Preparations -
Training
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Preparations -
Training |
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24 February 2001 One thing that I knew I would have to do before I went down to Australia was TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN. I couldn’t get the image of the bronze, healthy, fit bodies of the Australian lifesavers out of my head. This of course could be a stereotype of the life saver which I shouldn’t base my opinion on, but still, they looked good and therefore I needed to as well. Hey, I know I had preconceptions and many people probably do too of the Canadian lifeguard as someone pasty white in a snow suit, well, maybe not the snow suit, but you get my drift! I started the training routine quickly after my knee surgery in June of 2000. It actually helped me to have such a lofty goal. I recovered rapidly and the combined effort of therapy and physical activity helped me reach new heights in my fitness level. I gained a great trainer, Dan, who pushed me until it hurt and he came up with a new program about every 2-3 weeks with the idea that I would be ready to "really train" starting in December. I was progressing quite well until it happened, my body quit. Around December my knee and body decided that I had to slow down, and that meant putting my goals on hold. ( We all know that when the body doesn’t want to do something, it tells you in nice subtle ways!) But, soon after the well needed rest I was ready to go. I started with a 4 day cycle with 2 days off and then progressed to a 6 day cycle with one day off. Tons of swimming and cardio was integrated and I felt like I was sculpting myself into the image of an Greek god (actually, I guess that would be an Australian god). I asked Ben in Australia what lifesavers do to train but what he told me wasn’t what I expected. He said that some train twice a day and others don’t at all. It’s what they feel is necessary. That totally blew my whole philosophy on what the lifesavers did. I guess that was a stereotype that I had created. Maybe they were like many guards here, you train to what you feel is necessary. I know that a friend of mine, when he was in lifeguard competitions, trained an insane amount of hours to ready himself for the grueling tests of endurance. But when he wasn’t training for these competitions, he regularly worked out, at a moderate pace. It was what he felt was necessary for him to do. He was fit and ready for any situation that put him to the test. So, I guess that’s what I’m doing now, just trying to be ready for what ever I am up against in the next little while. Hey, it’s all part of the learning experience. And whatever doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger... right? (Eeek!)
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