by Michael Sanibel

Created on: September 08, 2008   Last Updated: November 01, 2008

Jack LaLanne ain't got nothin' on me.

Of course I know who Jack LaLanne is, and he ain't got nothin' on me! I remember watching Jack on our black & white television in the fifties. He was the first, the original, and only fitness guru to achieve mass market fame and appeal during my childhood years. I'll never forget when he towed seventy boats from the Queen's Way Bridge in Long Beach harbor to the Queen Mary cruise liner. Not bad for a seventy year-old who had to swim 1 miles while handcuffed, shackled, and enduring fierce winds and ocean currents.

I've never attempted a feat like that, but I've got my own agenda. I'm on track to swim the length of the lake where I have a summer cabin. It's about six miles long but I've never been more up for the challenge. People like Jack provide plenty of inspiration, but my course was set a year ago when I suffered a 100% shoulder separation. I was getting out of my boat when I slipped on the wet dock. As I extended my right arm to break my fall, my hand slipped out from underneath me and dislocated my shoulder.

My doctor devised a comprehensive rehab program, and I dove into it with gusto and zeal. I had never been without the use of a limb before, and this was all the motivation I needed to establish three milestones for my recovery:
Immediate Get a T-shirt on over my head, unassisted.
Near-term Kayak the length of the lake's main channel in less than eight minutes.
Long-term Swim the entire length of the lake.

Within a month of intensive rehab, I had achieved my first goal. At that point I transitioned from formal rehab into my own exercise program. I joined a gymnasium and enlisted one of the trainers to help me put together a regimen that included exercise workouts and cardiovascular exercise. I needed to get my arm strength back, but I also needed to build up my overall endurance. I was on every machine in the gym: treadmill, chest press, ab-crunch, hip abductor, leg lift, and many others. I hit them all for two hours a day in a sequence that I changed and rotated depending on the day of the week.

At the six-month point, I was in my kayak and ready to conquer my second milestone. My arm felt great, I was ten pounds lighter, and my body mass index was near optimum levels. I charged off with my sights set on beating my previous record of ten minutes to traverse the main channel. After battling the wakes of several boats and an incessant wind, I converged on the bridge that marked the end of the channel, with two of my friends cheering me on.

My stopwatch kept ticking away the precious seconds as I drove my paddle into the water like a man possessed. This was where I knew all those hours of workout exercises were going to pay off. As I slipped under the arch of the bridge, I glanced down at my watch. Close - oh so tantalizingly close. Eight minutes and twelve seconds. Not bad I thought for a 56 year-old guy whose arm had been in a sling only a few months before.

My third and final goal is now firmly in my crosshairs. I've cranked up my exercise training several notches and I am more determined than ever to accomplishing that long swim. I am absolutely convinced I can do it, and the only question now is how long it will take. Maybe I could get Jack to chase me!

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