First Swim

Tuesday is swim day! I didn't even have to get up that early to throw on my suit, pack clothes for work,  and pack all the other stuff for the day. I did forget a towel for showering, so I had to use a couple little sweat towels provided by the gym, but no biggie :)  Other things I learned: I need to get "gym bag only" makeup, deodorant, etc. I'm just not that good at remembering everything, so this would make getting to the gym regularly even easier. Especially considering swimming and all the extras needed for that.

So, anyway...got to the gym, put my stuff in a locker and walked out to the pool. Another change since I've swam last is my hair is longer which means swim cap. Such an odd thing to put on the head. I got my ears tucked in such a way that I don't think I'll need to use my ear plugs.

Some people don't run and can't imagine being able to run 1 mile. I don't swim and can't imagine being able to swim a half mile. But that's the distance I need to work up to. I'm approaching it like a beginner runner; starting slow, taking breaks, methodically build up the distance. I don't know any other way to do it. I can't remember how long I've ever swam. I've gotten into the 1000s of yards I believe, between some different strokes and the kickboard. But I've never swam continuously more than 50 yards. Sooooo....I have some serious work ahead of me. :)

I started this swimming endeavor with 10 x 50 yards. So down and back 10 times. It was a workout suggested in my Multi-sport training book. I tried to make it super slow so I could go longer and not have issues breathing. For the first 25 yards, I was breathing every three strokes. Then turning around, I did that for maybe a quarter of the way then had to switch to every other stroke. And then at the ened I was out of breath. :/  A lot of work ahead of me. Depending on who you ask and how long the pool I swim in actually is (yards or meters - I should ask the front desk next time I'm there what the distance is of the leisure pool), I'm looking at a distance of somewhere between 33 - 36 laps. Continuous laps. Right now I can do...two :) It's a half mile to the end of our street. So it's like all I could do was make it to the neighbor's mailbox, lol.   It is a bit daunting.

I feel fine today from the swim. I was definitely tired for the 10th lap, my form (if you can call what I do in the water having any form at all) was really falling apart. I found something about a cross-over kick for long swimming. Sprint kicking will wear you out too fast, so it's recommended to barely kick at all. I had no idea! I thought you had to kick like mad while swimming. This makes me wonder if I can breathe easier next time if I take the legs out of the equation.

We did yoga for the first time in 8 weeks last night. It was pretty miserable. But also proof that yoga ws in fact making me stronger.