Anyone observing me go to the gym
tonight to swim would have gotten quite a chuckle out of watching me
negotiate getting IN to the pool.
There are two things I dislike
immensely, being COLD and being WET. BOTH of those factors play in when
I swim. And tonight, I'll be honest and confess that I did NOT have
any love for the thought of swimming.
I dreaded it.
I
procrastinated as long as I could, then I drove to the gym. I put my
suit on, then took a LOOOONG hot pre-swim shower with my suit on AS I
put on my swimcap and earplugs, and just stood under the warm/hot water.
Dreading.
Dreading.
So I finally got up the nerve and walked to the....
Jacuzzi.
As
I sat in the jacuzzi, I told myself I was only there for a few minutes,
to save up all the warmth for the DREADED task ahead, the irony not
being lost on me that I had just succeeded in making the next task even
HARDER by getting all warm and cozy and comfortable in the niiiicceee
soooooothinggggg jacuzziiiiiiii.
As I sat IN the nice warm jacuzzi I began to ask myself "who do you want to be today?"
The
determination of who I would be today had not yet been made, because
honestly it could have gone either way had I NOT begun to REMEMBER WHO I
WAS.
"You went to Paris in April and ran a freaking marathon.
You got up at 3:30 in the morning in the cold and ran over 27 miles
three weeks BEFORE the marathon to make sure you could do this. You are
an athlete who is here at the gym to go for a swim and get in her
workout today. You did all that. You CAN do this. You ARE capable of
just walking over to that cold pool and getting in it. So what if you
only swim ONE lap, at THIS point you have a choice to make. Swimmers
swim. That's what they do. Are you a swimmer or are you not? If you
don't do this now, it will be even harder the next time. Who do you
want to be tonight?"
With the words still echoing in my mind "Who
do you want to be tonight?" I exited the jacuzzi and walked over the
the pool. I sat on the edge and put my legs in the water. Yep. Just
as cold as I had feared. Colder, actually, since I was still nice and
warm from the jacuzzi. I brought that one on myself. Who do you want
to be tonight? Get in the pool. Get in the pool. Get in the pool. I
willed myself to get in to my hips. Get in the pool. Get in the pool.
Get in the pool. Get. In. The. Pool. I got in to my shoulders. Get
in the pool. Get in the pool.
I'm sure people wonder what kind
of "willpower" and "determination" and "motivation" techniques I use to
accomplish not only attaining but maintaining optimal health. This is
basically it. Who do I want to be today/tonight? Do what I have to
do. Get in the pool.
It's not rocket science, in fact it feels
like I'm a broken record trying to convince a 5 year old to eat their
vegetables. I FEEL like a 5 year old who doesn't WANT to eat their
vegetables sometimes.
Get in the pool.
I'm happy to report
I didn't ONLY swim 1 lap, although to be perfectly honest I would have
been just as proud of my accomplishment tonight if I HAD only swam 1
lap. Because tonight's challenge, apparently, was simply getting in the
pool. And I did.
Rinse and Repeat!
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