Two Right Feet

You'll be relieved to know I arrived fully equipped for my swim today. My Y experience was a stroll in the park compared to Saturday's. The only rule I broke was not showering before I entered the pool. I must admit, I've become a hardened criminal regarding that regulation; I don't even flinch when I see the sign and promptly disobey it.

I took my sweet time as I entered the pool area, nonchalantly kicking off my flipflops, rotating my arms to loosen my shoulders, and adjusting my goggles, all BEFORE I very gradually let myself into the water. How truly sweet it was. I repeated Saturday's back and forth, back and forth routine until I was done and then I got out of the water. I felt a slight surge of residual guilt when I found myself face-to-face with the lifeguard. I quickly relaxed when he simply smiled and chatted with me for a minute or so and then went his way and I went mine.

Before I let you go, I've got another Y story to tell. Can you stay just a little longer? I planned to run on the indoor track one day a year or so ago. When I put my running shoes on, the right one went on just fine and dandy. As I attempted to slip the second shoe on my left foot, I groaned. I own a few pair of cross-training shoes, all white with varying trim colors. I had grabbed two right shoes from my closet at home when I packed my bag. I sat back down on the bench and groaned again.

As a rule, I'm not mentally flexible. When I set out to do something, I'm serious about it. My options that day were: I could forget about exercising and get out of there or I could put the two right shoes on and go work out on the weight machines. Running was not an option. (I bet you know what I did). It was only a little awkward as I made my way upstairs, but once I started using the machines I was sitting down so the shoe issue wasn't an issue. I took some comfort in knowing that at least I didn't have two LEFT feet.

I have to admit I did feel self-conscious and tried to slink from machine to machine so no one would get a look at my shoes. Little did I know that this slinking ability would come in handy at a later date in the pool.

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I don't know why people think exercising is boring. It's actually quite challenging in more ways than meet the eye.

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(If you haven't read my previous post, Wanted: Dead or Alive, you may have felt lost at times as you read this one. You're welcome to go back to it. Then you'll know the rest of the story).