Swimming

When I was a kid I spent every reasonably nice summer day at the pool. My grandmother swore I was part fish and that the water called to me. She had a pool in her backyard, a BELOW-ground pool with a shallow end, deep end (complete with floating rope separating the two ends, on which we were chastized not to hang) and diving board. We were not allowed in the pool until after Grandma had vacuumed it in the morning. I'd hop out of bed, and immediately get my suit on, and then stand there next to her as she vaccuumed, thinking it was clean enough already. I would swim all day with a couple of breaks for snacks/lunch or laying on the hot cement to warm up before diving back in for games of "Marco Polo" or "shark" or "jump or dive." When not at Grandma's, we would bike to the pool, spend all day there and then bike home. I was in FANTASTIC shape as a kid!

This past weekend, I took my younger child and a friend to the indoor pool at the YMCA. I normally would just watch, but decided to get in the water this time - to heck with my hair! I swam laps, swam with the kids, and dove off the board repeatedly. This activity was fun, but kicked my butt! I was only swimming for about an hour and 45 minutes. How did I do this as a kid? Oh, yeah, the "fantastic" fitness level thing. I have decided that this would be a great activity to do once a week. I think my younger child would love it, and it would be fun for me and a really good workout. So, we'll see how far this good intention goes.... stay tuned.