Tonight was my 9th water aerobics class. Last week I switched from the class in the shallow end to the class in the deep end. I can’t hit my hurting feet on the bottom in the deep end. I also can’t cheat in the deep end. Hadn’t thought that one through thoroughly. From outside the pool, the basic exercises look the same. It is a LIE. They are not. In the deep you meet, and engage, your CORE. Lanell (name changed to protect the innocent), our instructor, makes sure of that. Apparently my CORE and I have been estranged for decades. I’ve also been re-introduced to my OBLIQUES. They must have been on vacation with my core. Lanell is tough. Lanell runs a water boot camp! “Get those knees up - higher!”, “Back straight, engage those ABS, tuck those glutes!, “Switchbacks – 10 more, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Scissor kick with cross over water punch, here comes the interval (interval means as hard and fast as you can) GO! GO!” And I’m there, huffing and puffing and floundering about trying to keep up. She watches. She encourages, “Nice Cross Country Stride there,” but she doesn’t let up. Her smile is kind, but her smile is also, “Heh, heh, heh, NO MERCY.” This is good for me. And Lanell can do a Barrell Roll like nobody’s business! Sixty years old and she is kicking MY butt!
Others in the class are graceful. I am not. Others in the class know all the moves. I do not. All my life I always thought I knew how to do a Jumping Jack. Did you know it can be done in reverse? I didn’t. But it can be. Not very well by me yet, that’s where coordination fails me. So far the ladies have been very kind. They smile and say I’ll get it eventually. I sincerely hope that is the case. I do not enjoy looking the fool.
My favorite part of water class is the last three to five minutes. After the splashing and thrashing, while we’re slowly and quietly stretching at the wall, the water goes calm. I have a hard time staying with the stretch routine. I like to just hang there, vertical like a buoy in the water. I love feeling weightless. I love feeling no pain. I love being still, feeling my body immersed in water. I love looking down, way down and seeing nothing between my feet and the bottom below. It feels like floating in the air! What a thrill! You don’t get that kind of thrill in the shallow end. Oh, and I even got the otter hands – you know, the aqua gloves with webbed fingers to create resistance. I smile to myself when I see them paddling around in the water (I have a thing for otters). Since joining the deep end class, I look forward to going. It feels magical. I like that kind of magic.
Others in the class are graceful. I am not. Others in the class know all the moves. I do not. All my life I always thought I knew how to do a Jumping Jack. Did you know it can be done in reverse? I didn’t. But it can be. Not very well by me yet, that’s where coordination fails me. So far the ladies have been very kind. They smile and say I’ll get it eventually. I sincerely hope that is the case. I do not enjoy looking the fool.
My favorite part of water class is the last three to five minutes. After the splashing and thrashing, while we’re slowly and quietly stretching at the wall, the water goes calm. I have a hard time staying with the stretch routine. I like to just hang there, vertical like a buoy in the water. I love feeling weightless. I love feeling no pain. I love being still, feeling my body immersed in water. I love looking down, way down and seeing nothing between my feet and the bottom below. It feels like floating in the air! What a thrill! You don’t get that kind of thrill in the shallow end. Oh, and I even got the otter hands – you know, the aqua gloves with webbed fingers to create resistance. I smile to myself when I see them paddling around in the water (I have a thing for otters). Since joining the deep end class, I look forward to going. It feels magical. I like that kind of magic.