Part of my new devotion to exercise involves taking cross-training seriously. It is essential for runners to build up fitness in all areas and the best way to do this is through alternative cardio workouts, as well as weight training.
One of the best low impact workouts is swimming. Full disclosure: although yours truly spent my formative years in Massachusetts, going to Cape Cod every weekend and spending countless hours on my dad's or grandfather's boat, I'm a very sucky swimmer.
Part of the reason for this is that I hate to get my face wet. Nevertheless, I'm into widening my exercise horizons, so I headed to the pool at LA Fitness today. Unfortunately, there were lots of people there to witness my lack of grace. My best stroke is something I like to call SFDP (super fast doggie paddle). True, I look like a puppy on speed when I go into SFDP mode, but it gets the job done-- and keeps my face dry. I can also float on my back fairly well and I do a unique version of the side stroke... still, I was somewhat self-conscious in front of all those people. The process was further complicated by trying to avoid getting kicked in the head by the porpoise in the lane next to me.
Out of the corner of my eye while I was bobbing along, I saw a guy in the hot tub actually leaning out of the tub and watching me make my awkward way across the pool. Glad I could provide some comic relief. Of course, perhaps he was just mesmerized by my brightly colored swimsuit? If you can't excel, I always say, at least dress the part.
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