Sunday, November 16, 2008

Back in the Pool

I've been feeling achy and tired for a while now. My shoulders were bothering me and I just felt rundown.  When I was watching swimmers go back and forth in the pool for four hours yesterday, I finally realized the solution.

I HAD to get back in the pool.  Swimming fixes everything in my body. No amount of running or exercises can do what swimming can do for me.  So today, at 2 o'clock, I dug out my swim bag from under my bed, threw on a suit, and scurried out into the snow. 

There weren't many people there for open swim on a cold Sunday afternoon, so I had a lane all to myself.  I hopped in, and just swam. I really worked myself hard, largely because of the horror of how out of shape I was. I grabbed a kick-board and kept going, for the total of about an hour. I finished, got in the shower, and everything felt better.  My legs had that leadenness that I was so familiar to, my head felt a little light, my arms felt loose, and my shoulders, well, I felt them.  I feel so much better, it's incredible.  

I just thought about all the locker rooms I showered in, all the teams I've swam for, everything I liked about swimming.  Kenmont, Titans Swimming, AquaHoyas, Einstein. Now I'm done. I'm okay with that.  But I'm not done with the pool.  

I've still got a project meeting to go to, a teleprompter to run, and a football game to watch, but I can handle it. 

I've really got to do this more often.