i join the y

We visited the Mississauga YMCA yesterday. It is amazing - huge, sparkling clean, loaded with stuff to do, and as spacious as any decent health club. I never belonged to a really high-end health club in New York City - which you've really got to see to believe, they're more like luxury resorts than gyms - this Y is easily as nice as any gym I've ever belonged to.

The main thing, for me, is the pool. I swam for years in New York, slowly working my way up from not being able to swim for 5 minutes, to swimming 40 continuous minutes, several times a week. This solved a major issue for me: how to get enough exercise without brutalizing my weak joints. However, I haven't been in the water in more than a year, and it'll take some time to work my way back to speed.

The Y also had a complete range of all the other exercise equipment and facilities, so there's plenty of variety if the pool is crowded or I'm bored. It's about 10 or 15 minutes from our place. Having gone through great inconvenience to swim in New York, the whole thing seems very easy. I join today.

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