Inspiration out of the water, the LA Marathon!

We overslept this morning and we missed our "lactic pool workout," so instead, my husband and I decided to cheer the runners as they passed Mile 22 around the Brentwood.

We saw the "Elvises" running with their wigs, Marilyn with her floating white dress and an inspiring group of students run LA with kids that looked too young to have the discipline to train for a marathon, yet they were running it! Young people, old people, people running for their kids, people running barefoot, people without legs pushing their wheelchairs uphill... it was an inspiration!

Yet also inspiring was how my husband kept cheering the runners who at Mile 22, after the hardest uphill of this marathon, were starting to give in to their minds. As he said it today, he was yelling so loud so he could be louder than the runner's voice inside their heads saying "just walk a little." He has no voice now, but 9 out of 10 runners started running again with a smile.

There you have it, you never know when you will find your inspiration today. It can be in runner with a costume, in a kid with will power... or sometimes, it sleeps right next to you!

We didn't bring a camera but lots of people did. Here's a funy group of people that printed photos of their friend Dave and were passing them to strangers! That's me in the back while Scott was running behind some runner.

Swimming, Living and Being Selfish

There are two I's in swimming, which means that when, I'm under water, all there is, is me. I am in a different element that's thick, quiet, and feels distant from daily life. That is until someone yanks me out of my zone!

In our hectic days, we rarely have enough time to focus on just ourselves. Swimming is my time. My mind is listening to my heartbeat and my breathing; I can feel how the water moves around my body, and how turning my hand one inch closer feels better than before. I can focus on the details to be better at something I enjoy. Some days I want to see how fast I can go and I'm first on my lane; somedays I want to experiment and go slower; those days I move to the end of the lane so I don't bother other swimmers. But occasionally, they seemed to be bothered nonetheless. There are those who get offended if I want to swim ahead of them or that insist that they are slower and refuse to go ahead, but keep on puffing behind me.

There are also two I's in living, but we can't live our lives ignoring the world around us. So I'm reaching out to you to see how you deal with putting yourself first sometimes, and not others? Do you ignore people? Are you blunt? At work, at home, how do you say "I'm in my zone, don't bother me" without sounding selfish?

Learning to lose

Today was the Pentathlon meet and no, I didn't participate but I was there supporting my husband, Scott. He flew around the water with flying colors and I was a proud, cheering wife from the deck.

A lot of fellow swimmers asked me why I wasn't participating. I thought it would be obvious: I just stopped swimming with fins and I'm very slow in the water. From swimming a speedy 100 yards at 1:24 with fins a month ago,  to panting the same 100 yards at barely 2 minutes, I already know I'm slow. Realizing that I'm the slowest of the slowest would be devastating to my ego and I rather not see it in paper. Fear, you ask? Absolutely, I say!

But today, there were swimmers of all types, speeds and ages, even an 82 year old woman who finished a butterfly set. She finished it! No matter how long it took, no matter what position she got. She got all the way to the end.

Watching her, I realized that, like in life, swimming is not about the competition, but about the taking the plunge. Being a professional marketer, stop trying to be get first place will a tough habit to break. But I guess it's never too late to start losing.

Not alone in these waters!

Surfing the web, my husband and I have found other swimmers' blogs, so check them out:

Tony so happens to write the SCAQ blog for the masters group where I swim regularly and he shares a lot of info about swimming news and cool water gear. I met him in person last week; he has been swimming forever and it shows in the pool!

Rob's RobAquatics says a lot about his personality. He shares his workouts (thanks) and his adventures in the water. I haven't met him yet, but he'll be in the Pentathlon this Saturday, so I'm looking forward to share a few words.

I'm sure there are more swimmers splashing around, so I'll go back to these waters!