Fast forward

I love to come from the gym. After the sauna, the snow smells unbelievable and you can feel your neurons moving again… I am not very eager to go to the gym. I can find millions of reasons why I can’t. So what I would like is to speed up the time when I’m undecided – before I grab my bag and leave the house; and slow down the afterwards feeling, that I have done something good for me today. Like in the Click, but without the side effects.

Conquer your fear

It’s 3 o’clock, am, no TV, no books, no tomorrow… In Maldives is monsoons season, when you can’t predict the weather for more than 3 hours. Today the sky is full with stars, so it won’t rain for some time. The air conditioner is doing its job – outside is a wet sticky hot, which can be barely calm down in the hot calm Indian Ocean. No waves, this is a lagoon.

The island, Kuredu, has 1,5km all around. You can walk it through in half of hour. It’s all sand – white sand – nobody wears any shoes, not even the man who waspiloting the seaplane…

First day I was a zombie – I’ve tried unsuccessfully to sleep, to eat, to relax, to rewind – no way! I had another movie running in head, full time. The welcome massage synchronized a bit my inner and outer world – I was in paradise, what the heck! It’s time to enjoy it!

Since my sis infected me with the scuba virus, I had it on my list for quite a while, tried it in Italy, got water in my mask, scared to death – heart pumping heavily in my ears, so I’ve abandon it in the middle of the session. But since it was a virus I have infected my significant one, therefore he put it on his list – so here we are giving it another try. We are 3 students: us and one Russian. The trainer is French, Benoit, speaking perfectly English. After some theory we went to lagoon and tried the gear. It was easy: put on and off your mask, cease the fish in shallow water, control your buoyancy. I could do it. The second lesson we went further in the sea. Don’t stop breathing, equalize the pressure, adjust the air in your BCD (buoyancy control device) – I was scared but brave. We were going deeper and deeper and after some time my glasses were so full of steam that I couldn’t see anything – only fog and moving shadows. Then the trainer showed us a black hole and said let’s go for it! No, really? I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, why should I want to go in that hole? So I told my French guy: I’m not going there! We had a long conversation about this: did I have problems in my ears? No. In my heart? No. In my head? Definitely! So he made a very wise decision, change the route, take my hand and said that we’ll go just for a little more: about 1,5 cm – he shown me with his eloquent hands. He was articulate, smart, experienced, fit, so I trusted him with my life. And there we are, deep in the hole, with my steamy glasses and my heart bumping in my head. There was no fun, just my will trying to control my closer and closer panic attack. But I stick it in, and I went all the way out. The next night I could finally sleep. The third day we had an open water diving. The French man abandon us – he was French after all, so we’ve got a German instead, worst English, laughing like crazy, definitely not my type. We went by boat in the middle of the sea, put the gear on and jump in the water. The French fixed my glasses before I left – it was supposed to burn he protection film before using them. How should I have known it? Nevertheless seeing is a bless. I didn’t need any hand, any support, I was free and independent. And the world deep there is breathless: millions of fishes all the colors: blue, red, green, yellow, big, small, round, fat, I was the little mermaid. There was no shark today. Over 26 species of sharks are living in Lhaviyani Atoll. Baby-sharks are coming close to the beach looking for food; and sometimes parents-sharks too. Don’t touch them is the main rule. And control your fear; your mind is more powerful than anything else.

 

Dependenta de sport

 Niciodata nu mi-a placut sa alerg… Nici sprintul nu mi se pare ok, imi aduce in memorie perioada inumana, cand faceam naveta o ora si 40 de minute in fiecare directie +8,40 ore de serviciu + 3 ore pe zi cate 4 zile pe saptamana de limba finlandeza… Eram permanent un zombi, iar cosmarul trenului care-mi pleca de sub nas, sau pe care reuseam sa-l prind in ultima secunda cu inima spragandu-mi timpanele, ma va bantui la fiecare start…

 Pe de alta parte, nu stiu cum, ma lovesc in ultima vreme doar de oameni normali care participa regulat la maraton: colegi, mame cu trei sau patru copiii, necunoscuti in parc,  Alex Stubb  ce isi povesteste experienta triathlonului si ne garanteaza ca o ora de sport ne asigura 2 ore suplimentare de energie zilnica… asa ca am incercat de cateva ori sa alerg – fara mare succes insa…

In schimb am descoperit schiatul… primul contact l-am avut la 20 de ani intr-o vacanta de iarna… cateva zile am avut o pereche de schiuri inchiriate pe care le-am folosit anemic cateva ore pe o partie de schi din Busteni. Ulterior am mai avut cateva incercari nereusite- pana anul trecut cand am descoperit schiul de fond… Trecand peste avantajele imediate: echipamentul e mai ieftin, partia incepe in spatele casei si continua zeci de km, se invata usor, etc…. ce mi se pare realmente fascinant este alternanta – urci un deal cateva minute, te odihnesti coborand; este peisajul – noaptea, din zapada ce efectiv straluceste te invaluie o ceata joasa de zona crepusculara, accentuata de linistea ireala si de miresmele padurii de brad; este sentimental de oboseala fizica ce-ti curata mintea de rutina zilnica, este adrenalina vitezei, este endorfina ce-ti invadeaza trupul… Dupa o sauna fierbinte simti ca esti un alt om… Iar acum cand am descoperit partia pe care pot schia impreuna cu Lea – la viteza stabilita de ea – sunt chiar fericita ca iarna in acest an pare eterna…