I will never make fun of water aerobics again!

to the dark side....you have gone....hmmmm...

Water jogging or water running is not the same thing as floating on a noodle while music plays and pretending to be working out. The former is exercise. The latter is paying a scam artist to tell you you're exercising in the desperate hope that suggestion is more powerful than actual physical activity. I've never criticized water running, except when some idiot decided to get in a lane with several other swimmers to do it and kept getting in their way. Those people get run over. No sympathy. P.S. For those who remember my pool rants, I finally gave up and quit swimming in September. While on a weeks' vacation points south, I tried my first open water swim. I was sitting there on the deck next to the lake, looking at the island a half mile away, and decided to go for it. I had a jetski escort to keep the speeding boaters from killing me. When I came back north after being out in that open water, I couldn't bear the thought of fighting for space in a lane. So I quit and cancelled my Y membership, printing "Substandard facilities and unsatisfactory member service" in the "Reason for Leaving" section on the form. But I moved in December and discovered a reasonably uncrowded YMCA pool right down the street from my new house. I joined up again, and besides being a little too warm and having a weird slope to the wall at one end that makes me misjudge the end of the pool, it seems to be a little more tolerable. There are aerobes there, but so far I haven't seen them. I've only been back twice, because January has been busy and the insult of this miserable weather makes me only want to go home and sleep when I do have time to work out. I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine, however, and coming up with a new signature line.

Hey Shaky--congratulations on your new Y. as I remember you were going to grad school in pursuit of an entirely new career. Is this part of the move? And, I hope to be as liberated with open swimming when i delve into it this spring. best, jerrycat

Originally posted by jerrycat as I remember you were going to grad school in pursuit of an entirely new career. Is this part of the move? Not yet. The applications are in, and I'm in a holding pattern waiting to be invited for interviews. I won't know something for certain until late February or March. I'll start either this summer or next fall, depending on the school. I'm hoping to get into Pennsylvania's business school (Wharton), and I think I have a reasonable chance of acceptance. My scores and grades are at the very top of their middle 80% (well above their average). Everything rests on my essays, work experience, and whether the admissions committee thinks that it makes any sense for a teevee cameraman to pursue an MBA, trading boots and flannels for a pair of Cole Haans and a suit. Not only does Wharton have one of the top MBA programs in the world, there's also a 50m indoor pool at the student gym across the street from the business school, and a 25y pool across campus somewhere. When I visited the 50m pool, a bulkhead divided it into two 25y pools, and there were lanes enough for everyone. I can't remember the actual cost of it, but I remember thinking that it was a lot cheaper than my crappy Y experience. It didn't smell like fried chicken, either. Unfortunately, however, I don't drink beer. That's a shame, because Wharton holds a weekly MBA tavern for its students where they pay $90 at the beginning of the semester, then get all the beer and pizza they can handle each week for the rest of the school term. At least I like pizza. I'll just have to eat a few more slices to get my money's worth, then work it off at the pool.:D

Jerrycat, did you get lessons on these water aerobics ? And did you use weights on your ankles ?

Shaky - I wondered where you went off to and worried some noodler gang floated over to your lane and held you under.

HI Babs, No lesson...someone tipped me off to deep water running because my knee hurt. So, I grabbed a belt and did it. It's really a terrific workout because it not only simulates running, but it also encourages your heart to produce more blood. but, when I was DWR, there was a lady about 75 years old who was in a personal training session with an instructor. They had resitance gloves on, as well as some kind of boots--they were really working it. Plus there are dumbbells, so you can even do exercises with your arms, etc. It's much harder than it looks--believe me. I was a huge skeptic, and tried DWR out of desperation. REAL water aerobics looks just as challenging--a person gets out what they put in. It's good stuff!

I"m not really sure what vertical kicking is--but if I had more than just one cup of coffee my brain would be "on" as opposed to this blur I'm in right now. But, yeah, I'm sure it's as hard...I think any big vigorous movement in the water is a challenge. It's great cross training.

Vertical kicking is getting into deep water, letting go of the edge, crossing your arms over your chest and using nothing more than your legs to keep your head above the water. It is a great workout for your legs. You have to kick steady and strong to "tread water" without using the arms.

Beer and Pizza night at Kellog (Northwestern) was when all the students wold get together and talk about how they would run the world some day, make highly inaccurate predictions on the stock market and generally inflate their watermellon sized egos. Go for the stock tips (Short whatever anyone is touting).