I swam! It's a miracle!

monkeybu

Okay I know it's not that amazing, but I finally hauled myself off to the pool and had a proper swim for the first time in over 20yrs. Man it was hard! But I found the old rhythm and got into it and managed to do 50 laps (1250m) over an hour (pretty slow) which was way more than I ever thought I'd be able to do. No I didn't swim continuously, I did to start with but my arms rebelled and I had to stop, so I got into a pattern of swim 2 laps, rest for 15secs, swim 2 laps, rest for 15secs and that gave my arms a chance to recover. I cold hardly lift them when I finally climbed out of the pool, in fact it was touch and go as to whether I'd even be able to climb up the ladder at the poolside! Anyway I'm feeling very pleased with myself and just wanted to share. If anyone has any swimming tips for me, I'm keen to hear them :-)

Kath712

That is great!! I wanna be a swimmer someday, so I'll be looking forward to hearing any tips you might receive.

cleo159

I started swimmg a couple years ago and it's still one of my favorite ways to work out. A full hour of swimming is no joke, let alone doing 50 laps in that time, so you should really feel proud of yourself. Congrats! I know what you mean about those shakey arms. Have you tried putting a shirt one over your head recently? That's always a killer for me when I've gone a bit too far.

My gym's pool is only 20 yards long, so at the end of each length I have to actually turn around and start from a dead stop. I could easily glide for half the pool's length and what 's the work out in that? They do have adirondack chairs and a hot tub, which are great for post-work out relaxing, and a mostly non-swimming clientele (so there's almost always a lane open), so there are advantages.

Kath: I understand the basics of swimming and the strokes, but always felt kind of ridiculous in the pool (especially looking at all the other swimmers that really seemed to know what they were doing). I ended up taking a swimming class from a local adult learning place (you know, the kind where you can learn to knit, sell real estate or flamenco dance?) and I became a much more confident swimmer. You can try looking into a similar place or a Y, or your gym (mine offers pool personal training one-on-one).

monkeybu

Well I have very stiff and sore arms today so I obviously worked out yesterday - I haven't been able to get to the pool today, but I'll be able to go tomorrow and Thursday as well, so I'm looking forward to seeing if I can do it again. Might have to push through some pain!
I like the idea of having a couple of one on one sessions with a coach - my freestyle technique could probably be better, at the moment I'm having to breathe every second stroke, so always on the same side. I'd like to be able to alternate sides when I swim as I think it really evens out your technique, and also I need to focus on kicking from the hip rather than from the knee, which I have a tendency to do.