My Physical Self

Part of my goal in 2009 was to reclaim my physical self or in other words get back in shape. I ripped out a picture from a magazine of Olympic Gold Medalist Dara Torres. Maybe you've seen the ad, the one for milk. She's a swimmer, I'm a swimmer. She's in her early 40's, I'm kind of in my early 40's. Now when I grow ten inches, I might have a million to one shot of having her body. Many people think she's too muscular, but I think strong is the new beautiful. Anyway I had an inspiration, probably unrealistic, but I can dream.

As I was walking this morning, I reflected back on my week of exercise and my goals for the year. My goal this week was to exercise 7 times. I swam three times, walked four times, did weights once and went to BOOTCAMP Saturday morning. I love to swim, I love to walk and even weights are kind of fun. Swimming is great outside on hot days. The water is cool and it just feels great. I'm a natural swimmer and I let my mind go and just swim. Walking is always relaxing and it's a great way to start my day. Sometimes I run some, but my knee was really bothering me, so I let it go for a few days. It was a good week, I made my goal.

I learned about Bootcamp on Craigs List under Activities. It sounded fun and the first one was free so I thought I'd try it. They meet in Washington Park three times a week. Saturday morning I packed my yoga mat and water bottle and walked to the park. It was only about two miles and it was a gorgeous day. I was confident I would have no problem doing Bootcamp because I exercised regularly. I met Allie, the instructor, there and we quickly got started. Allie is a young, pretty, perky young woman with a degree in Exercise Something from Springfield College. At one point she said it was called Bootcamp because this is how they trained the military. This is a great reason to remain a pacificist. It was hard and by the end of the HOUR in the BROILING sun, I thought I would puke. I was happy to pack up and head back home. When saying goodbye, she said she hoped to see me on Wednesday at 6:30. As I walked away, I thought to myself "when pigs fly" and shortly thereafter " I bet I could kick her perky toned ass in the pool". I think I'll send Sam on Wednesday, she's young and pretty and he said he wanted to strength his core. This morning when I got out of bed, I could barely walk. I think Dara Torres was smirking at me when I passed her picture this morning on my way to the refrigerator. I am a work in progress.

I love being physical and knowing I can do things, but even more I love shutting my mind down and just going. My mantra frequently is "I am here and I am strong". I love swimming because I can trust myself in the water enough to let the water hold me as I go. There is no better feeling then to flow through the water. I love to walk and appreciate all that the world has to offer. I love to feel the sun on my face and feel my natural rhythm as I walk. I take care of people every day, this is my chance to take care of myself and I glory in it.