Friday, July 3, 2009

A Sense of Accomplishment

Today is Friday and I have completed the first week of my new program. I feel very proud of myself and strangely my body already feels different. I have been doing a lot of stretching and I feel as if I have elongated my backbone by adding air between the vertebrae. I seem to be sitting up straighter. The tension from between my shoulders is gone. I can see muscle definition in my forearms.

I have tried a number of activities this week, but my favorite is walking in the swimming pool. I love the sensation of the water surrounding me and supporting my weight. The pools where I exercise are neighborhood pools. One is the pool where four of my seven grandchildren swim on the summer team. I am dedicated to this swim team to the point of fanaticism. The summer meets are fun because I know all the families and can cheer for all the kids. Last year I even won an award for being the the most supportive fan. While I am walking I can wave to everyone. I am a bit of a celebrity there, not only because of my high-pitched screams during close races, but also because of the exploits of my grandchildren. I don't want to brag (don't believe this for a minute), but my eight year-old grandson has set two team records so far this summer!

The other pool is my neighborhood pool. It it is womb-like because it is protected by small hills and surrounded by trees. I know few people in my neighborhood, so while walking I fall into a trance-like state, not making eye contact, and pulling the warm, velvety, turquoise water toward me with each arm as I stride. I watch the clouds form and disperse in the summer sky. I feel totally happy doing this.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is walking on the track. I have to force myself to leave the house and I already feel tired and crabby by the time I park the car and make my way down the sidewalk and stairs to the field. The track itself is a pleasant. It is soft black asphalt that I wish would smell like the warm tar I loved as a child. But is smells like nothing. So far I walk three-quarters of a mile each time I go. This is exactly 20 minutes worth of exercise -- a "block" in my terminology. By the time I start the third quarter mile, my lower back begins to hurt and I feel anxious that I will be too tired to climb the stairs to the car when I am done. This is completely psychosomatic because today I walked for and hour and a half in the super market, doing a giant grocery shop in preparation for July 4th, and I felt just fine. This hatred of the track does not bode well because someday I will have to spend more time there if I want to reach my goal.

I am not going to worry about that now. Instead I am going to order another pair of running shorts and smugly enjoy my new spine.

4 comments:

  1. This is great - I love reading about your activities and your response to them. Yes, walking on the track is not very inspiring - but I'm impressed that you're doing three laps. Keep up the good work!

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  2. I enjoy reading your blog. Is there a way that you can notify your followers when there is a new entry?

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  3. I think there is a way on your end to sign on as a follower, which I assume means you get a message when there is a new entry. I will try to learn more about how this works because I am just learning how this electronic system works.

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  4. Here is the info. I found:What is Following?Print
    Do you have a favorite blog and want to let the author and readers know that you are a fan? Well now you can do that and more with the Blogger Following feature! You can even keep track of the blogs you follow via your Reading List on the Blogger dashboard.

    How do I become a Follower of a blog?
    There are several ways to become a follower of a blog. One of the easiest ways is to visit a blog that has added the Following widget and click on the "Follow" button under the "Followers" widget:


    You'll then see a popup window with the options to either follow publicly or privately:


    Select how you'd like to follow the blog, then click the "Follow this blog" button. It is that simple, you are now a follower of the blog! If you elected to follow the blog publicly, your profile picture will be displayed on the blog with a link to your Blogger profile (Note: The widget may not show all followers of the blog. If this is the case all followers will be linked from the widget). When you become a follower of a blog, the blog will also be added to your Reading List on your Blogger dashboard and this site will also show on your FriendConnect profile for all the sites you've joined using Friend Connect. Additionally, you can become a follower of any blog or URL (even if the blog doesn't have the Followers widget) by adding the blog to your Reading List on the dashboard.

    FTP Blogs
    If you join/follow an FTP blog from your dashboard or the Nav bar, the owner of the blog WON'T be informed that you followed the blog. However, if you join/follow normally (via the gadget) the owner WILL be informed that you followed the blog.


    How to remove yourself from following a blog

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