I first discovered aqua classes when I lived in beautiful Jackson, under the shadows of those magnificent Grand Tetons. As you can tell, I have very fond memories of that area.
The local rec center had aqua classes several times during the week (they probably still do), and I went as often as I could.
Being a pedestrian, I walked to and from the classes. But then, being a pedestrian, I walked just about everywhere I went; and where I didn't walk, I took the bus. Which, btw, was free (and probably still is). Man, I loved that place!
But I digress (and pretty early in this particular blog, I might add).
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When I moved out of Wyoming and into suburbia, there were several learning curves that I needed to conquer. Some of them have taken longer than others to tame; transportation being one such creature.
The very vast majority of the populace where I live not only drives, but has their own car at their constant disposal. Being a pedestrian in such a suburban area carries a very unique challenge. . . . which, oddly enough to me, is not always apparent to others.
People who don't drive do not have the ease of immediate transportation that those who do drive can enjoy. Couple that with a lack of public transportation, and the challenge grows bigger. BUT! As an aside, last month, the town started a commuter shuttle service to the metro's rail and bus service, so there's a huge praise there. It's also kinda funny . . . it's a 30-minute trike ride to the shuttle stop - but hey! It's much more than what there was before, and having access to the metro's transports is definitely going to help expand my world.
Tex, as y'all know, is amazing. One of the hats that he wears is "Sharmie's Chauffeur". And, he's so awesome about this; taking me where I need to go and always making sure that I know that he doesn't mind. Tex, however, also has his own life; and part of his own life includes work, school, softball and a few other things along the way. If one of those, especially his work or his school, is requiring his presence at any given time, he's not able to be my chauffeur at that particular moment. That's just how it is, and that's also how it should be.
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This past August, I discovered "my new pool". Man, I was in heaven! The glory of being able to use a pool again. AND, to my delight, they, too, offer aqua classes several times throughout the week. Granted, they're not Aqualogix classes (as the ones in Jackson are), but still, they're pretty decent classes, and I enjoy the workouts I get.
Between you and me, though, I am eventually going to buy my own Aqualogix equipment and use them during the aqua classes.
So. Tex has been chauffeuring his bride (that would be me) to/from the pool these past 8 months. Let's all truly give a hearty cheer for him because he really is absolutely wonderful and he spoils me rotten. Rotten, being the operative word. Y'all heard it here first, folks.
But. As great as it is to be able to go to the pool, doing so under Tex's chauffeuring does make for a rather "crowded" evening. If it's a pool night, Tex comes home from work, crams in as much schoolwork that he can before it's time to take me to the pool. After he drops me off from the pool, he zips back home again and crams in even more school work before it's time to come pick me up from the pool. Rinse, lather, repeat. Plus, just between you and me, I'm not really a evening / night person. I want to get up in the mornings and get all the things I need to do done, during the day; including my trips to the pool.
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A few months ago, I told Tex that I wanted to start triking to the pool. At first, he looked at me like I had grown an extra nose somewhere; one with a big wart on it. For you see, going to the pool via a vehicle is a 20-minute one-way drive; we had no idea how long it would take me via trike. But. He went ahead and helped me map out a safe route (that didn't involve the interstate that he normally takes to get me to my pool).
The route took approximately one hour for me to trike . . . one way (and, then, of course, one hour for me to trike back home).
Yep. Two hours of triking to swim or do aqua classes for one hour. Hey! It's a great way to sneak in more exercise, right?! :)
Only . . . because of poorly patched and slanted segments of road along the route (not noticeable by drivers, but definitely by trikers) and because of an extremely near-miss where the driver of a car veered into my lane while in a curve and came perilously closed to hitting me with her vehicular weapon, I kinda lost the wind in my sails about triking to/from the pool.
Yet, I continued to want my evenings to be less rushed. So! Tex, God Bless that man, modified the route along the poorly-patched, slanted, curvy area. The new route adds about 10 extra minutes; but it's a much safer route, and for that, I'm thrilled! I also changed the time I leave the house to bypass all of the school and work traffic.
Yesterday was my first day back triking to the pool.
Can I tell ya? . . . Yesterday kicked my, uhm, rear-end! Because of events of the last couple of months, I had not been able to get up to the pool as regularly as I had previously been going, so I don't think I was as prepared for 3-hour exercise session (as I was when I started triking to the pool the first time. Once I got back home from the pool yesterday (and those last 15 minutes or so of triking home seemed like an eternity to me), I was pretty-much toast the rest of the day . BUT! I did it! I started triking to the pool again.
I have taken away all of my excuses (poor road conditions, unsafe drivers, commuter traffic). And, eventually, I'll be able to come home from a triking / swimming session and not have to spend the next 42.8 hours recovering.
My goal is to trike to the pool at least twice each week, preferably thrice . . . inclement weather being one of the acceptable exclusions. Tex has told me that he will continue to be on chauffeur standby mode for days that are triking-prohibitive.
Speaking of weather, the gentle breezes I felt yesterday during my to/from triking were blissfully wonderful. The raging wind, however, was not at all kind to me, and Bob Seger's voice kept swirling around in my head . . . Against the wind; I was triking against the wind. I'm older now and still triking, against this blasted wind. That is how the original words go, isn't it?
Trike on, y'all!
Thanks for reading!
Y'all be blessed,
Sharmie
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