Life in the Fast Lane

Getting in the water is required for a required swim.

​As some of you know, last fall I began teaching a Friday gym class as part of a local tutorial for homeschooling students. This semester, I gained a few more students and one of my new students asked if I ever used the online classroom to assign homework. My answer was no. I explained the goal of the class is to do the work (running, games, sit-ups, push-ups, crunches, etc.,) while in class and hopefully to inspire students to do more during the week. Ever exercised and felt your muscles “talk back” to you the next day? If you didn’t overdo it, then this is your body reminding you to keep it up. I would rather instill a love of exercise and fitness than to make it a requirement.
 
Lifeguards, however, must stay fit in order to keep their jobs. This involves jumping in the water and swimming a minimum of 500yards every two weeks, something not all of us enjoy doing. What I lack is the capacity to keep count of the number of lengths I’ve completed. Oh well, I guess I’ll just swim another 200yds then. Occasionally teenagers get lazy and either don’t log their swim (like me) or attempt to skip it entirely (fictional guards in this cartoon.)
 
Truthfully, I am swimming between five and eight miles a week with DAMA (Durham Area Masters Aquatics) and loving life in the fast lane. Yes, I’m finally there. Those jammers make a big difference!