Appreciating

[susandennis]

This morning's swim was the best. Some day's it's a slog. Yesterday was one of those days. My goal is to swim a mile a day. If I swim for an hour, even at my slowest, I know I will have covered a mile. So I get in and go until an hour or a little beyond (for safety) is done. It's a made up goal and a made up way to get there. There's no reason for any of it except, I do think it's cool to know I swim a mile a day.

Anyway, yesterday, I felt like I had been swimming forever when I looked at the clock and hit had only been 30 minutes. The second half hour went by with the speed of a traffic jam.

Today was just the opposite. I looked at the clock expecting to see that 15 minutes had gone by and it was 35. The water felt especially good. The tunes were just the right ones. It was just good.

And, while I was swimming, I decided not to do the sewing project I had planned - another test of the new pattern. I think I'm going to save the rest of the sheets for a different top. I'm going to dive right in and make the pattern out of fleece which was my intended fabric. I want an around-the-house fleece cardigan. I have one that I got last year at Goodwill that I really liked but it had a really annoying collar. This one has a nice, soft rolled collar and big, roomy pockets. Plus, better color - and maybe colors.

But, first, some errands. Library, vote drop off, grocery?, office depot, gas... The library is just a drop off so I don't have to wait until they open. I think I'm going to head out now and get this all done so I can have the rest of the day for whatever.

Comments

[617529309.livejournal.com]

Wow, I am totally inspired that you swim an hour a day. How do you do it? I understand physically pushing through that, but how do you do it mentally?

[susandennis]

It's mostly very easy for me. I use the time to solve the problems of the world, rearrange me condo, design stuff I want to sew... various mental gymnastics and, of course, I listen to music. Sometimes books but mostly music. If I ever do get bored, I rely on the music - 3 more songs to go, 2 more songs to go...

I started about 4 years ago, swimming 15 minutes. And just gradually worked my way up. I don't do anything fancy - just front crawl - and I don't stop unless my earbuds fall out and I need to reposition them.

It's the first thing I do every morning. I don't even think about it - I just do it. I get up, I put my suit on and my clothes over it and head for the pool.

But the real ticket is that I love it. I love the way it feels. I love stretching out like superman when I push off from the wall. I love the cool. I love the quiet (yeah, except for music). I love the no sweating. It's the easiest, cheapest (in terms of effort) form of exercise there is.

[susandennis]

And, I should point out that I am one of the laziest people you will ever meet. I grew up before Title 9. Girls were not encouraged to play athletics which was fine by me since I didn't like even being outside that much. About the time I turned 60, I started working at home and for several years rarely even left the house. Then I decided I needed to do something so I joined the gym across the street. I hated it so much. I spent maybe 30 minutes over there 4 or 5 times a week - hating every minute of it. Then I found the pool.

Plus I am 100 pounds over weight. I eat so much and so poorly that even swimming an hour a day doesn't make a dent in that!

[spiral-meter.livejournal.com]

i bet you're getting in really good shape from all the swimming. i bet soon you'll be able to swim all the way to the moooooon!

b

[susandennis]

Ha! probably not. I don't swim fast enough or hard enough to get into good shape. The way I swim doesn't hurt but it's not really to get into shape, it's just for fun. I love to eat and eat whatever I want so even swimming an hour a day every single day for the past three years, I'm still the same 100 pounds overweight that I was 3 years ago. It's ok. I'm old. Doesn't matter :)

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I'm finding it the same with my runs, sometimes they are a walk in the park and other times they are a right slog