I do NOT, however, think that if I have one, I will drive it like a maniac through the rush-hour traffic, trying and failing to beat the light, and nearly kill innocent, attractive, artistically-inclined math majors. If you are the owner of the white Mercedes Benz that was trying to do that to me earlier today, I submit that you should just calm the heck down, and take your foot off the gas. Why do you care about being stuck in traffic? You're stuck in traffic in a MERCEDES, lady!
Relax, and just enjoy the ride. Jeez...
In other, less near-death-related news, I have decided to start including swimming in my workout routine, which I've long considered (as we'll see, below). The gym has an outdoor pool, and I have a lovely swim this afternoon (ahem... apologies to my Vermont peeps. You'll be able to swim soon, I promise! It's only, like, three more months until spring!).
I do seem to have a problem with my speed controls, though: I swim like I'm in a Jaws movie and can hear the music that means one of the people onscreen is going to meet the shark.
I swim FAST.
I have friends who swim very, very, very fast. I do not swim as fast as them; I do not swim "competitively" fast. That's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that I swim as fast as I can. My accelerator has only one speed, and I need to figure that out.
Now, when I'm running, I take it very, very, very easy, and only sprint at the very end, which is a wise policy. When I was swimming earlier today, the gentleman who was sharing my lane observed that I had a pretty good sprint speed (I kept passing him, which was a little socially awkward, but we worked it out). That said, I was also nearly dead after 1/8 of a mile, because... well, because I was going really fast.
There MUST be some secret to adjusting my swim pace, and I'm sure I'll figure it out.
It's weird that I seem to be hard-wired to go as fast as possible, though. If you have any swimming tips, particularly for distance, please let me know!
My goal, since starting this workout thing, has been to achieve a competitive score on the Navy SEALs Physical Test, which means meeting the following standards:
- 500 meter swim in 8 minutes (max 12:30)
- 10 minute rest
- 100 pushups in 2 minutes (min 42)
- 2 minute rest
- 100 situps in 2 minutes (min 52; as an aside, this one is already in the bag. I do 3 sets of 50 every other day as part of my normal routine, and I was always able to do the max 100 back when I was in the Navy. I swear, I have a six-pack hiding under all this middle-age!)
- 2 minute rest
- 20 pull-ups (min 8)
- 10 minute rest
- 1.5 mile run in 9 minutes, wearing boots and pants (max 11:30) -- After two months of actual boot camp, I was able to do this in 10 minutes flat... when I was 20. Ahem.
Now, this is ambitious. Heck, it's ambitious for 20-year-olds; remember, this is the test to get into the Navy Special Forces school! I had been hoping to be in shape for it in time for my upcoming birthday, but that's in two short weeks, so... no. However, I do think it's achievable by July, as long as I'm not killed by Mercedes-Benz-driving lunatics between now and then.
What are YOU doing to stay in shape? What are your goals? Feel free to comment, give advice, and share in the spirit of achieving the impossible!
We're all riding this existence together, and we should always, every day, push to be awesome. If that's working on a digital painting, creating your own fantastical world, or investigating the real world we all share, do something awesome and challenging every day.
Let me take a penguin moment to shout-out to my bro, R. He has stuck with his low-carb diet, has been to the gym 27 times this month (!!), and has observably changed the way he looks. AND he forces me to go to the gym when I don't want to, which is why he's my bro.
Solid job, brother.
So go do something amazing. Do something you think you can't do. You will surprise yourself.
YOU WILL NOT GET TODAY BACK, SO MAKE IT COUNT!!
Tomorrow, ADVENTURE!!