Staying fit

["jsalas" <jsalas@tampabay.rr.com>]

I am a tri-athlete. That is, I try to be an athlete. It is not always easy to find time to do anything let alone get in an hour for some type of workout. John and I use to do road races and triathlons before the kids. Now that the kids are getting older and our daughter just did her first triathlon, we decided to "tri" again. When I first got into endurance riding, I felt like rigormortis set in after every ride. Then I started swimming. What a difference that made in my upper body as far as balance and strength during the ride and pain management for after the ride. Not nearly as sore.

Now John  said that if we were going to do this triathlon, we had to swim in the gulf. His reason was that if we trained in the gulf, then the day of the race we would be acclimated. Gulp!

:-o Swim in the gulf? With sharks? Maybe that could help me improve my speed. Maybe I would just pass out from fear and be disqualified. Well, the first day, the water temp was 62 degrees. Brrrrrr! It took me at least a half an hour to get in the water completely. In between bouts of hyperventilating (which is when you inhale water and are practically drowning) and panicking I was finally submerged by the 1/4 mile point. When I  caught up with John he was laughing. He said I looked so cute out there just bobbing around. I advised him in a not so nice way, I wasn't bobbing, I was freakin' drowning. Why didn't he come and get me?! That is why couples who train together end up killing each other or divorced. Last week, the water was very shallow and clear. I don't want to see what is in the water, really. John once again swam ahead of me (no longer my shark buffer) and I could feel the panic rising. All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I saw a large shadow coming up beside me. I couldn't scream and I couldn't get out of the water fast enough. I was afraid to touch the bottom because the stingrays were every where and I just knew this was the end. Just when I thought it was ready to attack I realized..... it was just my shadow. Holy crap, I never thought someone could scare themselves so badly.

So there you go. A great cardiovascular  workout as well as a speed workout. I am sure that my girl Odie will benefit from that workout when we do Liberty Run. As far as the triathlon, I am still looking for an excuse to pull. Lisa Salas, The Odd Farm