My Swimming Lessons
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hm. So your options are $600 a year for the Y or $744 for the gym. Is it worth the extra $150 to avoid that area of town? Or, do you save $150 and turn those sour memories into a positive? Doesn't the Y offer lower rates for lower incomes?
Is there just a pool that you can buy a pass to? A year pass to my pool is around $360. Which isn't worth it for me. I just buy a 20 visit pass for $88.0 -
Oh not quite - the Y doesn't require a year's commitment to sign up. I already signed up with them before, didn't go even once, and canceled after a few months. At least if I become a slacker and don't use the membership, I can cancel and wouldn't owe a huge amount of money. I feel like I'm up against a clock this summer, so it may not be a realistic idea of how much I'll actually use the pool year round. I'll check into per visit passes at the Y, but will also think about the $744. I mean for now, I'm actually using it!1
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It would be a shame to quit swimming now when you're just starting to get the hang of it!!! Besides... who would I chat swimming with if you stopped???? lol
I had a good night tonight swimming. I felt strong. I love when I feel strong in the pool. I swam 1200m in 55 mins! Yay me!!!1 -
No! You can't stop @JaneiR36
I agree with @spring913 and also who am I going to stop by and listen to and learn from if you two stop sharing your swimming experience? 
I love reading this thread!
I had planned doing a refresher on lessons this Summer but sadly the person I had in mind to teach is no longer working at the Y. I use some of the other Y's but the instructors all seem to be like 18 -20 years old and I'm wanting someone a bit older.
I still hope to jump in some lessons this Summer as I've been wanting to for a number of years now.
So please carry on Ladies! :laugh: Please! Looking forward to joining you both when I get my butt in gear.1 -
lol. I didn't realize other people were reading our ramblings!!0
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Well Hearts posted earlier in the topic so us three readers confirmed for sure hehehe.
Wow, I'd love to feel as strong as you did sometime soon, 1200m would be pretty awesome to swim in a single session! A girl can only dream
. It sounds like you really enjoyed yourself, too! 0 -
Hearts_2015 wrote: »No! You can't stop JaneiR36 I agree with spring913 and also who am I going to stop by and listen to and learn from if you two stop sharing your swimming experience? I love reading this thread!
I had planned doing a refresher on lessons this Summer but sadly the person I had in mind to teach is no longer working at the Y. I use some of the other Y's but the instructors all seem to be like 18 -20 years old and I'm wanting someone a bit older.
I still hope to jump in some lessons this Summer as I've been wanting to for a number of years now.
So please carry on Ladies! :laugh: Please! Looking forward to joining you both when I get my butt in gear.
Whew! I best keep swimming, then! I'm guessing just watching YouTube videos won't quite cut it hehehe
If you can buy individual lessons, perhaps give the young trainers a try? Worst case scenario they're not quite what you're looking for and you don't buy more lessons. Could also do an interview of sorts beforehand, where you share your goals and see if they can help.1 -
So I'm noticing another little joy of swimming, where when I bend over so that my head is well below my waistline, water that has rushed up my nose drains out??? I mean yeah I'm attempting the flip turns and not worrying about the water rushing up my nose unpleasantness, but I didn't think pool water was getting stored in my head :laugh: It really might be time for a nose clip, for real, and it might help me swim farther
So even the guy who told me to relax a little said I was more relaxed! No kidding, LOL. The little video about slicing the water rather than slapping it really helped, and it also means my forearms don't get tired as quickly or really get tired at all, and instead I started feeling it in my triceps and biceps, not to mention some actual shoulder work going on.
I also noticed I've been letting my core hang out, though. Just tightening up my lower abs gets me that bow-like shape I've been looking for, without much additional effort. The problem though is these micro adjustments do exhaust me earlier. I'm still just doing one 25 yard length and panting as though I've done an all out sprint in a 50m dash!0 -
Had the nose drip thing a couple times again after today's swim and I didn't even try a flip turn
I did swim a couple laps just breathing every two strokes, though. I'd been doing every four, since every two had me sinking before. I really don't sink when swimming anymore, so that's awesome! Wow, just so different. Recovery time with breathing every two is much shorter too and I'm not standing there and gasping for eons. For the first time, too, I was also noticing somebody walking beside the pool and could actually look at them every time I came up to wonder, "hey what's this guy and what's he doing with that hose? Is he the pool maintenance guy?" Normally I'm just struggling and gasping for air and not really able to do much else
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You're starting to relax!!!
That made me smile. I love swimming so much I want everyone to feel like I do when they swim. lol
I'm totally gonna bend over after my swim on Tuesday, see if my nose is a faucet too. haha I doubt it as I exhale out through my nose and mouth, but I'll die laughing if it happens.
I started working on keeping my core engaged my last swim too. I was surprised how much it helped my form. But man, doing that for an hour.... not gonna happen at this point, but I'll keep trying!0 -
The only time I truly feel relaxed is when I use the pool buoy, otherwise it's still a workout that engages every single part of my body! But what he's noticing is me making much less of a splash, since there's actually technique based modifications that can be made to avoid that.
The bending over thing - i mean it happens naturally just doing stuff around the house, grabbing an item on a low shelf, picking something off the floor. I'd be tickled pink too if you've got the nose faucet thing! LOL!
I'm visiting family this weekend, and although I packed my swim stuff, I don't believe I'll be in the pool until Tuesday. Which is such a shame because my brother wants to go to the beach. I've done open water swimming before and let me just say that without the right skills in the water as well as swimming endurance, which I lack currently, I won't be trying that any time soon
The core thing also goes along with some advice I read about trying to isolate breathing to the chest rather than the abdomen. That was when I was trying to find out why I kept sinking. I don't know that it helped that issue but I just hadn't forgotten it I guess. I loved the sarcastic advice I read about muscled people sinking. Yeah all those champion swimmers sinking all over the place with all their muscles. LOL. And then, of course, the fact that in normal everyday life, people see the tiniest bit of definition on someone's body and they're like OMG muscles! Almost made me start slacking off for a minute there until I got real again after looking at the scale and the very feminine softness ALL over my body. :bigsmile:0 -
I love the beach! Playing in the waves though, I've never done any open water swimming. But I plan to, I hopefully will be doing a sprint-triathlon next summer, which includes a 375m open water swim. I want to do a couple before the race, but I won't do it alone, so I don't know what I'm going to do. A man just drowned this past weekend at a very busy beach near here because he got in water over his head. Scary stuff.
That's a good tip on the breathing. I'm discovering that exercising of all types is better with chest breathing. Being trained in music my whole youth I am a solid diaphragm breather, it's a whole new world learning to breath differently.
Maybe I'm not as good a swimmer as I thought! Maybe it's all this fat floating me across the water!! LOL
I don't know what I'm going to do. My pool is closing from Aug 20-Sept 30!!! Renovations and upgrades apparently.
So I thought I would go to the YMCA (it's 40 mins away), but it's closed from Aug 25-Sept 15! ffs. I'm not happy about this. 1 -
Ugh... Had a bad night in the pool. I did manage to fight through and hit a kilometer, but it was HARD. I don't know if it's the humidity, or not eating right today but I was fighting to breathe. Every breath didn't seem like enough air and every exhale felt like I wasn't expelling all my air. It was exhausting and brutal. They guy in the lane next to me said it was the weather causing it. Ha... I think it's more just that I'm out of shape but thanks Mr. Training for an Ironman. If Mr Ironman gives me an excuse I'm taking it!! lol
OH!!! Although my nose doesn't run like a faucet (lmao), when I bent over to pick up my shampoo water did run out! I was soooo surprised!! Then I laughed and looked like a fool in front of the teenagers. sighs
Another thing occurred to me tonight. I do spit water out at the end of the lane, just a little, but I do. So I paid attention to Mr Ironman and he spit out water at the end of the lane too. 2 out of 2 Canadians say it's normal, so go ahead and spit out that water!! lol
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Hahaha well the Americans have the rules posted so I better watch out! Spitting, blowing the nose ETC are all forbidden. And then we're "encouraged" to shower before the pool and "nobody should swim alone"
Yeah I wonder about that alone swimming too sometimes, but I arranged my swimming schedule so I'm heading there when it's not busy. I'm definitely not ready for lane sharing, and there's people that come to the pool set all those floatie toys down and just want to relax. I don't want to be disrupting them with the little tornadoes I create while swimming. Plus when I swim in the late evening I don't have to bother with sunscreen.
Seriously - closing for renovations smack dab in the middle of the summer??? Did they coordinate with each other they're both closing!!! Although - for the first time today I noticed the pool water was way too warm! Had to climb out once or twice just to cool off, and recovery wasn't as quick. Maybe summer really isn't peak swimming season - well it has to be in cold Canada??? What are they doing??? Maybe ask them what's up with that!
I think the teenagers were just glad to see an adult relax and have fun. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it 1 -
I practiced some more flip turns by the way. According to the interwebs, I need to approach the wall faster (without slowing down swim rate, even to take a breath), and flip faster which means less time for water to get up my nose. I'm making contact with the wall and pushing off but ending up on my back and mostly just surprised it actually works. At first I thought it was a bust because I was winding up low in the water, but that happens and that's why people either dolphin kick their way back up or do the streamline thing until they're swimming again. Will keep practicing - if nothing it's a way to mix up a session!
About the water temperature - wow. I'm used to exercising in a cold cold gym drinking cold water with ice in it. This is gonna be interesting!
Btw they say the tough workouts help us appreciate the awesomely amazing ones even more. Seems you got your tough workout out of the way this week, whoohoo!0 -
Looks like I lost whatever was helping me not sink while breathing every two strokes. Couldn't do it, was taking on water each breath. Will keep at it - hopefully I get that rhythm back
Made a new friend at the pool but I wish he wouldn't have talked so much! But good news is it was gonna be a short workout anyway. Standing there I was definitely freezing, but once moving like the other day, it's like boy I wish this pool were colder. He too told me to relax (grrr!) but he swims beyond unbelievably slowly to the point where I can't understand how he stays afloat - says just gotta relax a lot. He thinks I should swim at a slower pace which I'd love to but I sink. Basically I'm tiring out and need to rest sooner than if I weren't expending so much effort, but to be honest, that has been my workout style for years, so maybe old habits really do die hard, but I suspect this is how I need to swim for now until something else clicks0 -
Mean to say, if I actually kick while using a pool buoy, I can use just one instead of two? :bigsmile: My instructor had told me to just not kick, so I wasn't and kept sinking with only one. But if I kick, I get the break I need from working so hard with the kicks (just a small assist), and it actually trains me to get into a smooth kick rhythm.
I did breathing every four strokes for my last workout. Seemed pretty okay. I notice I'm still having to lift my head up to breathe, which is fine for now. There's a touch your tummy rotation/breathing drill I tried to incorporate, plus the make sure you're looking down drill and the relax your head so you're not trying to keep it in any specific position drill. Forget the App Store. Whatever you can think of, there's a drill for that. My goodness.
So I'm looking forward to buying a nose clip later today. It seems I just have crap lungs since I struggle even during dry land workouts. Didn't want to buy a nose clip right off because I heard some things about becoming dependent on them and never really ditching 'em, but so be it.0 -
Swam one lap with the nose clip, which just didn't fit well at all to begin with. Then after the first lap it wouldn't stay on at all. I did get an idea how swimming could be with it on, though, so I might try to buy another one. That's almost $24 down the drain: $2 for the nose clip, and $22 impulse buy bikini top. Turns out the top has too low of a cut (didn't properly try it on in the store). I'm thinking I could salvage it if I sew some fabric into it, kind of like those modesty camisoles they make for low cut tops.
Been practicing flip turns some more - I can get to the point where I'm turned around ready to do more freestyle, but I'm at the bottom of the pool and have no buoyancy or power to get to the top and keep swimming. More research more practice... And sure could use a functional nose clip
Oh right, I realized that the "busiest" time is the best time to go swimming! There were over a dozen people at the pool on a sunny sunny day with a solid three out of four lanes available! So here's what's involved in hanging out at the pool:
Having a chat on the side of the pool with friends and family
Laying down leisurely reading a book
Floating in the pool while chatting with your spouse
Dipping your toe in the pool, going, "uh uh" and walking away
This is amazing! I thought I had to know how to swim to use our 4 foot deep pool, and it turns out I didn't!0 -
Two more sessions since. Sunday morning actually had a pool of swimmers. I've been seeing some videos about busy pools and the beach, and even with "a lot" of people in my pool we're still talking 8 to ten at the most. Probably the membership cost, to be honest, and then from there the subset of people who actually enjoy swimming and/or being at the pool
Oh right so as I was practicing one of the gentlemen who spoke to me earlier said I was getting so much better! Whoohoo! Then he saw me attempting flip turns and said uh uh don't do that, too early for that and walked away. After that I gave it some thought, attempted a couple more flip turns and actually did it! I had to pause after doing the flip to think about where my legs would contact the wall, getting my arms in position and actually doing the push off. Well that makes what's his face 1 for four:
Said I should just swim and forget about breathing, even though breathing while swimming was my primary goal
Offered the two kickboard option which got me nowhere since it's my lower body that sinks and upper didn't have much of a problem - ok, not really such a terrible idea, since that gave me the idea to use two pool buoys to keep me swimming when one wasn't yet enough!
Don't do flip turns
You're doing so much better!
So yep that's 1/4 or maybe 1.5/4
Oh I sewed in the thing and salvaged the bikini top. It's great. Need to buy more but we're talking five dollar ones heheheh
Monday swim another guy asked me "is it getting any easier???? Well as much as you're practicing you'll get it soon!" I'm starting to wonder though if swimming is one of those "it never gets any easier but you do get better at it" type workouts. Still, I hear of relaxed easy serene swimmers and I want mine dammit.
One thing I haven't really done enough is actually go to the pool when I'm fully rested. Monday through Wednesday is actually after a full work and workout day. Thursday/Friday I try to work longer days and then go swimming after. Saturday is a workout day and I go swimming right after. Pool also closes at 6 on weekends. Sunday was typically a rest day but I'm usually waking up with some version of DOMS. I did an early morning weekday swim once. Nope. No logic there, just nope.0 -
Another what the hell day. Pool was closed due to weather concerns. So the forecast may have said there would be a thunderstorm, but do you see any damn clouds in the sky? Hear anything???
Way to rip me off yeah yeah yeah safety 0
