H20

Despite the fact that I work in the Sporting Goods industry and often talk about running here on Replikate I am by no means an athlete. I am a slow runner, very uncoordinated when it comes to team sports and notoriously impatient with myself when I try to learn something new.

That said, my mother had us in the swimming pool from the time I was tiny and it's still a place where I feel relatively comfortable. I do not have a typical swimmers build and was probably too small to have been much of a threat but my one high school regret is that I never tried out for the swim team. My mom swam in high school and my youngest brother ended up being a pretty awesome little backstroker and water polo player so it's definitely in our genes somewhere.

So the other night Corey-who swam for Boston University and is thus, clearly quite hyrdrotalented-and I went to a local pool and she coached me a little bit on my stroke and taught me how to do a proper flip-turn. For a girl who thought she was a decent swimmer I ended up swallowing an obscene amount of water and even today my arms are really sore from swimming the RIGHT way. But it felt really, really good. I have been thinking for awhile that my knees and my back really need me to find a suitable alternative to pounding the pavement everyday and I'm pretty sure this is it. Swimming is definitely a bigger production than just putting on shoes and going out the front door but I practically have to force myself to get out of the pool, an issue I rarely have when I run. As much as I enjoy it, I'm always ready for it to be over.

And thus,in keeping with my thoughts from yesterday, and because of my renewed interest in all things aquatic, I'm making my third attempt at surfing tomorrow. The last two times I have had fun but gotten so tossed around that I haven't been particularly anxious to get back in the water. However, this time my friend Katie-who is a high school P.E. teacher AND a surf instructor-is going to go out with a small group of female novices which I think is a recipe for success. My feeling is that living where I do and not at least attempting to learn to surf is like living on a mountain and never putting on skis. It feels like I owe it to all the inland dwelling surfers out there to take advantage of my proximity.

Anyway, I'm glad it Friday...here for your weekend viewing pleasure is one of the many reasons I'm glad we have YouTube.