Thursday, August 21, 2008

Feeling good, and soggy

When I was 6 years old, I was introduced to soccer, the ocean, and a life of activity in general. In junior high school, I played basketball as often as six times per day. And as a 17 year old, I decided on a whim to try water polo, and discovered that physical exhaustion takes on a whole new intensity when you're in the deep end of the pool with 200lb guys trying their best to drown you.
I've been fortunate to have a healthy body that allows me to push myself the way I have and, although I've perhaps been fitter at some point in my young life, it's hard to imagine being much more active than I am right now!
I have been working 7 days a week for what seems like months now, mostly as a scuba divemaster. During the weeks, I guide customers on beach dives in Monterey an average of twice per day. The routine involves getting myself and my customers suited up with roughly 70lbs of dive gear, walking 300 metres to the beach, swimming on the surface another 200 metres, and then beginning the actual dive. Afterwards, we walk back to the shop, refill our tanks, and do the whole thing over again. Oh, and did I mention that my wetsuit is 12mm thick? It's not exactly the most forgiving piece of clothing to jostle about in. This month in particular has been quite intense physically. In the month of July, I dived 23 times (which includes the dives I did while cleaning boats in the harbor for up to 5 hours at a time). Last week alone however, I got in, through, and out of the water thirteen times in just six days! Not only is that a personal record for diving, I'm starting to notice a level of physical fitness the likes of which I haven't experienced since playing varsity soccer in high school. When I play pick up soccer on mondays and wednesdays (for fun, of course), I regularly discover that I'm able to run (and breathe) much more easily than I have in years. Not bad for a guy who had asthma as a kid, and was told that I'd never be able to dive because of problems with my ears.
It's a great feeling to be able to bike up a long hill on the way to work, complete several dives which may or may not involve towing an exhausted man 100lbs my superior, scrub boats in the harbor for 3 hours, bike home again, and then run around with friends for two hours on the soccer field.
But to be totally honest, it isn't too hard for me to fall asleep these days...

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