioned. “It has just two volume settings and could use more. It may not be loud enough to listen to a lecture.”
The next test was listening to lectures. After some frustrating techno-hours, my son wrote up precise instructions on converting AAC files to MP3 and finding the converted files on my computer.
Back at the swim club, the summer crowd of children was thinning; I could almost imagine a nip of fall in the morning breeze. I tiptoed to the pool’s edge, hoping no one would recognize me in my outlandish gear: my daughter’s old swim team jacket over a faded swimsuit, a wrist brace, swim cap, goggles and the SwimP3 clamped on like electronic ear muffs.
It worked reasonably well. The words were clear when I swam the breast stroke and back stroke; it was just OK with freestyle. I can’t keep the drift of the lecture while swimming the butterfly. If the lecturer has a soft voice or there’s much unamplified audience participation, I can’t keep the drift of the lecture.
Overall, the music and lectures definitely contribute to swimming’s sustainability as exercise for me. Although I have to listen to lectures twice to really understand it, that’s to be expected for multitasking. The Finis people suggested I wear earplugs for better sound control, but you know how I feel about earplugs.
Besides, if I have to add one more bit of gear, I might forget my bathing suit.
Karen Telleen-Lawton’s column is a mélange of observations supporting sustainability. Graze her writing and excerpts from Canyon Voices: the Nature of Rattlesnake Canyon at www.canyonvoices.com.
» wrote on 09/30/08 @ 11:18 AM
“I get it” even though it leaves me dry (yes pun intended).
Going out doing 30-40 miles on a bike, running 6-10 miles, etc. takes time. Seeing all the participants with earphones makes the point we don’t seem to be able to enjoy or appreciate the effort by itself. At the end of my 30 miles on the bike I have (a) appreciated the day and surroundings, (b) worked out a nagging issue, or (c) just existed and yes been bored. The point being society seems to have lost the ability to exist without distraction of technology.
We are just a bit less for reaching a point where recreational exercise has to have distraction when it is supposed to be part of a healthful distraction.
» wrote on 09/02/08 @ 11:46 AM
Thanks for the useful info Sis! Here’s a thought, if you forget your swimsuit as you fear you might, you won’t have to worry about noise from other swimmers! :)
» wrote on 08/25/08 @ 02:37 PM
I used to swim daily at the Tennis Club and like you, found the exercise wonderful, the boredom depressing. I didn’t last. The convenience was it’s strongest asset. I wish you’d lived here then,, Karen. We could have gone together and I would have kept it up.
We belong to La Cumbre now and I can swim any time I want, but again, I hate going alone and the drive back and forth by myself discourages me. The will is strong but the spirit is weak, and the flesh flabbier by the day. h.
» wrote on 08/23/08 @ 04:14 PM
interesting! thanks for the research!
» wrote on 08/23/08 @ 02:25 PM
Great information, thanks for all the research. Dara Torres, watch out. There just might be two more forty-plus (well, true, eh?) moms competing in London, now that the pool is more inviting. Bubble, bubble, breathe.