John B. Kelly Swimming Pool

Last summer Heather made many trips to the public swimming pool next to Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park. It's an Olympic sized pool named after the a local hero of the rowing, and father to Grace Kelly, John B Kelly. Heather loved going last year, and talked about how she had half of this huge pool practically to herself to swim laps.

As a native Philadelphian who is used to the crowds of kids that normally fills these pools, I was skeptical. However, we pulled up to nearly empty pool on a beautiful sunny afternoon yesterday and for nearly 30 minutes we were the only two people swimming laps.

I've obviously been in a pool outside before but this is the first time I've gone to one specifically for a workout. It's great. Swimming indoors at L.A. Fitness compared to the outdoors in this gigantic pool is similar to running on a treadmill in your bathroom all winter and then running outside on trails come spring. The outdoor pool is also 50 meters and makes for a better workout because you hit the walls half as much and can't push off as often.

I swam somewhere between 800 and 1000 meters, mostly at a very easy pace because that is about all I can keep up for any length of time. Hopefully I can increase the distance and my speed as the summer goes on.