Exercising

It’s taken a move to Utah to convince me that I’m not runner, never have been and never will be. I’ve been married to Terry for 7 years, and all this time I’ve been very envious of his running ability. I’ve bought the clothes, the jogging bra, the $$$ running shoes and I just end up bored, hurting and frustrated, even from walking. I hate walking. I hate running. I basically screw over myself saying, “This hurts. I hate this. I’m bored. I have a stitch in my side. I don’t think I can breathe anymore. Do I have asthma? My heart’s going to beat out of my chest. My ankle hurts. My knee hurts. My toe’s bothering me. Should I swing my arms? Are we there yet? Oh, good time to turn around. Oh no, I”m only halfway there.” And that’s just the quarter of the mile to the 7-11 to buy a Slurpee!

We had a pool in Florida. Except all I could do was swim with AJ or Grace on my back and I couldn’t do laps because someone could drown while I was inattentive. So I’d just sit on the california ledge and watch the kiddos swim.

Now we have a gym membership and someone else watches my kids for 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the evening (if I’m ambitious!) while I exercise. *GROAN* I have totally set myself up to hate exercise. So I usually bike for at least 30 minutes, preferably when Friends reruns are on. We don’t have cable or satellite at home, just a DVD player. So it’s a treat to watch TV and I don’t even notice I’m working for it! 🙂

Then I go to the pool. The water is perfectly temped at about 80 degrees. I can do laps for about 30 minutes, and I don’t feel in pain, I don’t feel disgruntled and in fact, I rather enjoy it. Swimming is second nature to me, having grown up in Florida. My muscles sing as my arms pull me through the water and my legs propel me. It’s excellent therapy for my poor knees and I find I can concentrate on my strokes and sometimes, my mind is freed to pray and work through problems in my life. The 1-2-3-4-5- count as I crawl is soothing to me and oddly liberating. I emerge from the water victorious. I have no idea how many laps I have done, but I know that not only is my body stronger, but also my mind and spirit are renewed.

Unless, of course, people gradually leave the pool leaving me alone with my imagination. As soon as the last person exits, a great white shark seems to appear in the 5′ deep end of the pool waiting for me. Then I get out and stew in the hot tub.