06.09.09
swim swim swim
When it started getting hot, I quit running.
When I quit running, I felt like a bum.
Then my friend Shannon invited me to her daughter’s pool party!
I wasn’t planning on swimming, but I wore my swim suit anyways. At this pool, which happens to be 2 minutes from my house, there are two lap lanes for adults only, which is really nice. When the lap lanes were empty, I decided to swim a few laps. I think I swam 6 and felt like I was gonna die.
But I wasn’t hot, I wasn’t sweaty, there were children happily playing in the background, and I suddenly decided that I liked swimming!
So I have been back to the pool several times to swim in the lap lanes, and I really enjoy it! And, just like running, I started to improve really quickly. Today I swam laps for 30 minutes straight (way more than 6 laps), then rested for 30 minutes, and then swam for 20 more minutes!
You can’t do that when you are running. You just have to keep going or you will be stuck in some random neighborhood 2 miles from home gasping for breath.
That was what always got me when I was running. I would think, “Well, I’m doing okay now, but if I run another mile away from home, that is ANOTHER mile I have to run BACK to home,” so I would turn around sooner than I really should have because I didn’t like the idea of there being no escape.
But with swimming, I am able to push myself “just one more lap” but then I finish that lap, and I think, “just one more,” and then again, and again, etc… I like that there is the opportunity for escape. It is easier to push myself that way.
So hooray for swimming! I will relish it while I am in College Station this summer, and will miss it terribly once the pools close and the running recommences.
PS: I wish more stores that are cheaper than Academy sold athletic one-piece swimsuits. The end.
11.15.08
who, me?
I ran 3 miles this morning.
Those of you who know me and my love (read: hatred) for physical activity are clicking the refresh button, and thinking to yourself, this can’t be right! I have a hard time believing it too! Yes! Three miles!! I (me!) ran (yes, ran) them all (in a row!) without stopping!
About a month ago I could run a quarter of a mile (maybe). Jessica told me that she could train me up to 3 miles in 2 weeks, and I laughed at her. I made fun of her, I discredited her, and now I am singing her praises!
No – she didn’t give me steroids. No – she didn’t act like Ben Stiller in Heavy Weights. No – she didn’t bribe me with pumpkin spice lattes.
How did she do it, you ask?
She helped me pick out legit running shoes. (The ones pictured above, actually.) Once I was financially invested in running, it meant a little bit more. Also, my feet have been thanking me.
She ran with me and told me that a) I was running too fast, and b) I was not running heel to toe. That helped a lot. She told me to first increase distance and endurance, and later increase speed.
She encouraged me to run through the pain, to run through burning lungs, and to beware of the mental battle.
She told me about the spiritual insight she gained about perseverance, which gave me a new perspective during those times (which is all the time, for me) that running is not fun.
And she really believed that I could do it.
Exactly three weeks after my conversation with Jessica, I was humbled – she was right.
She is going to make such a great wife! She is supportive, encouraging, truth-speaking, hard-working, humble, selfless, and just delightful! Reed is one blessed man!!
Also: Marylyn has been such a great running companion, keeping me accountable, pushing me on. She ran all 3 miles with a hurt knee – she is hardcore. When I run without her, I usually lose the mental fight and wimp out. She cannot move away in a month. Well, actually she can (and she will) and I will be sad.
Also: This does not mean that I enjoy running. I hate running. It is not fun. Not at all. But I love the feeling just after I finish running: that I have accomplished a great feat, that I persevered through something hard, that my body is being trained, that the defeating thoughts have been conquered…it makes the running worth it.
