git dang
No. 1 and No. 2 - Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, off to Beijing. I wasn't able to follow the "Trials" (and why are they called Trials if only the top two scorers are guaranteed spots?) but I read that Chellsie Memmel was third. That must be a surreal feeling. Being shut out of the 2004 trials and games due to injury, then just missing the first two spots for 2008. Even though (barring injury) she's a lock for the team, it must be a tense time of waiting. Next month, the rest of the team will be finalized. Can't wait!
And now for some melodrama from someone whose emergent athleticism is still tripping on cracks in the pavement:
I just kicked my own ass. I forgot just how many muscles are involved in propelling oneself through water. Three hundred meters was not an unreasonable distance, but I shouldn't have set distance and time goals for my first plunge in years. My first setback: I have to take an unscheduled day off tomorrow.
From the valley pool I drove home (feeling for all the world like a little old lady with severe arthritis), where I lay in a tub of hot water that I couldn't even fill myself (still dressed, because I couldn't undress, because my arms were not working properly) till I couldn't stand the heat, and then slept in various therapeutic positions for two hours. My sweetie made dinner, and we watched a program on the History Channel about ancient torture devices. Nothing like learning about bone-crushing Roman machinery to speed one along on the road to recovery.
From today's setback I've learned three things: 1) When my mind is set, I can't be stopped from reaching for a goal, even a physical one; 2) too much zeal can really hurt; 3) I could never be a diva girlfriend/fiancee/wife. It was really difficult to let Scott do all the super basic stuff for me that I couldn't do for myself because of the malfunctioning arms and legs: fill the tub, arrange me in it, bring me a glass of water and a book, make dinner, even take the dishes to the kitchen. So even though at times I think I'd love to be the household princess, I know I'd fail miserably my first day on the job.
The good news about all of this is that as Week One (first of two weeks of base fitness level establishment) comes to a close, my mind is already in such a different place than it was when school got out. I actually don't want to take a day off. I tried to think of something I could do for my 45 cardio minutes tomorrow that wouldn't involve any of the muscles I put out of commission today, but ... there are no unaffected major muscles. Though I feel two hundred percent better than I did when I teetered into the apartment this afternoon, I'm still walking around like the Tin Man. Kuliouou IV:canceled postponed.
Haven't been in pain that bad since my slipped disc in high school. But there's a little more glory in a balance beam accident than there is in swimming yourself into pseudo-paralysis. Believe I've learned my lesson.
The good news about all of this is that as Week One (first of two weeks of base fitness level establishment) comes to a close, my mind is already in such a different place than it was when school got out. I actually don't want to take a day off. I tried to think of something I could do for my 45 cardio minutes tomorrow that wouldn't involve any of the muscles I put out of commission today, but ... there are no unaffected major muscles. Though I feel two hundred percent better than I did when I teetered into the apartment this afternoon, I'm still walking around like the Tin Man. Kuliouou IV:
Haven't been in pain that bad since my slipped disc in high school. But there's a little more glory in a balance beam accident than there is in swimming yourself into pseudo-paralysis. Believe I've learned my lesson.
For Aunt Vickie:
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