Hoo Boy!

On my present journey to better health, I need to get more exercise.  What I really mean is that I need to GET some EXERCISE!

Walking hurts my back after a very short time. I detest calisthenics.  Don’t think I’m up to lifting just yet.  Maybe later.Of course, the son who could help me with that has gone and moved to California. . . .

Anyway, my doctor and I agreed that swimming would be an excellent choice, since it’s non-weightbearing and I have always loved to swim.  So I joined the local YMCA, and this afternoon I dipped my toe into the water for the first time in maybe 25 years.

The pool looked excessivley long from my perch at the shallow end.  Does anyone have binoculars?

A woman on my right was happily knifing back and forth. A gentleman on my left was doing a very comfortable-looking backstroke.  I kind of felt as if the lifeguard was waiting for me to DO something–besides standing in water up to my shoulders watching other swimmers.  So here we go.  Deep breath, push off, get the rhythm going. Stoke, stroke, breathe. Hey!  I still remember how to do this!  Made it all the way to the other end pretty comfortably.

But then I had to go back, and I knew I wasn’t going to make it doing the crawl, so I turned around and employed  my backstroke.  That went well.  Stop and rest.  Go again, side stroke.  Stop an rest, other side back. Crawl again, gulped water about halfway down the lane, flipped over and backstroked the rest of the way. Stopping after each lap to catch my breath was a good choice.  I think I did a total of 10-12 laps, which actually makes me feel pretty proud of myself. I’d been afraid that one lap would do me in.

Okay, so I figure I’ll have the time and opportunity to swim two, maybe three days each week.  I can feel it in my shoulders, legs, arms right now, and a little in my back. Not bad.  Right now I’m sitting in my living room easy chair, using my laptop, enjoying a small Granny Smith apple with some low fat string cheese.

Really living the life these days.