Going Swimmingly

Sorry no post yesterday (and after I made such a big deal the day before) my friend Darryl called and I got swept away to lunch. He's in town from Portland for a wedding, so when he put aside a couple of hours for me at the last minute, I had to jump. We had a nice time, I love talking to him because I don't have to hide the fact that I am smart.

He's one of those men that actually finds intellect attractive. In fact I have been looking around at the men in my life and, for the most part, the ones I have chosen to spend the most time with in the six months or so are all that way. Apparently I finally started heeding my own advice about being respected and appreciated for something beyond my breast size. Huh.

Anyway, the real post today is not men but fish. Or at least my attempt to become more fish-like. I had my sixth swim lesson yesterday and coach Kelli was proud of me. I have progressed well and have learned the basics of six strokes. I can also actually swim with my head in the water. She is happy enough that my last two lessons (before she goes off to pharmacist school in Colorado) will be about diving and perfecting my strokes.

Yesterday I swam laps before she came in, practicing and practicing. I especially struggle with the breast stroke - I always want to move my arms and legs at the same time. But I will keep working away at it. My goal is still to get good enough to do a mini-triathlon next summer.

The plan is, over the fall/winter, I will practice my swimming, biking, running combo in the gym. Then they have an 'in gym' triathlon in March, I will give that a try to test my readiness. Because frankly, if I can't swim by myself in a pool for time, there's no way I will survive real wake and other flailing arms. After that indoor undertaking I will seek out another swim coach to shore up my strokes and help me with speed ideas.

Hopefully all of this will culminate in my surviving or, err, rather finishing a triathlon. At that point I will know whether this is something I want to pursue or if it was just another fitness challenge that needed to be met along my journey to health.

Yours in fitness, Kate