I'll hopefully be conquering this lake come September. Eek!

My roommate, who runs marathons, told me something recently about how signing up for athletic events in the future are great incentive to actually get in shape for them. Who knew?

Anyway, I found this piece of information — and her — inspiring, so I decided to sign up for the Big Shoulders Swim this September. I used to be a decent distance swimmer, but haven’t competed in close to six years. I’ve done one 5k swim before, but I was practically a fetus. Right now, I’m way out of practice, way out of shape … way out of my mind.

I landed in the pool for the first time in over a year yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to get a mile swim done. My breathing is messed up (as evidenced by the daylong headache that followed) and my stroke is sloppy, but more than anything I’m just excited to feel like I could at least complete the 2.5k mini version of Big Shoulders. I’m shooting for the 5k, though. Ridiculous out-of-shapeness, be damned.

I’m thinking of training with the Chicago Smelts Masters Team, because they are closest to my home and are also significantly cheaper than any other area team at $80 per year (a lot cost $300 or over). The Smelts are primarily GLBT, but they say that everyone is welcome (let’s hope so). The workouts look doable (3,000 yards – 5,000 yards each practice) and might be a good way to get in shape, especially since about 20 Smelts are preparing for Big Shoulders this year.

In writing this seemingly-boring post, I’m hoping I’ll get comments with links to great workouts, tips and other things. The fact that I haven’t lost my nerve yet makes me think I really might be able to get into proper shape, so I hope to hear some good stuff from the Interwebs.

(Have to say also that a friend from University of Chicago is planning to swim with me, which is so exciting. What cause should I swim for?)

- Katie