18 Laps

As I type it, it seems so small. Hmmm, 18 laps...as if my typing fingers don't remember them this morning. So let's look at it from another reference point (since laps are somewhat of a poor measurement at least in our minds). J and I swam almost 6 city blocks this morning and while I have to get up to 66 laps which is a mile and half, I am more than happy with our progress. Swimming is completely exhausting no matter how much you travel and by far the part of the triathlon that I am most intimidated by. I am absolutely sure that I can walk 13 miles and bike 56, I am training so hard in hopes to do these things in a competitive time but I am truly terrified of drowning while swimming. There will be 2000 of us in the water at one time, all just trying to make it to the other side of the reservoir, sounds like a double dog dare to me. I guess in re-reading this post I feel better thinking that we basically swam to the grocery store...not bad for two months in.

I read a disheartening article this morning about "fat" people being sold a fantasy. Apparently the women writing it feels as though when she fat she was told that all she had to do was lose weight and she would be happy. She is now down 300 pounds and doesn't feel as though it is all it is cracked up to be. I am just about at a loss for words...just about. ;-) Your risk of not just dying but of living a life where you need to use a machine to pump oxygen into your lung while you sleep had dramatically decreased if not vanished. How has that not made a significant difference in your life? When I read this article all I could think is that she will gain the weight back (she had gastric bi-pass surgery) and while for some people this type of surgery is not only the last choice but the only one because they are in such poor health, I truly believe in most cases that the only way to appreciate where you are is to walk through hell to get there. I would not be so proud of 18 laps if I didn't have sweat running down my forehead in the pool this morning (yes you sweat while swimming...who knew). That being said some day when I hit my goal weight not only will I be happy about it because of what the scale says but because I worked SO hard to get there. And last but not least I am teaching my daughter how to live a life where the only thing holding her back is herself and if she truly wants something all she needs to do is work for it...I will be able to assure her that nothing that comes easy is that worth it and the true treasures in the world involve rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty. Not to mention that the blame game gets you no where. As with so many things I read...I wish I could sit down and speak with the person writing just to see where her head is.