Back to Bed (I Wish)

Post Number: 15
Days of Tracking: 2/2
Goal Met: Two Laps in the pool at the Y

I adjusted upward my goal from getting to the Y three times this week to swimming two laps at the pool. When making the plans for scheduling, I wanted to pick one time slot that I could gain several advantages:

1. Go by myself to be able to focus on exercise
2. Be home about the time the kids were getting up to avoid complaints of not being able to go
3. Push my wake up time earlier in the morning. I am a morning person but three years of teaching night classes at ITT has adjusted my body clock to a later range of wakefulness.

I ended up picking Tuesday at 5:00 am - 7:30 am for the launch of this endeavor. My accursed body clock woke me at 4:40 am. And in my mind, the clock was ticking. I was curious to see if it really would take 2 hours as I  planned. I allowed for an additional 30 minutes in case I misjudged the process. And 7:30 am is family scripture study, so I worked backwards from there to pick 5 am. It helps that the Y opens at 5.

At 4:40 am this morning, I was off (my rocker) and running. I made it home at 6:30 am. That means my original guesstimate of 2 hours was good. This gives me solid hour to get things prepped for the start of the morning. Plus, I can get in my blog and mentally breathe a sigh of relief at getting this task (fun though it is) off off of my mental to do list.

So, you may be wondering how it went. Well, I learned a few minor details to help with next time. I had planned very well and it all came off well. As for the exercise itself, I was worried when I arrived to see three and four people to a lane. There was no way I would be able to share a lane without being a major road block. Fortunately, at the far end of the pool, there was an empty lane. It also helped that it was the shallow lane. So I jumped in with both feet. And took off. Wow! Has my form degraded. I used to be a good swimmer. My knees didn't stay locked. I was lifting my head too far out of the water. But I was exercising. I had hopes of being able to breast stroke all the way across the pool at least once. Nope. Had to slow down to finish the first crossing and all four crossings. I also had to pause to catch my breath at the end of each crossing.

Here is the primary aspect, though: I DID IT!

I am going to hold to two laps for awhile. I had a very difficult time climbing up the pool ladder to get out of the pool. I wasn't sure I'd have the strength to drive home. Fortunately, the car does 99.9% of the work of moving my bulk homeward. I was exceptional grateful that the parking slot at the Y on the drivers side of my car was empty. It made for an easy entrance to the car to be able to make a quick egress from the Y. I walked slowly into my house and am looking forward to sitting for as long as it take me to blog.

Now, if you are looking for a gung-ho exerciser, you'll find them at the Y at 5 in the morning. There was a veritable flood of people entering into the Y. I had to park quite a ways out into the parking lot. And there were people jogging into and across the parking lot enter the Y. None of these people will be my exercise partner. I am impressed by their commitment and physique, but I need someone that works more at my speed. I can't get enthused (at least not yet) about 5:30 am step aerobic to loud, deep bass beat music.

At this stage, it is onward and upward. And the next step is: DO IT AGAIN!

Yours in the simple successes,

Eliot

P.S.: Right now, I hurt. When does this start feeling good?