Hello again, my friends!

I hope you all are healthy and well, and making it through this time as best you can. I miss you.

Has it really been almost 2 months that we have been living in our new reality? If you feel like our family, the time has simultaneously flown and crawled by, and each day, we wonder when our “new normal” life will shift closer to what we have known. And we wonder what is coming.

I don’t know how others are feeling, but this has given me a lot of time to think and to consider some things I’ve wanted to change.

As I think about all of those who are struggling and suffering right now, I feel overwhelmed by the need to help, and have been reaching out as much as possible. If you, or someone you know, needs a helping hand right now, whether a grocery delivery or a friendly voice on the other end of the phone, or any number of other things, please do not hesitate to ask. We have a house full of healthy folks, and, well, I’m not coaching so I’ve got time to spare.

As hard as all of this is, I’ve been finding myself enjoying the slower rhythm, and listening to my body more. I’m getting more sleep, and doing more for my family because I’m not as tired. I’m baking bread, because I am a stereotype, and cooking dinner more, and reading a ton. My husband has noted that I’m actually taking care of myself!

This is where the biggest change at Swimcrest is to come.

When we resume, I will no longer be teaching or coaching sessions before 8:30 in the morning.

For 8 years, I have started between 7 and 7:30 and by the afternoon, I have ended up so exhausted and grouchy that I have needed to nap. Almost EVERY DAY! (Number of naps since the stay-at-home order started? Two. And I have more energy than I have had in years!)

I have never been a morning person. Seriously NOT a morning person. Unless I am on vacation, when the alarm goes off, I sometimes feel almost on the verge of tears, looking at that time on the clock and thinking it’s just not physically possible for me to get up.

But I do, and I sit at the kitchen table and try to rouse myself, and clear my blurry eyes.

Then, I come and see you lovely humans, and that helps, but I feel the tiredness in my whole body. (Those of you who are morning people may not understand this, but you know that feeling you get when you are forced to stay up too late and you feel as if your eyes can’t stay open, your body feels like lead, and you HAVE to go to bed? It’s like that, except opposite.)

My husband has been asking me to start later for ages as he sees the toll the earlier sessions have taken on my body and on my mood, and for the sake of my family, it is important that I make this change.

I’ve resisted because I know that early times work for people. 5 days a week, I’ve fought my biological instincts and done what I thought I should do. But as I get closer and closer to 50, A LOT CLOSER, I’ve decided it’s time to listen to my body.

For some of you, I know this will complicate things, so let’s talk about it. Let’s figure out what might work for your schedule.

Everything is so different for all of us right now, and it seems that if I am going to make this change, this is the time to do it.

As I have mentioned before, there will be some other changes coming. A bit more time between sessions, so that people can enter/exit and dress without overlapping, and new requirements for caps and showering, etc. I will go over those again when we are closer to opening.

In the meantime, please reach out regarding your schedule and what will work for you when we are no longer under a Stay-at-Home advisory.

Like you, I am waiting for the all clear from the Governor so opening is dependent upon when we are permitted to move about freely. And I will be following whatever directions are given for gyms and athletic facilities.

Thank you for understanding and being patient.

I hope you are finding ways to move your bodies, to release the stress, to binge watch whatever strikes your fancy, and to take care of yourselves. Again, I miss you.

Love,
Sydne