Need to swim?

This week has been a pretty normal week so far. I haven't posted since I made a trip out to the driving center to go through the first step of getting my Japanese license. Today was an ordinary day at school where I taught two 3rd grade classes, two 2nd grade classes, and a 1st grade class. It was pretty busy because I had class 5 out of the 6 periods!

But the main thing I wanted to blog about was my gym experience yesterday. In my eikaiwa class there is a member who is very active and likes sports. He is 60 some years old and still goes to the gym at least 4 times a week, goes skiing every year in Switzerland, and wakes up early every morning to do pushups and situps. Not to mention tennis every Sunday as well. So we were talking one day about a nearby gym and I was interested. He offered to take me there with him one time along with another eikaiwa member. So I happily agreed because I wanted to know where this gym was and it would be nice to go and get in the pool as well and get some much needed swimming in. So we went yesterday and he picked me up around 5:30.

So we got to the gym and stretched and hopped into the pool. After swimming the first 2 laps I was already out of breath....hahahaha! I was actually pretty tired and took a 20 second breather, then continued a bit more. But the continuation was in increments of 50 meters with breaks in between each time. Meanwhile, I saw other people in there in their 40's and 50's swimming continuously. The eikaiwa members that I went with were also taking it easy but they were swimming more than I was....I felt....so out of shape!! Haha. But in all honestly, there are two different types of being in shape. There's running and there's swimming. I am definitely NOT in swimming shape! I am much more used to running and would be able to run at a normal pace for a longer distance. MUCH MUCH more so than swimming. But still, I felt pathetic against all these other people. I didn't get a tally on how many total yards I swam, but it wasn't much more than 500. I think the eikaiwa members I went with swam closer to 1000 yards maybe....didn't keep track but more than me! Haha. So I decided that I want to get more into swimming for a few reasons. It is very healthy because you get an overall body workout. Swimming works your whole body, whereas running will work mainly your legs. Swimming is also easier on the joints because it is in the water. Your knees are not being crushed or pounding continuously on the ground or treadmill. There is no risk of shin splints or other such injuries. And finally I won't feel embarrassed the next time I go swimming with other people because I will be able to go longer than 100 yards without nearly passing out.

Haha, so the moral of the story is that even if you think you are in good shape, there will always be a 60+ year old Japanese man or woman who will school you...NO MATTER WHAT!