I did NOT want to swim today. What can I say: for Spring it’s miserably cold, swimming is my weakest sport, and even though I’ve gotten used to waking up at 4AM to workout every morning, do you ever really get used to that?
This morning I woke up exhausted. I’ve been getting to bed a lot later than usual, and my 3 year old son, Benjamin, has picked up sleepwalking as a new hobby, which has my husband, Wil, and I on the edge of deep sleep all night as we half sleep and half wait to hear Ben go crashing down the stairs at 2 in the morning. So when my alarm went off at 4AM, the only thought in my head was, “I do NOT want to swim today.”
But, fortunately my legs are not quite capable of thought, so they got me out of bed and walked me to the bathroom where I get dressed every morning so as not to wake Wil up; no point in both of us getting up before even God himself does.
As I pulled on my Winter coat, I grumbled to myself about how cold it was outside, how long my walk was to the train station. I started to talk myself out of the whole thing: “Ali, give it up. Go back up to bed and sleep for another hour.” Then I thought about what Wil would say if he were awake, “C’mon, Al. You know you’ll be fine once you start swimming, and by the time you’re done you’ll be so much happier that you worked out. If you don’t go do your swim, you’ll just regret it later.” So, I continued on my way, half amazed and half annoyed that Wil has become such a strong support that he can coax me to do my workouts without even being in the room, or even conscious for that matter.
My commute was as miserable as I was; I sat on my train picturing a thought bubble over my head with a dark cloud in it hovering over me. When I finally got to the gym, I pulled out my resistance bands and trudged into the studio to do my 20 minutes worth before I had to get into the cold, wet pool. As much as I generally enjoy doing my resistance band workout, I just wasn’t in the mood today, especially when the only other person in the 20’x25’ room decided to set up her own little workout about 4 inches from me. Every time I did a side lunge I had to avoid stepping on her.
Finally, I couldn’t put it off any longer. I had to get in that damned pool. Of course, it was colder than normal. I think it was even wetter. In an effort to fix my mood a little, I thought about a Peter K trick; instead of swimming my entire mile, I told myself I only had to do a ¼ mile. Of course, by the time I finished that ¼ mile I thought, “OK, you’re warmed up and already wet. You might as well do the whole damned workout.”
During my swim, I was somewhat aware of my surroundings. The life guard was obviously there; I’m such a bad swimmer that when I enter the pool area I can almost feel his blood pressure rise, knowing that he very likely might have to jump in and save me. In the lane next to me is a much older woman. She’s a regular and we’ve spoken a few times. She’s 90 years old, and for the last 20 years has come to this very gym to swim twice a week. She mostly does the breast stroke with her head out of the water. She moves slow and steady, but whenever I see her I always hope that I’m still that active when I reach her age.
As my swim progresses, I realize that the world just isn’t going to end, and getting my entire workout in just isn’t as horrific an experience as I had made it out to be. I do swim a bit faster, though; I really just want it over with.
At last I get to my last lap, rip off my goggles and climb out of the pool. I walk to the end and stretch. While I do, the old lady in the lane next to me makes her way to the end. I smile at her and say “Good morning.” She smiles back and says, “I like it when you swim in the lane next to me. You motivate me.” Then she turned around and worked her way back up the pool. Who knew that a 90 year old woman swimming the world’s slowest breaststroke was powerful enough to conquer a bad mood in one sentence.
I left the pool and thought about that old woman. Here I was being impressed by her for swimming twice a week for the last twenty years, and at the same time she was motivated by me, a lousy swimmer with a bad attitude. Wow, did I enjoy my swim today.
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