Things My Body Did Today

Today, I ran with my running class, even though a run was not on my Plan, and I had a great time---especially because I stayed behind the pack, pacing with a new runner, a woman soccer player and graduate student from a country that doesn't allow girls to play sports; when the class got back to the facility where we started, I ran with a former colleague on the track and immediately fell in love with it (the track!). Both of these experiences reminded me of the benefits of being at the back of the pack---the chatting, the stories, the hanging together---even though I am often these days frustrated to be there...still. Did I mention I nearly flunked out of college because of a running class? Today, I could have run all day---albeit at my slow, steady paces.



Today, I swam my first open water mile. Less than a month ago, during my first OWS experience of the season, I totally freaked out--physically, emotionally, publicly. Today, I swam the distance in Lake Wingra. There was a certain amount of stopping to chit chat with my coach involved on the way out, into the current. Kinda like this:



Me: ten strokes, then "Blechhh. Dude, there are weeds."

Coach: "Yes, I know. The weeds are our friends."

Me: three strokes: "Hey, what about that guy who drowned because of the weeds?"

Coach: "Urban legends. I've got you covered."

Me: three strokes. "Hey, how is my stroke?"

Coach: "How about you let me see more of it?"

Me: twenty strokes. "We there yet?"

Coach: "250 yards."

Me: 100 strokes. "How's it going?"

Coach: "250 yards"

Me: 100 strokes. "We there yet?"

Coach: "Just keep following me. Almost there."

Me: 100 stokes. "Where are we?"

Coach: "250 yards."

Me: "Dude, I'm having trust issues."

Coach: "Oh, um, well, I have a bad sense of distance."

Me: "Oh. Remember when the water was 50 degrees and you said it was 65? Guess it's a

temperature thing, too."

Coach: "Keep swimming."

Me: 100 strokes. "Damn, we're here already?"

Coach: "Okay, on the way back, no talking."



Out: 33 minutes; back 22.



When we got back to the beach, I took a moment to really let it sink in. Did I mention I nearly flunked out of college because of a swimming class? Three months ago, I was out of breath at the end of 25 yards; a month ago, I lost it in the open water. Today, I got some of it back.



Then I went home, ate a salty nut roll, and got on my bike.



Today, I had it all: swim, bike, run, delight, and celebration. And, like always,there was also defeat, despair, and worry. I'm amazed at what I can do now---but it feels so far from being enough for Ironman. It feels like I am now almost fit enough to really *begin* training for Ironman---like for an Ironman in '09. But Ironman Wisconsin is my race, and it is this September, not next. Or maybe next year is my A race and this year is just a training event. Maybe in 09, I will be the long, lean, buff, built, athlete of my dreams--you know--the one who kicks some serious tail...the one who passes for a fit person? Maybe this year, I will finish in the chubby but surprisingly functional body I have now, chatting up some other woman in whose country or in whose biography girls weren't allowed to play sports, some person reclaiming his or her heritage to move as I am reclaiming mine. And that wouldn't be a bad way to finish...right?



But first, this weekend: my first half ironman. I am more ready than I was a week ago, but I have some serious reservations. Half Ironman---that's kind of a long day. Wonder who I'll enjoy knowing at the back of the pack there?