The Swimming Runner

Runners stretch, pace, drink a lot of water, eat Gu, chia seeds, buy new shoes all the time (to the chargrin of our spouses), yet for the recreational runner, this isn't enough to establish a lean body frame.

Swimming is the perfect cross-training exercise for runners...and why? This is my expert (I'm a novice) opinion:

• Swimming, next to walking, is the best physical activity for your body.
• There is no impact to your bones and joints (except for early morning swimmers who experience the shock of the cold water against the barely-awake body).
• You are stretching your entire body with every stroke
• Increased lung capacity
• Better trained lungs
• Core building (abdomen, glutes, chest, hips, stomach)

Somehow, I get lean when I swim. I feel lean. I feel good. And because I am a runner, where repitition is intrinsic to the art, lap swimming is within my windfall tolerance.

Oh, and the swimsuits...well, it does provide motivation. Those things are skin tight. Plus, we are already wearing tights in the winter to run, why not wear a skin-tight swimsuit in the summer.