Out of the pool

The stitches came out today--yay! So I asked the doc if I could go back to swimming. He said sure--yay! But then I thought to ask him if I could wear swim goggles. Oh, no. Nothing that would put pressure on the wound for a month--the cut is near my right eyebrow.

I know there's a crazy water polo-playing Californian on swimmer boys' college swim team who swims without goggles, but even the thought makes me cringe. Swimming 3,000 meters in an indoor, chlorinated pool with no goggles? I think my eyes would explode.

So it looks like no swimming for me till almost Christmas. I am not happy.

The Dangers of Exercise

Yesterday I arrived at the gym, all ready for another adventure in personal training. First, though, I wanted to get in a little cardio. Two of the treadmills that face the TVs were free, so I picked the one with better proximity to interesting shows--I prefer the news to sports stations--and hopped on.

Big mistake.

Repeat after me--always, always check that some idiot has not left the treadmill running.

I hopped on, and my feet were promptly carried backward. The rest of me, illustrating some lovely rule of physics I'm sure, pitched forward and then down. The brain on board was trying to make sense of this. Why am I falling? Oh, the treadmill is running. Who would get off a treadmill and leave it running? This can't be good. Oh, damn, this is going to hurt.

Then bang, whizz, I'm on the floor.

No personal training for me. Instead I go off to my regular doc and then on to the plastic surgeon for two stitches to go with my assortment of scrapes and bruises.

Happy Columbus Day!

Happy Columbus Day to everyone in the U.S.--and happy Thanksgiving to you Canadians.

Columbus Day is a federal holiday, but Mr. M doesn't get it off, so things here are business as usual--probably a good thing as I get more writing done when Mr. M is at the office.

Mondays are a gym day, so I'm off to do some running/jogging. I'm hoping to see a pal I haven't seen since the school year began. My youngest was in grade school with her oldest; she's the one who got me to join the gym. We used to be workout buddies, but her teaching schedule changed in September, so our paths haven't crossed.

But school is out today! Maybe we'll be able to chat and catch up. Conversation seems to make the minutes on the treadmill go by faster.

Personal training

Yes, I survived my first session with the trainer, but it wasn't pretty.

On one hand I'm in good shape. I swim. I run--or perhaps purists would call it jogging, but I work up a sweat. I spend an hour to an hour and a half pretty much every day doing some kind of vigorous exercise. (Let's ignore for the moment all the hours spent writing butt in chair, fingers on keyboard. Good for books; not so good for butt.)

I don't even need to lose weight.

BUT I am in serious need of strength training. My goal is to be able to manage a 50 pound suitcase with, if not ease, then at least not a hernia. When I roll up to the counter to check my bag, I'd like to be able to get the damn thing on the scale without engaging in a serious wrestling match. Is that too much to ask?

And my doctor has become a bit of a pain at my annual physical. I'm at that age where bone density is a frequent topic. He tells me I need to lift weights.

I like to swim. I like to run. I like to move. I do not like to lift weights. Truthfully, I don't really know what to do and how to do it to get stronger without hurting myself.

Ergo, the trainer.

Gee, maybe I'll even be able to do a real push up some day!

Back in the pool

For the last few years, I've been swimming with a Masters group twice a week on a fairly regular basis. But with one thing and another--session break, my trip to Europe, getting sick--I've been out of the pool for about two months. Tonight (I writing this Tuesday night) was my first night back, and--lucky me!--it was a distance night. We did some warm up--I felt fine. Actually good. And then came the main set--three 500s and two 250s for a total of 2,000 meters. Groan. I did it, but it was not a pretty sight. I was very happy there were only three of us in my lane and no one was in a huge hurry.

When the coach brought out the kickboards, I decided it was time to warm down and call it a night. I'm not much of a kicker in the best of circumstances--and tonight was definitely not the best of circumstances.

I lasted most of the practice--about an hour and 15 minutes out of an hour and a half practice. And tomorrow (today when this posts) I have my first session with the personal trainer.

More about that...if I survive.