Fitness

Gaining strength, endurance and skill for Laser sailing is a cyclical process. We need to stress our bodies and intellects, and then we need to rest and recuperate. My inclination is to be more motivated to indulge in the rest and recuperation than in the stress.

Now I’m as excited to get on the water on a warm spring day as any Laser sailor, but I find it harder and harder to get the cycle of activity established early enough in the winter so that the first month of sailing isn’t all about ibuprofen and rebooting my sailing head.

The last few dozen years I have had to pay close attention to what I eat. My weight can climb right out of my clothes if I just start thinking about dessert or smoothies. Pasta tenaciously clings to me. I have to find ways to motivate myself to diminish belly fat.

Just as surely as I gain weight, I seem to lose muscles as I age. I want to be active with my grandchildren and live life with a good degree of energy, so I want to stay in aerobic shape and maintain muscle mass. I got a Laser to help me accomplish those goals. One of the bumper stickers I like is “Cheat the nursing home, die on your Laser.”