Dara Torres
Dara Torres. Yeah, yeah, hot. But there’s a great story in the NY Times Magazine about how she’s doing everything she can to fight the fading of the light as she crosses over the 40-year mark. And absolutely killing it. Yesterday, she made the Olympic team in the 50 freestyle, and the 100 free earlier in the week. Awesome.
Way back, once upon a time, I swam. A lot. I coached. I got into open-water swimming. Then I got into triathlon and biking, and then I got really into biking and stopped running (a blessing) and swimming.
And it was fun. But I miss swimming. I miss the team aspect of swimming. Which is ironic, because if ever there was a sport that had NOTHING to do with team, it’s swimming. But I miss the competitive nature of swimming with a group of fellow competitors. Of chasing the guy in front of you. Of putting the hammer down when the guy behind you starts to fall off the pace. And doing it all with nothing in your ear except your own voice, your own music and your own fight to stay with them.
Anyway. Now life’s a lot different. As I get older and focus my energy on building a fence in the front yard, on growing strawberries in the garden and getting a promotion to editorial director at work, that little voice gets quieter while all the other demands get louder. But finding the time to tune out that other stuff – to run a little further, to do one more set of pushups, or to bike the long way to work — brings me back to life, and makes it easier to do those other things and feel good about them.