sweating it out in the water

I can honestly say today that I worked up a sweat in the pool. Can't say for certain that this is the first time but today was definitely a bit of a killer. Nothing special other than when we did our 50 meter repeats I was given a 10 second head start. The issue goes back to me being the slowest during our swims which I'm not worried about currently given that I resemble a manatee and my lovely swim partners are rocking some banging bodies. Typically they do a lap or 2 more than I do and we all start together but during the repeats they likely need a bit less rest than I do and you know that I'm not one to sit out while they keep going. To solve the problem I was given a 10 second head start while they kicked and then took off. Now it's not a race but there is no way that I can be bringing up the rear with a 10 second head start, buddha belly or not, so I was hauling ass each time. Very suddenly the pool wasn't nearly cool enough and these felt almost as terrible as a track workout. That said it felt good to get it done, even better to sweat a little. Suddenly no guilt over any amount of Santa cookies consumed later this evening. Swam for an hour today.