Getting back in shape

After a couple of weeks completely off training and two weeks of light training, I am back in "real" training mode and am finding myself to be surprisingly cranky as a result. Whether it is due to that fact that I finished this season less fit than in years past or because I am feeling the effects of age, I feel worse than I ever have before with my return to my swimming, biking and running. Other than questioning the "how" of my lack of fitness, I have been alternating between self-pity ("Woe is me! I will never get fit again!"), practicality ("This is necessary, both mentally and physically") and, finally, the realization that I am a big whiner with a very skewed perspective on fitness.

As professional athletes, we become accustomed to having an incredibly high level of fitness and, even at our most unfit, we are capable of training at distances and speeds beyond those of the average person [Before you assume this to be a boast about our physical superiority, please read on!]. This is less a testament to our athletic gifts than an indication of the poor conditioning of most people in this country. I fully admit that I haven't a clue on how difficult it must be to attempt to get into shape as an unfit adult. Based on how it feels to swim after getting "unfit", however, I can certainly assume that it must be a Sisiphysian task of a scope that I will never understand. To rewrite a lifetime of habits and physical patterning must seem an impossible demand.

With this realization in mind, I vow to redouble my efforts in promoting health and fitness at the Boys and Girls Club. By encouraging healthy activity and behaviour at a young age, we have the opportunity to ensure that kids will adopt practices that will keep them from ever experiencing what it means to be truly unfit as an adult.