Wednesday, September 23, 2009

What have I been doing?

I have been taking swimming lessons this week. Tonight's lesson was good and I learned what I was already doing properly (hooray!) and practicing what I either needed to do better (breathing) or needed to learn (frog kick - what's that called? the one with the backstroke). And sleeping. I've been trying to sleep.

I've also been thinking of blog posts that wouldn't put you all to sleep. Let's see...(checking inventory) Yes, all the topics are just about me. Me and walking, me and goal setting, me and a bucket list I didn't know I had, me and competition, me and learning new things.

Is there anything going on in the world that doesn't involve me? Clearly not.

Also, I registered today for a fast, flat 5K through downtown Des Moines on Sunday morning. I'll miss church, but I realized on Monday that I really want to set a goal of running an entire 5k without walking. I decided to do it in the next 12 months. So this weekend, right? Set a goal and get on it. We'll see how it goes.

Funny thing about mottos. I said they usually come to me and they do. I usually have a moment like this...Ah ha! That happened today. I was reading something online from the golden days of radio and a quote from an old show struck me as funny, "Time is a minor drawback."

More later in the week on why that will be this weekend's motto even though it is just 5k and not a marathon. I'm sure you'll be breathless with anticipation, so I thought I would draw it out.

(insert clever seque of your own choosing, please) (I couldn't come up with one)

Oh, my swimming class: I am getting something extra from the class. There are only two of us who know how to swim. The other ones? They are really learning the basics and it is so exciting to see them get better in one class. This one woman, Lucy, is from Kenya. She is not afraid of the water and she seems a positive person. Tonight she swam the short length of the pool (from side to side) and I was so freaking excited!!! So was she and rightly so.

Another woman was there for the first class, but she didn't show up tonight. I hope she comes back. She really did learn something in the first class, but she fretted and repeatedly said "I can't" and it seemed to sum up the old thing teachers and coaches and parents will tell kids - that if you think you can't, you're probably right.

Three people in my class said of me to the teacher "She makes it look easy" and other related comments. Although tonight's class didn't hurt my ego, it did kick me in the upper back like an angry mule. Now that I am actually swimming the freestyle, I think I need to crawl into bed and whimper for a few hours. Nothing like deep, aching and lasting pain for staying humble.

2 comments:

Rambling Woods said...

I used to love to 'swim'...Not that I did it properly but we spend summers at a cabin with a pond and swam all day every day. It wasn't till I got to high school that I was told that I didn't know how to swim. Well damn.... I have always dislike PE teachers.....Michelle

Caron said...

In college I wrote a paper about PE and how much people hated it. I got an A. It was a good paper and people were very, very willing to tell me how horrible PE was for them. It is a shame because now I believe everyone has something active they can do and that's what really ought to be taught. Maybe it is now.