The Snail and the Sloth

Last week marked yet another week of either slow motion swimming or high-speed treading in my pursuit of learning how to swim like Mike. I can't be too tough on myself, as this is only the fourth time I've gotten into the water to make the attempt, but I do have to recognize my mortality, especially since I am confronted with it every time I gasp for breath and inhale obscene amounts of water. As I calmly listened to my thundering 400+ bpm heart rate during one of my twenty minute rest periods between laps, I pondered Mike's experience with the infamous "fin swimmer." The reason the experience came to mind, is that a 125 year-old lady was swimming in the lane next to me. The difference? She didn’t stop. Ever! She was frail enough that it’s possible she was just allowing the waves from the other swimmers to propel her, but it was hard to tell for certain. When I was actually moving, I did manage to swim notably faster than her (sort of like a snail and a sloth), but there’s no doubt in my mind that she swam further than I did overall. On the upside, however, I did manage to get in 800 M, and I did it in 100 M increments. Unquestionably my best swim day so far, and rather than get out of the pool exhausted and defeated, I was actually just exhausted. Progress is being made.

My other notable aquatic performance this past week came on the golf course. I played in a golf tournament on Friday afternoon, and other than the first two holes, it rained the entire time. Hard. I was one of the coordinators for the tournament, and as such, I felt obligated to finish the round. Our team ended up placing second and getting some nifty prizes, but considering only 5 of the 12 teams finished all 18 holes, it’s not as impressive as it initially sounds. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun, but my BIG lesson learned is to always carry a rain jacket when golfing in Houston.

As for Mike’s research on finding a good “entry-level” bike, the only problem is that the $800-$1000 price range is approximately $700-$900 more than I was planning on spending. My training on the bike currently consists of sitting on a stationary bike at the gym with a seat as comfortable as a 2x4 and peddling for 20 minutes or so. I figure about anything is a step up. With that in mind, I guess I was just thinking that Craig’s list would be the way to go, but now that I have to keep up with the Jones’, I’m not sure what my approach will be.

As a closing thought, I think I’ve lost ten pounds since starting this adventure. Jen gave me my first compliment yesterday by saying something along the lines of “your love handles aren’t quite as big.” As far as compliments go, I’ve heard better, but in my current jaw-dropping physical state, I’ll take it. Yes, my friends, progress is indeed being made.