It's Time.

(Post by Tracy)

Time for what? Time for me and Tom to try out our local YMCA.

We were really great about running while we lived in Milwaukee. We were also very lucky to have a nice workout room in our apartment building, equipped with 2 treadmills that both had their own TVs. Even more, we had a beautiful, peaceful running/biking path within walking distance. We were spoiled.

Then we moved, and you'd think with the warm weather that it shouldn't have been hard to create and stick with a new running routine. But it was. The days (surprise!) still get short in the winter here, even though the weather stays warm (well, it was a surprise to me), and the sun set well before Tom got home from work. We also weren't sure exactly where to run. The list of excuses goes on, but the result was, nonetheless, that we weren't (aren't) running or working out at all, and I didn't (don't!) like that.

Exercise is important to me. I feel different when I regularly exercise. I sleep better, I eat better, I am happier with myself and my body is happier. But I had this great conversation with Morgan Thursday night and afterwards I also realized, my mind is happier when I exercise.

Morgan is reading Eat, Pray, Love, and we were talking about meditation. I've tried (and failed at) meditating before (a blog post for another day), but I still think there's something to it. Morgan expressed similar sentiments, and so we were dissecting what exactly meditation is. Morgan felt like she just couldn't do it either, but I was saying that trying to get to a meditative state is probably half the practice of meditating. I asked her if she's ever done something that feels trance-like, like reciting memorized prayers or zoning out while running or grading papers (just kidding). I said that sometimes when I'd be swimming laps, I'd be swimming, swimming, swimming and then in my mind think to myself Oh, I'm on lap 12? without even realizing I had gotten to lap 12. Not that I was asleep while I swam those laps, but just that my mind wandered until it sort of ... shut down ... until it came back, and I wondered where it had been.

Anyway, in our conversation, I kind of realized this might be my form of meditation. And then, out of nowhere, after 3 years of trying to make it as a runner because it's just so much more convenient, it hit me so hard - the desire to jump in and just swim until my muscles are sore and my body is waterlogged and my head is clear.

I'm hoping our Y has a decent pool and good enough hours so I can get this done. We'll find out this weekend - wish me luck!