Joined my local gym and went swimming today and last 3 days. Did a mile in about an hour each day. Starting to feel faster in the water. Overtook a guy in the fast lane today! :-D

4 mile wake up call

blackcoffeeandcherrypie wrote: »

Joined my local gym and went swimming today and last 3 days. Did a mile in about an hour each day. Starting to feel faster in the water. Overtook a guy in the fast lane today! :-D

Welcome back to swimming bccp!!!

20 minutes backstroke kickboard, 41 minutes breast stroke pull buoy

Well, this pales in comparison, but I'm going to post it because frankly, you guys are so supportive of swimmers, no matter where we are...

First, Stephen, THANK YOU for the recollection about someone telling you to "rest" when you take a breath. It slowed my stroke rate down and I swam 500y, continuously. Can you believe it?? The most I have swum before, was 125, and I was able to slow my stroke rate and relax so that I could just keep swimming!

And to those of you who have encouraged me, and given me tips to learn bilateral breathing (yay!!), thank you too! There are many people IRL and here who have nudged me along. I am at my 11-month mark learning to swim and to be honest, I haven't been feeling it lately. I'm feeling it now! I'm hopeful that I can incorporate working on technique, MsJ's workout, and "just swimming" into my next year.

Thanks folks!!
~Curly

I skipped this morning. Wasn't even feeling it last night when I would normally pack my bag for the gym and that's usually a good sign to take the day off.

Curly - good for you! From 125 yds to 500 continuous? What a huge difference.

I love the support this group gives too. I might have bailed on MFP a few months ago if not for this bunch. You are where I was shortly after starting swimming 10-ish years ago. People at the Y giving some me tips on how fins could help even out the awful kick I had. Others just noticing that I swam a bit further or that they missed me when I was out. Our morning lifeguard joking when I was learning bilateral breathing (only three summers ago) that he would save me from drowning as long as I stayed in the lane nearest to the wall so he wouldn't have to get too wet. It all helps you keep going.

Thanks for the encouragement, you guys! I jumped in this morning at my daughter's swim practice. Got about 35 min in. I was tired! Swimming continuously is tiring, and after class last night, the fitness instructor told us that we are half way through her summer program and she's upping the cardio and making us work harder. My arms were sore. It all feels good though. And my 12 year old has her last meet of the summer tomorrow and she signed up for 4 events!! I have asked her to challenge herself at each meet (one event she might otherwise avoid, or maybe she thought about doing something, but she's feeling unsure). She chose the 50 butterfly! I thought she'd pick the IM, but she's going for it. I almost didn't swim this morning, but I thought that if I'm asking her to challenge herself, I'd better get my butt in the pool in spite of fatigue...

2250 yards in 65 minutes: 500 kickboard 1750 mixed free/back/breast

girlwithcurls2 wrote: »

First, Stephen, THANK YOU for the recollection about someone telling you to "rest" when you take a breath. It slowed my stroke rate down and I swam 500y, continuously.

I couldn't do bilateral breathing when I first started posting to this forum either ...so just passing on the encouragement i've gotten from others. That particular piece of advice was the most useful to me, when I first started working on it I just felt overwhelmed. Trying to get my body to rotate the right amount, breathe all the way out while facing down, then tilt my head just so, and somehow catch a breathe without swallowing the pool, and the water is splashing about because I'm starting the next stroke, and all in just a fraction of a second. And the whole fear of drowning thing is fairly primal. But someone said to consider the 'breathe' to be a pause between strokes instead of a part of the stroke. Then you only have to think about breathing ...you can get yourself into position where you can get a good lungful, take as the time you need, then start the next stroke. Once you do that for a while the lizard brain gets used to it and stops panicking that you are trying to drown yourself. And your develop muscle memory for coordinating the actions ...and that 'pause' gets shorter and shorter ...until whaddya know breathing has become a natural part of the stroke ...

LauraRae2 wrote: »

I DID A MILE TODAY!

Granted, I had to do it in quarter mile segments with a short rest (about 2 minutes) between each, but still.

I DID A MILE!

I totally remember the first time I did a mile ...i was so stoked ...congrats!

cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »

I'm very very out of swim shape for me.

2000y total. Needed an extra forty seconds to make a full mile--30:42. Fifty (40y) easy and then two sort of 100 IMs. I had to rest after fly on the second one, and I wasn't winning any prizes for form.

I'm very out of shape.

But my swimsuit is cute.

I'm exceedingly jealous ...i think I might want to be you when i grow up. I have a vague ambition of maybe someday doing a triathalon. but I have to very nearly double my swim speed before I can even think about it.

13 minutes of closed fist front crawl, 48 minutes of backstroke ....
tomorrow is a drylander workout day ...or as I'm coming to think of them 'remember how much you love the pool' workout days ....possibly one of those side-to-side elliptical machines ...

cheshire, that sounds right up my alley. I was just telling H last night that I have no desire to do an open water swim but that if I want to do any kind of race or tri, it seems like that's the only option. I need to check and see if there's anything like that near us.