I did it - ONE MILE - 1,650 meters!

I'm talking about my swimming workout. I did a mile today in two legs 900 meters, a 5 minute rest and then 750 meters - and finished in 55 minutes. If I can get to 2,000 meters in less than one hour I'd qualify for the Master's Swim Club at my Y (whatever that means LOL). Steve

Wowza!! That's wonderful!! You have made such fantastic progress. I am so proud of you Rachelle

Nice! I am doing 750 in about 30 minutes now. My local Y is starting a Master's Club this month but I'm having to work up to that as well! I coached Matser's Swimming in a (very) previous life and one of my goals is to be able to race for myself instead of just encouraging other. The best part of swimming is I find it so peaceful even when the pool is crowded. Congrats! Where do you live? Which Y do you swim at? Best - Chris Davitt Highest - 287 Now - 197.5 Goal - 170

Hi Chris - I live in San Francisco and swim at the Central YMCA. It's an old Y - built in 1906 and has a great crowd. They do a lot for inner city teens and seniors so I feel really good about giving them my membership money (vs. filling the pockets of a big corporation). There are also a lot of older gay guys that go to that particular gym - and some lesbians and trans folks to. I worked there when I was in grad school and feel a special bond to the place I guess - it is really welcoming to everyone and I've never seen anyone disrespected there. Wow - they should hire me to do some marketing, huh? I don't even know what the Master's club is - I just know they have the pool at a certain time and what is required to qualify. You want to race huh? Not sure that is in my future - maybe when I was a bit younger LOL.... at 52, I'm happy to just work on the endurance and get my exercise - but who knows there will be another Gay Games in a few years, right? I know what you mean about the peacefulness - I can be so relaxed at times in the water but I don't do so good when it's real busy - it's hard for me to stay relaxed and then everything starts going - the timing, the strokes, the breathing, I forget to kick LOL but I think part of that is just being a little new back at it. Good luck with your goals! Steve

AWESOME! I just want to work up to about 30 minutes on the stationary bike and then I know I'll be ready for the eliptial machine -- I love that system. Five minutes on the stationary bike almost tired me out but I pushed forward because I knew I could do 10 minutes. I keep a daily record of the exercises I perform in a journal so I'll know when and what to move up on. I used to do that when I was on the police department in Louisiana and it helps keep with my progress. Swimming, well I'm not sure about that. I'll probably try again when the pool opens in the spring. Up until the summer I'd been rehabilitating rotator cup strain and the shoulder is doing pretty good so far. I love to swim so we'll see. Then again, I have to consider my hairstyle. I have locs and I don't touch them so if they get wet I have to figure out what to do with them. I'm not up for sitting and doing all that twisting, that's what I pay the loc smith for. So we'll see.

Congrats on that! You had written me that in email, but I wanted to publicly recognize your hard work!! What you are doing for your cardiovascular system is amazing and your body will be thanking you for years to come. Ken