Swimming!

[cjsmith]

I did it. I finally went out and got in a pool.

I take back about 45% of the things I said about cold. A properly heated pool, once I get in it, really isn't too bad. If I were in shape enough to get warmed up it would be downright comfortable. The pool also looks nifty sitting there steaming in the early morning light! (Getting OUT of the pool, on the other hand... outdoors... brr.)

I am very out of shape. Two years without any cardio exercise whatsoever, plus I've never done much with my upper body in my life. (Except when I was in the Army. I could knock out those pushups then.) This is humbling.

I was very thankful that it wasn't crowded. I had a lane to myself. There are benefits to going to an outdoor pool shortly after the rainstorm stops! (Or is it that it's January?) Maybe by summer, when it'll be crowded again, I'll be able to swim at a decent pace.

I have water in both my ears. Despite arms like noodles, I would have continued swimming longer this morning except that both ears were hurting. I need help on this!

And now for the bad news. My feet are KILLING ME. It seems there's a certain amount of standing up that happens. There's probably more for me than for most, because I haven't been swimming in twenty years. In between laps, arms hooked over the edge, panting -- those feet are down and they've got the toes bent back (the worst). Rats! I can NOT be doing that! Grrr! I sure hope this isn't yet one more form of exercise that I shouldn't do because of my feet. That would leave one last fitness option: just generally being tense.

I've found a wonderful image to use as a swim icon. I've written for permission. It is a CAT! Swimming! Is that me or what? :-) Check out this page. I hope I'm allowed to use it.

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow. I was thinking of saying "Yeah!" and then I followed the link. That web site author positively REVELS in having a nonbroken body. After fifteen or twenty minutes of reading I'm pretty convinced she'll have nothing to say that a gimp can use. Too bad...

[ambar.livejournal.com]

I hear you. On the other hand, I would have thought she didn't have anything to say to someone my weight, and surprisingly I was wrong. (She has a lot of references to modifying stuff for bad knees and shoulders, for example, as she's dealt with both.) She _is_ madly in love with squats, which I don't think will work for you.

While I am far from an expert, I bet we can think up ways to work every muscle from your hips north without involving your feet, and some more creativity might get us the quads and gluts, too. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's cool that she has that information. (And yeah, squats are Right Out.)

I bet you're right that there are ways to work just about everything -- probably from the knees up, I'd guess. Maybe not by swinging a kettlebell around, and maybe not a way resembling anything on the stumptuous website, but SOME way. Back of the calf is the one I truly don't know how to do. Those move when the ball of the foot swings down.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

Me either, but I suppose we can worry about that once we can each bench-press more than G. Bush (per a friend's recent email, 185lbs x 5 reps :-)

[ambar.livejournal.com]

Wait, did you catch any of her links to http://www.exrx.net ? That site is _wild_. Try this page: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WtFemale.html

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh yeow. That's really impressive!