The intentional novice

I’m a childless man in my late 30’s, so naturally I’ve become a pretty serious runner.

But I always seem to lose motivation around this time of year. I blame the dark, short days in the PNW. This year I tried to anticipate this lull, and I joined a pool.

I swim every Monday and Friday, and I’m awful at it.

I can do one, maybe two laps at a time (25 yard pool) before I’m gasping for breath. I’m sure it’s partly due to poor form and breathing technique. The lanes to the left and right of me are full of people who seem to have perfect strokes. Who never need a break. I know that’s not actually the case, but it sure feels like that in the moment.

Each session is a struggle, yet I keep going back, twice a week, for my 30 minutes of not so much fun. Yet it’s what they call “type 2 fun”: not fun in the moment, but fun in retrospect.

I’m learning to seek out these sorts of experiences more as I get older. It’s surprisingly rewarding, and humbling, to fight the instinct of familiarity, and try stuff you’re so inexperienced at that it’s a little embarrassing.