The pool. Some weeks I just about live in the pool. I go at
6 in the morning to work out in the deep water, or at 8 AM to participate in a
class workout. This is physical and social. A few times I have tried swimming,
but this activity produced angina…so no swimming. As time went by I realized
that as much as I enjoyed the deep-water workouts, I really wanted to swim. And
this wasn’t going to happen on the pre-side of heart surgery.
As my surgery day approached…or what I thought would be my
surgery day, I began to formulate a plan. Once I was through surgery, and then
recovery (six months), I would set out to get back in shape in the deep water
and then…when I was ‘tuned up’ more or less, I would get some coaching to
improve my swimming style and to add a stroke or two, and then…I would begin to
train to swim seriously. My goal: to swim a kilometer in our pool. That’s
twenty lengths. It seems an impossibly long swim, since I’m sure that in the
beginning I wouldn’t be able to swim even one length!
Bu I remember my running days: When I began, I couldn’t run
a single mile without many stops and walks. In the end, I was running 13 miles
without stopping. So I know that I can do it if I live long enough and work
steadily enough. That’s my goal in the
pool: 20 lengths without stopping; 2 kilometers.
Now I have only to wait until the Cardiologist gives me
permission to get back in the pool. I know that the start will be hard, as my
muscles have all turned to noodles. But work I can do, and time is all I need.
So watch this space for periodic reports on my progress or lack of it. Lend me
your support, if you’d lie. Write me a note, make a comment, tell me I’m crazy,
whatever. It will be good to know that there are people with me. That’s the
pool!
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